In the

mathematical Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

field of

differential geometry Differential geometry is a Mathematics, mathematical discipline that studies the geometry of smooth shapes and smooth spaces, otherwise known as smooth manifolds. It uses the techniques of Calculus, single variable calculus, vector calculus, lin ...

, Ricci-flatness is a condition on the

curvature In mathematics, curvature is any of several strongly related concepts in geometry that intuitively measure the amount by which a curve deviates from being a straight line or by which a surface deviates from being a plane. If a curve or su ...

of a

Riemannian manifold In differential geometry, a Riemannian manifold is a geometric space on which many geometric notions such as distance, angles, length, volume, and curvature are defined. Euclidean space, the N-sphere, n-sphere, hyperbolic space, and smooth surf ...

. Ricci-flat manifolds are a special kind of

Einstein manifold In differential geometry and mathematical physics, an Einstein manifold is a Riemannian or pseudo-Riemannian differentiable manifold whose Ricci tensor is proportional to the metric. They are named after Albert Einstein because this condition is ...

. In

theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain, and predict List of natural phenomena, natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental p ...

, Ricci-flat

Lorentzian manifold In mathematical physics, a pseudo-Riemannian manifold, also called a semi-Riemannian manifold, is a differentiable manifold with a metric tensor that is everywhere non-degenerate bilinear form, nondegenerate. This is a generalization of a Riema ...

s are of fundamental interest, as they are the solutions of

Einstein's field equation In the general theory of relativity, the Einstein field equations (EFE; also known as Einstein's equations) relate the geometry of spacetime to the distribution of matter within it. The equations were published by Albert Einstein in 1915 in th ...

s in a

vacuum A vacuum (: vacuums or vacua) is space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective (neuter ) meaning "vacant" or "void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressur ...

with vanishing

cosmological constant In cosmology, the cosmological constant (usually denoted by the Greek capital letter lambda: ), alternatively called Einstein's cosmological constant, is a coefficient that Albert Einstein initially added to his field equations of general rel ...

. In Lorentzian geometry, a number of Ricci-flat metrics are known from works of

Karl Schwarzschild Karl Schwarzschild (; 9 October 1873 – 11 May 1916) was a German physicist and astronomer. Schwarzschild provided the first exact solution to the Einstein field equations of general relativity, for the limited case of a single spherical non-r ...

Roy Kerr Roy Patrick Kerr (; born 16 May 1934) is a New Zealand mathematician who discovered the Kerr geometry, an exact solution to the Einstein field equation of general relativity. His solution models the gravitational field outside an uncharged ...

, and

Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat (; 29 December 1923 – 11 February 2025) was a French mathematician and physicist. She made seminal contributions to the study of general relativity, by showing that the Einstein field equations can be put into the form of ...

. In

Riemannian geometry Riemannian geometry is the branch of differential geometry that studies Riemannian manifolds, defined as manifold, smooth manifolds with a ''Riemannian metric'' (an inner product on the tangent space at each point that varies smooth function, smo ...

Shing-Tung Yau Shing-Tung Yau (; ; born April 4, 1949) is a Chinese-American mathematician. He is the director of the Yau Mathematical Sciences Center at Tsinghua University and professor emeritus at Harvard University. Until 2022, Yau was the William Caspar ...

's resolution of the

Calabi conjecture In the mathematical field of differential geometry, the Calabi conjecture was a conjecture about the existence of certain kinds of Riemannian metrics on certain complex manifolds, made by . It was proved by , who received the Fields Medal and Oswa ...

produced a number of Ricci-flat metrics on

Kähler manifold In mathematics and especially differential geometry, a Kähler manifold is a manifold with three mutually compatible structures: a complex structure, a Riemannian structure, and a symplectic structure. The concept was first studied by Jan Arnol ...

