$$C^3$$ Matching Conditions for Anisotropic Fluids

Abstract The $$C^3$$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:msup> <mml:mi>C</mml:mi> <mml:mn>3</mml:mn> </mml:msup> </mml:math> approach is an invariant formalism that utilizes the eigenvalues of the Riemann curvature tensor to match spacetimes across a specific matching surface. We apply this approach to match an anisotropic fluid with an exterior vacuum solution, including the case in which discontinuities appear on the matching surface. As a particular example, a class of analytic solutions, which describe the gravitational field of realistic neutron stars, is matched to the exterior Schwarzschild spacetime.