Stationary rotating and axially symmetric dust systems as peculiar General Relativistic objects

Abstract

We study an exact solution of Einstein's equations describing a self-gravitating system, made of dust, distributed with axial symmetry and in stationary rotation, and we prove that this type of system has no Newtonian analogue. In a low-energy limit, its existence depends on the solution of a Grad-Shafranov equation in vacuum which can be interpreted as a Laplace equation for the toroidal component of the gravitomagnetic potential; in particular, in this system the relativistic rotational effects are of the order of magnitude of Newtonian ones. We therefore argue that this exact solution should contain singularities and discuss the possible consequences of using such a system as simplified models for galactic dynamics.