Definition

pseudo-Riemannian manifold In mathematical physics, a pseudo-Riemannian manifold, also called a semi-Riemannian manifold, is a differentiable manifold with a metric tensor that is everywhere nondegenerate. This is a generalization of a Riemannian manifold in which the ...

is said to be Ricci-flat if its

Ricci curvature In differential geometry, the Ricci curvature tensor, named after Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro, is a geometric object which is determined by a choice of Riemannian or pseudo-Riemannian metric on a manifold. It can be considered, broadly, as a measure ...

is zero. It is direct to verify that, except in dimension two, a metric is Ricci-flat if and only if its

Einstein tensor In differential geometry, the Einstein tensor (named after Albert Einstein; also known as the trace-reversed Ricci tensor) is used to express the curvature of a pseudo-Riemannian manifold. In general relativity, it occurs in the Einstein field e ...

is zero. Ricci-flat manifolds are one of three special types of

, arising as the special case of

scalar curvature In the mathematical field of Riemannian geometry, the scalar curvature (or the Ricci scalar) is a measure of the curvature of a Riemannian manifold. To each point on a Riemannian manifold, it assigns a single real number determined by the geometry ...

equaling zero. From the definition of the

Weyl curvature tensor Hermann Klaus Hugo Weyl (; ; 9 November 1885 – 8 December 1955) was a German mathematician, theoretical physicist, logician and philosopher. Although much of his working life was spent in Zürich, Switzerland, and then Princeton, New Jersey, ...

, it is direct to see that any Ricci-flat metric has Weyl curvature equal to

Riemann curvature tensor Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann (; ; 17September 182620July 1866) was a German mathematician who made profound contributions to mathematical analysis, analysis, number theory, and differential geometry. In the field of real analysis, he is mos ...

. By taking

trace Trace may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Trace'' (Son Volt album), 1995 * ''Trace'' (Died Pretty album), 1993 * Trace (band), a Dutch progressive rock band * ''The Trace'' (album), by Nell Other uses in arts and entertainment * ...

s, it is straightforward to see that the converse also holds. This may also be phrased as saying that Ricci-flatness is characterized by the vanishing of the two non-Weyl parts of the

Ricci decomposition In the mathematical fields of Riemannian and pseudo-Riemannian geometry, the Ricci decomposition is a way of breaking up the Riemann curvature tensor of a Riemannian or pseudo-Riemannian manifold into pieces with special algebraic properties. Th ...

. Since the Weyl curvature vanishes in two or three dimensions, every Ricci-flat metric in these dimensions is flat. Conversely, it is automatic from the definitions that any flat metric is Ricci-flat. The study of flat metrics is usually considered as a topic unto itself. As such, the study of Ricci-flat metrics is only a distinct topic in dimension four and above.

Examples

As noted above, any flat metric is Ricci-flat. However it is nontrivial to identify Ricci-flat manifolds whose full curvature is nonzero. In 1916,

found the

Schwarzschild metric In Einstein's theory of general relativity, the Schwarzschild metric (also known as the Schwarzschild solution) is an exact solution to the Einstein field equations that describes the gravitational field outside a spherical mass, on the assumpti ...

s, which are Ricci-flat

s of nonzero curvature.

later found the

Kerr metric The Kerr metric or Kerr geometry describes the geometry of empty spacetime around a rotating uncharged axially symmetric black hole with a quasispherical event horizon. The Kerr metric is an exact solution of the Einstein field equations of gen ...

s, a two-parameter family containing the Schwarzschild metrics as a special case. These metrics are fully explicit and are of fundamental interest in the mathematics and physics of

black hole A black hole is a massive, compact astronomical object so dense that its gravity prevents anything from escaping, even light. Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass will form a black hole. Th ...

s. More generally, in

general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity, and as Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of grav ...

, Ricci-flat Lorentzian manifolds represent the

vacuum solution In general relativity, a vacuum solution is a Lorentzian manifold whose Einstein tensor vanishes identically. According to the Einstein field equation, this means that the stress–energy tensor also vanishes identically, so that no matter or n ...

s of

Einstein's field equations In the general theory of relativity, the Einstein field equations (EFE; also known as Einstein's equations) relate the geometry of spacetime to the distribution of matter within it. The equations were published by Albert Einstein in 1915 in th ...

with vanishing

. Many pseudo-Riemannian manifolds are constructed as

homogeneous space In mathematics, a homogeneous space is, very informally, a space that looks the same everywhere, as you move through it, with movement given by the action of a group. Homogeneous spaces occur in the theories of Lie groups, algebraic groups and ...

s. However, these constructions are not directly helpful for Ricci-flat Riemannian metrics, in the sense that any homogeneous Riemannian manifold which is Ricci-flat must be flat. However, there are homogeneous (and even

symmetric Symmetry () in everyday life refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, the term has a more precise definition and is usually used to refer to an object that is invariant under some transformations ...

