Rough solution for the Einstein Vacuum equations

Abstract

This is the first in a series Of papers in which we initiate the study Of very rough solutions to the initial value problem for the Einstein Vacuum equations expressed relative to wave coordinates. By very rough we mean solutions which cannot be constructed by the classical techniques Of energy estimates and Sobolev inequalities. Following our previous work on quasilinear wave equations we develop new analytic methods based on Strichartz type inequalities which results in a gain of half a derivative relative to the classical result. Thus our result requires only $H^{2+ε}$ regularity for the data. Our methods blend paradifferential techniques with a geometric approach to the derivation of decay estimates. The latter allows us to take full advantage of the specific structure of the Einstein equations.