Master equation as a radial constraint

Abstract

We revisit the problem of perturbations of Schwarzschild-AdS$_4$ black holes by using a combination of the Martel-Poisson formalism for perturbations of four-dimensional spherically symmetric spacetimes and the Kodama-Ishibashi formalism. We clarify the relationship between both formalisms and express the Brown-York-Balasubramanian-Krauss boundary stress-energy tensor, $\bar{T}_{\mu\nu}$, on a finite-$r$ surface purely in terms of the even and odd master functions. Then, on these surfaces we find that the spacelike components of the conservation equation $\bar{\mathcal{D}}^\mu \bar{T}_{\mu\nu} =0$ are equivalent to the wave equations for the master functions. The renormalized stress-energy tensor at the boundary $\displaystyle \frac{r}{L} \lim_{r \rightarrow \infty} \bar{T}_{\mu\nu}$ is calculated directly in terms of the master functions.