) Lorentzian manifolds which are Ricci-flat but not flat, as follows from an explicit construction and computation of

Lie algebra In mathematics, a Lie algebra (pronounced ) is a vector space \mathfrak g together with an operation called the Lie bracket, an alternating bilinear map \mathfrak g \times \mathfrak g \rightarrow \mathfrak g, that satisfies the Jacobi ident ...

s. Until

's resolution of the

in the 1970s, it was not known whether every Ricci-flat Riemannian metric on a

closed manifold In mathematics, a closed manifold is a manifold Manifold with boundary, without boundary that is Compact space, compact. In comparison, an open manifold is a manifold without boundary that has only ''non-compact'' components. Examples The onl ...

is flat. His work, using techniques of

partial differential equation In mathematics, a partial differential equation (PDE) is an equation which involves a multivariable function and one or more of its partial derivatives. The function is often thought of as an "unknown" that solves the equation, similar to ho ...

s, established a comprehensive existence theory for Ricci-flat metrics in the special case of

Kähler metric Kähler may refer to: People *Birgit Kähler (born 1970), German high jumper * Erich Kähler (1906–2000), German mathematician * Heinz Kähler (1905–1974), German art historian and archaeologist * Luise Kähler (1869–1955), German trade union ...

s on closed

complex manifold In differential geometry and complex geometry, a complex manifold is a manifold with a ''complex structure'', that is an atlas (topology), atlas of chart (topology), charts to the open unit disc in the complex coordinate space \mathbb^n, such th ...

s. Due to his analytical techniques, the metrics are non-explicit even in the simplest cases. Such Riemannian manifolds are often called

Calabi–Yau manifold In algebraic and differential geometry, a Calabi–Yau manifold, also known as a Calabi–Yau space, is a particular type of manifold which has certain properties, such as Ricci flatness, yielding applications in theoretical physics. P ...

s, although various authors use this name in slightly different ways.

Analytical character

Relative to harmonic coordinates, the condition of Ricci-flatness for a Riemannian metric can be interpreted as a system of

elliptic partial differential equation In mathematics, an elliptic partial differential equation is a type of partial differential equation (PDE). In mathematical modeling, elliptic PDEs are frequently used to model steady states, unlike parabolic PDE and hyperbolic PDE which gene ...

s. It is a straightforward consequence of standard ''elliptic regularity'' results that any Ricci-flat Riemannian metric on a smooth manifold is analytic, in the sense that harmonic coordinates define a compatible analytic structure, and the local representation of the metric is

real-analytic In mathematics, an analytic function is a function that is locally given by a convergent power series. There exist both real analytic functions and complex analytic functions. Functions of each type are infinitely differentiable, but complex ...

. This also holds in the broader setting of Einstein Riemannian metrics. Analogously, relative to harmonic coordinates, Ricci-flatness of a Lorentzian metric can be interpreted as a system of

hyperbolic partial differential equation In mathematics, a hyperbolic partial differential equation of order n is a partial differential equation (PDE) that, roughly speaking, has a well-posed initial value problem for the first n - 1 derivatives. More precisely, the Cauchy problem can ...

s. Based on this perspective,

developed the well-posedness of the Ricci-flatness condition. She reached a definitive result in collaboration with

Robert Geroch Robert Geroch (born 1 June 1942 in Akron, Ohio) is an American theoretical physicist and professor at the University of Chicago. He has worked prominently on general relativity and mathematical physics and has promoted the use of category theory ...

