On the spherical symmetry of static perfect fluids in general relativity

We present a theorem which establishes uniqueness, in particular spherical symmetry, of a wide class of general relativistic, static perfect-fluid models provided there exists a spherically symmetric model with the same equation of state and surface potential. The method of proof, which is inspired by recent work of Masood-ul-Alam, is illustrated by demonstrating uniqueness of a class of solutions due to Buchdahl which correspond to an extreme case of the inequality on the equation of state required by our theorem.