Remarks on singular hypersurfaces and thin shells in general relativity

Abstract

In this note several formulae that follow from W. Israel's thin shell equation of motion are derived. We review the main results of Israel's seminal papers. The Israel equation of motion is solved for the three regimes of total energy E<0, E=0, and E>0. This family of solutions is analogous to the three classes of solutions of the Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi equations. We also derive the constraint that the gravitational mass is always positive. The main result of this note is the expression for the interior and exterior metrics in terms of proper time on the shell. In these coordinates the time dilation formula is readily derived. We also derive the time dilation formula by direct geometric analysis. In particular we show that there is a differential time dilation of clocks at rest inside the cavity and at rest just outside the cavity.