in the 1960s, establishing how a certain class of ''maximally extended'' Ricci-flat Lorentzian metrics are prescribed and constructed by certain Riemannian data. These are known as ''maximal globally hyperbolic developments''. In general relativity, this is typically interpreted as an initial value formulation of Einstein's field equations for gravitation. The study of Ricci-flatness in the Riemannian and Lorentzian cases are quite distinct. This is already indicated by the fundamental distinction between the geodesically complete metrics which are typical of Riemannian geometry and the maximal globally hyperbolic developments which arise from Choquet-Bruhat and Geroch's work. Moreover, the analyticity and corresponding unique continuation of a Ricci-flat Riemannian metric has a fundamentally different character than Ricci-flat Lorentzian metrics, which have finite speeds of propagation and fully localizable phenomena. This can be viewed as a nonlinear geometric analogue of the difference between the

Laplace equation In mathematics and physics, Laplace's equation is a second-order partial differential equation named after Pierre-Simon Laplace, who first studied its properties in 1786. This is often written as \nabla^2\! f = 0 or \Delta f = 0, where \Delt ...

and the

wave equation The wave equation is a second-order linear partial differential equation for the description of waves or standing wave fields such as mechanical waves (e.g. water waves, sound waves and seismic waves) or electromagnetic waves (including light ...

Topology of Ricci-flat Riemannian manifolds

Yau's existence theorem for Ricci-flat Kähler metrics established the precise topological condition under which such a metric exists on a given closed

: the

first Chern class In mathematics, in particular in algebraic topology, differential geometry and algebraic geometry, the Chern classes are characteristic classes associated with complex vector bundles. They have since become fundamental concepts in many branches of ...

of the holomorphic tangent bundle must be zero. The necessity of this condition was previously known by Chern–Weil theory. Beyond Kähler geometry, the situation is not as well understood. A four-dimensional closed and oriented manifold supporting any Einstein Riemannian metric must satisfy the Hitchin–Thorpe inequality on its topological data. As particular cases of well-known theorems on Riemannian manifolds of nonnegative Ricci curvature, any manifold with a complete Ricci-flat Riemannian metric must: * have first

Betti number In algebraic topology, the Betti numbers are used to distinguish topological spaces based on the connectivity of ''n''-dimensional simplicial complexes. For the most reasonable finite-dimensional spaces (such as compact manifolds, finite simplicia ...

less than or equal to the dimension, whenever the manifold is closed * have

fundamental group In the mathematics, mathematical field of algebraic topology, the fundamental group of a topological space is the group (mathematics), group of the equivalence classes under homotopy of the Loop (topology), loops contained in the space. It record ...

of polynomial growth. Mikhael Gromov and

Blaine Lawson Herbert Blaine Lawson, Jr. is a mathematician best known for his work in minimal surfaces, calibrated geometry, and algebraic cycles. He is currently a Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at Stony Brook University. He received his PhD fr ...

introduced the notion of ''enlargeability'' of a closed manifold. The class of enlargeable manifolds is closed under

homotopy equivalence In topology, two continuous functions from one topological space to another are called homotopic (from and ) if one can be "continuously deformed" into the other, such a deformation being called a homotopy ( ; ) between the two functions. A ...

, the taking of products, and under the

connected sum In mathematics, specifically in topology, the operation of connected sum is a geometric modification on manifolds. Its effect is to join two given manifolds together near a chosen point on each. This construction plays a key role in the classifi ...

with an arbitrary closed manifold. Every Ricci-flat Riemannian manifold in this class is flat, which is a corollary of Cheeger and Gromoll's

splitting theorem In the mathematical field of differential geometry, there are various splitting theorems on when a pseudo-Riemannian manifold can be given as a metric product. The best-known is the Cheeger–Gromoll splitting theorem for Riemannian manifolds, alth ...

Ricci-flatness and holonomy

On a

simply-connected In topology, a topological space is called simply connected (or 1-connected, or 1-simply connected) if it is path-connected and every path between two points can be continuously transformed into any other such path while preserving the two endpoint ...

Kähler manifold, a Kähler metric is Ricci-flat if and only if the

holonomy group In differential geometry, the holonomy of a connection on a smooth manifold is the extent to which parallel transport around closed loops fails to preserve the geometrical data being transported. Holonomy is a general geometrical consequence ...

is contained in the

special unitary group In mathematics, the special unitary group of degree , denoted , is the Lie group of unitary matrices with determinant 1. The matrices of the more general unitary group may have complex determinants with absolute value 1, rather than real 1 ...

