differential geometry - What is a Killing vector field?

I recently read a post in physics.stackexchange that used the term "Killing vector". What is a Killing vector/Killing vector field?

Answer

I think https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_vector_field answers your question pretty good:

"Killing fields are the infinitesimal generators of isometries; that is, flows generated by Killing fields are continuous isometries of the manifold. More simply, the flow generates a symmetry, in the sense that moving each point on an object the same distance in the direction of the Killing vector field will not distort distances on the object."

A killing vectorfield $X$ fulfills $L_X g=0$ where $L$ is the Lie derivative or more explicit $\nabla_\mu X_\nu + \nabla_\nu X_\mu =0$.

So in a layback manner: When you move the metric $g$ a little bit by $X$ and $g$ doesn't change, X is a killing vectorfield.

For example the Schwarzschildmetric https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwarzschild_metric has two obvious Killing vectorfields $\partial_t$ and $\partial_\phi$ since $g$ is independent of $t$ and $\phi$.

Edit: On recommndation I add a nice link to a discussion of how to use Killing vector fields: See the answer of Willie Wong at Killing vector fields