Integrability and Einstein's Equations

Abstract: Integrable structures arise in general relativity when the spacetime possesses a pair of commuting Killing vectors admitting 2-spaces orthogonal to the group orbits. The physical interpretation of such spacetimes depends on the norm of the Killing vectors. They include stationary axisymmetric spacetimes, Einstein-Rosen waves with two polarizations, Gowdy models, and colliding plane gravitational waves. We review the general formalism of linear systems with variable spectral parameter, solution generating techniques, and various classes of exact solutions. In the case of the Einstein-Rosen waves, we also discuss the Poisson algebra of charges and its quantization. This is an invited contribution to the 2nd edition of the Encyclopedia of Mathematical Physics.