. On a general Kähler manifold, the ''if'' direction still holds, but only the ''restricted'' holonomy group of a Ricci-flat Kähler metric is necessarily contained in the special unitary group. A

hyperkähler manifold In differential geometry, a hyperkähler manifold is a Riemannian manifold (M, g) endowed with three integrable almost complex structures I, J, K that are Kähler with respect to the Riemannian metric g and satisfy the quaternionic relations I^2= ...

is a Riemannian manifold whose holonomy group is contained in the

symplectic group In mathematics, the name symplectic group can refer to two different, but closely related, collections of mathematical groups, denoted and for positive integer ''n'' and field F (usually C or R). The latter is called the compact symplectic gr ...

. This condition on a Riemannian manifold may also be characterized (roughly speaking) by the existence of a 2-sphere of complex structures which are all

parallel Parallel may refer to: Mathematics * Parallel (geometry), two lines in the Euclidean plane which never intersect * Parallel (operator), mathematical operation named after the composition of electrical resistance in parallel circuits Science a ...

. This says in particular that every hyperkähler metric is Kähler; furthermore, via the

Ambrose–Singer theorem In differential geometry, the holonomy of a connection (mathematics), connection on a smooth manifold is the extent to which parallel transport around closed loops fails to preserve the geometrical data being transported. Holonomy is a genera ...

, every such metric is Ricci-flat. The Calabi–Yau theorem specializes to this context, giving a general existence and uniqueness theorem for hyperkähler metrics on compact Kähler manifolds admitting holomorphically symplectic structures. Examples of hyperkähler metrics on noncompact spaces had earlier been obtained by

Eugenio Calabi Eugenio Calabi (May 11, 1923 – September 25, 2023) was an Italian-born American mathematician and the Thomas A. Scott Professor of Mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in differential geometry, partial differential equa ...

. The

Eguchi–Hanson space In mathematics and theoretical physics, the Eguchi–Hanson space is a non-compact, self-dual, asymptotically locally Euclidean (ALE) metric on the cotangent bundle of the 2-sphere ''T''*''S''2. The holonomy group of this 4-real-dimensional manifo ...

, discovered at the same time, is a special case of his construction. A

quaternion-Kähler manifold In differential geometry, a quaternion-Kähler manifold (or quaternionic Kähler manifold) is a Riemannian 4''n''-manifold whose Riemannian holonomy group is a subgroup of Sp(''n'')·Sp(1) for some n\geq 2. Here Sp(''n'') is the sub-group of SO(4n) ...

is a Riemannian manifold whose holonomy group is contained in the

Lie group In mathematics, a Lie group (pronounced ) is a group (mathematics), group that is also a differentiable manifold, such that group multiplication and taking inverses are both differentiable. A manifold is a space that locally resembles Eucli ...

Marcel Berger Marcel Berger (14 April 1927 – 15 October 2016) was a French mathematician, doyen of French differential geometry, and a former director of the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHÉS), France. Biography After studying from 1948 to 19 ...

showed that any such metric must be Einstein. Furthermore, any Ricci-flat quaternion-Kähler manifold must be ''locally'' hyperkähler, meaning that the ''restricted'' holonomy group is contained in the symplectic group. A manifold or manifold is a Riemannian manifold whose holonomy group is contained in the Lie groups or . The

implies that any such manifold is Ricci-flat. The existence of closed manifolds of this type was established by

Dominic Joyce Dominic David Joyce FRS (born 8 April 1968) is a British mathematician, currently a professor at the University of Oxford and a fellow of Lincoln College since 1995. His undergraduate and doctoral studies were at Merton College, Oxford. He und ...

in the 1990s.

commented that all known examples of irreducible Ricci-flat Riemannian metrics on simply-connected closed manifolds have special holonomy groups, according to the above possibilities. It is not known whether this suggests an unknown general theorem or simply a limitation of known techniques. For this reason, Berger considered Ricci-flat manifolds to be "extremely mysterious."

References

Notes. Sources. * * * * * * * * * * * {{String theory topics , state=collapsed Riemannian manifolds