Darboux Covariance: A Hidden Symmetry of Perturbed Schwarzschild Black Holes

Abstract: Starting from the infinite set of possible master equations for the perturbations of Schwarzschild black holes, with master functions linear in the metric perturbations and their first-order derivatives, we show that of all them are connected via Darboux transformations. These transformations preserve physical quantities like the quasinormal mode frequencies and the infinite hierarchy of Korteweg-de Vries conserved quantities, revealing a new hidden symmetry in the description of the perturbations of Schwarzschild black holes: Darboux covariance.