The Cauchy problem for parallel spinors as first-order symmetric hyperbolic system

Abstract: We prove that a smooth Riemannian manifold admitting an imaginary generalized Killing spinor whose Dirac current satisfies an additional algebraic constraint condition can be embedded as spacelike Cauchy hypersurface in a smooth Lorentzian manifold on which the given spinor extends to a null parallel spinor. This is in contrast to a corresponding Cauchy problem for real generalized Killing spinors into Riemannian manifolds. The construction is based on first order symmetric hyperbolic PDE-methods. In fact, the coupled evolution equations for metric and spinor as considered here extend and generalize the well known PDE-system appearing in the Cauchy problem for the vacuum Einstein equations. Special cases are discussed and the statement is compared with a similar result obtained recently for the analytic category.