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Given a metric that may be written as in some suitable coordinate system as $g_{\mu0}=\delta_{\mu0}$ and arbitrary other components, what properties of the spacetimes described by this kind of metric can be inferred?

I presume one limitation it gives is that this type of metric may only belong to a spacetime that is time-reversal symmetric. Are there other limitations or, if I am free to choose the other elements of the tensor, could this metric belong to any spacetime with time-reversal symmetry?

More generally, does a constraint like above but with a different index (e.g. $g_{\mu1}=\delta_{\mu1}$) then analogously imply a spatial reversal symmetry? And consequently, is a metric diagonalisable if (and only if?) it has such a symmetry for every dimension?

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Q: Is a metric diagonalisable if it can be written as $g_{\mu\nu} = \delta_{\mu\nu}$?

A: Yes. In fact, a metric is real and symmetric by definition so it is diagonalisable no matter what.

Q: Is a metric diagonalisable only if it can be written as $g_{\mu\nu} = \delta_{\mu\nu}$?

A: No. The Schwarzchild metric is diagonalisable (as described above) but it has curvature which the delta metric does not.

Q: Is a metric diagonalisable only if it can be written as $g_{\mu\nu} = \delta_{\mu\nu}$ at a point?

A: Still no because metrics for space-time rather than just space are diagonalisable but they contain eigenvalues of both signs. So one can at most hope to write them as $g_{\mu\nu} = \eta_{\mu\nu}$ at a point.

Q: Is a metric diagonalisable only if it can be written as the flat metric appropriate for its signature at a point?

A: No and again Schwarzschild provides a counter-example. At the horizon radius $r = 2m$, one of the eigenvalues is zero meaning there is no change of co-ordinates which can rescale it back to $\pm 1$. Nothing unusual happens here if we look at invariant quantities so this is only an artifact of our description. Co-ordinate singularities like this are common because most manifolds cannot be covered by a single co-ordinate patch. A more drastic singularity occurs at $r = 0$ signalling the need for some new physics.

Q: Is a metric diagonalisable only if it can be written as the flat metric appropriate for its signature at a non-singular point?

A: Yes and this is a theorem. Namely, the existence of normal co-ordinates.

None of these statements make reference to time reversal. To do that, we need the space-time manifold to be orientable. When it is, gravity on its own respects time reversal invariance but other theories that we couple to it (or place on the ambient space-time) might not.

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