Covariant definition of double null data and geometric uniqueness of the characteristic initial value problem

Abstract

Abstract The characteristic Cauchy problem of the Einstein field equations has been recently addressed from a completely abstract viewpoint by means of hypersurface data and, in particular, via the notion of double null data (DND). However, this definition was given in a partially gauge-fixed form. In this paper we generalize the notion of DND in a fully diffeomorphism and gauge covariant way, and show that the definition is complete by proving that no extra conditions are needed to embed the DND in some spacetime. The second aim of the paper is to show that the characteristic Cauchy problem satisfies a geometric uniqueness property. Specifically, we introduce a natural notion of isometry at the abstract level such that two DND that are isometric in this sense give rise to isometric spacetimes.