A study of energy conditions in static plane symmetric space–times via homothetic symmetries

The aim of this study is twofold. First, we use a new approach to study the homothetic vector fields (HVFs) of static plane symmetric space–times by an algorithm which we have developed using the Maple platform. The interesting feature of this algorithm is that it provides the most general form of metrics admitting HVFs as compared to those obtained in an earlier study where direct integration techniques were used. Second, the obtained metrics are used in Einstein’s field equations to compute the energy–momentum tensor and it is shown how the parameters involved in the obtained space–time metrics are associated with certain important energy conditions.