On the existence of Killing fields in smooth spacetimes with a compact Cauchy horizon

Abstract

Abstract We prove that the surface gravity of a compact non-degenerate Cauchy horizon in a smooth vacuum spacetime, can be normalized to a non-zero constant. This result, combined with a recent result by Oliver Petersen and István Rácz, end up proving the Isenberg–Moncrief conjecture on the existence of Killing fields, in the smooth differentiability class. The well known corollary of this, in accordance with the strong cosmic censorship conjecture, is that the presence of compact Cauchy horizons is a non-generic phenomenon. Though we work in 3 + 1, the result is valid line by line in any n + 1-dimensions.