205 research outputs found
The nature of gravitational singularities
The nature of gravitational singularities, long mysterious, has now become
clear through a combination of mathematical and numerical analysis. As the
singularity is approached, the time derivative terms in the field equations
dominate, and the singularity behaves locally like a homogeneous oscillatory
spacetime.Comment: received "honorable mention" in Gravity Research Foundation essay
contes
Spherically symmetric relativistic stellar structures
We investigate relativistic spherically symmetric static perfect fluid models
in the framework of the theory of dynamical systems. The field equations are
recast into a regular dynamical system on a 3-dimensional compact state space,
thereby avoiding the non-regularity problems associated with the
Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equation. The global picture of the solution space
thus obtained is used to derive qualitative features and to prove theorems
about mass-radius properties. The perfect fluids we discuss are described by
barotropic equations of state that are asymptotically polytropic at low
pressures and, for certain applications, asymptotically linear at high
pressures. We employ dimensionless variables that are asymptotically homology
invariant in the low pressure regime, and thus we generalize standard work on
Newtonian polytropes to a relativistic setting and to a much larger class of
equations of state. Our dynamical systems framework is particularly suited for
numerical computations, as illustrated by several numerical examples, e.g., the
ideal neutron gas and examples that involve phase transitions.Comment: 23 pages, 25 figures (compressed), LaTe
An almost isotropic cosmic microwave temperature does not imply an almost isotropic universe
In this letter we will show that, contrary to what is widely believed, an
almost isotropic cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature does not imply
that the universe is ``close to a Friedmann-Lemaitre universe''. There are two
important manifestations of anisotropy in the geometry of the universe, (i) the
anisotropy in the overall expansion, and (ii) the intrinsic anisotropy of the
gravitational field, described by the Weyl curvature tensor, although the
former usually receives more attention than the latter in the astrophysical
literature. Here we consider a class of spatially homogeneous models for which
the anisotropy of the CMB temperature is within the current observational
limits but whose Weyl curvature is not negligible, i.e. these models are not
close to isotropy even though the CMB temperature is almost isotropic.Comment: 5 pages (AASTeX, aaspp4.sty), submitted to Astrophysical Journal
Letter
Spatially self-similar spherically symmetric perfect-fluid models
Einstein's field equations for spatially self-similar spherically symmetric
perfect-fluid models are investigated. The field equations are rewritten as a
first-order system of autonomous differential equations. Dimensionless
variables are chosen in such a way that the number of equations in the coupled
system is reduced as far as possible and so that the reduced phase space
becomes compact and regular. The system is subsequently analysed qualitatively
with the theory of dynamical systems.Comment: 21 pages, 6 eps-figure
The state space and physical interpretation of self-similar spherically symmetric perfect-fluid models
The purpose of this paper is to further investigate the solution space of
self-similar spherically symmetric perfect-fluid models and gain deeper
understanding of the physical aspects of these solutions. We achieve this by
combining the state space description of the homothetic approach with the use
of the physically interesting quantities arising in the comoving approach. We
focus on three types of models. First, we consider models that are natural
inhomogeneous generalizations of the Friedmann Universe; such models are
asymptotically Friedmann in their past and evolve fluctuations in the energy
density at later times. Second, we consider so-called quasi-static models. This
class includes models that undergo self-similar gravitational collapse and is
important for studying the formation of naked singularities. If naked
singularities do form, they have profound implications for the predictability
of general relativity as a theory. Third, we consider a new class of
asymptotically Minkowski self-similar spacetimes, emphasizing that some of them
are associated with the self-similar solutions associated with the critical
behaviour observed in recent gravitational collapse calculations.Comment: 24 pages, 12 figure
Timelike self-similar spherically symmetric perfect-fluid models
Einstein's field equations for timelike self-similar spherically symmetric
perfect-fluid models are investigated. The field equations are rewritten as a
first-order system of autonomous differential equations. Dimensionless
variables are chosen in such a way that the number of equations in the coupled
system is reduced as far as possible and so that the reduced phase space
becomes compact and regular. The system is subsequently analysed qualitatively
using the theory of dynamical systems.Comment: 23 pages, 6 eps-figure
Spike Oscillations
According to Belinskii, Khalatnikov and Lifshitz (BKL), a generic spacelike
singularity is characterized by asymptotic locality: Asymptotically, toward the
singularity, each spatial point evolves independently from its neighbors, in an
oscillatory manner that is represented by a sequence of Bianchi type I and II
vacuum models. Recent investigations support a modified conjecture: The
formation of spatial structures (`spikes') breaks asymptotic locality. The
complete description of a generic spacelike singularity involves spike
oscillations, which are described by sequences of Bianchi type I and certain
inhomogeneous vacuum models. In this paper we describe how BKL and spike
oscillations arise from concatenations of exact solutions in a
Hubble-normalized state space setting, suggesting the existence of hidden
symmetries and showing that the results of BKL are part of a greater picture.Comment: 38 pages, 14 figure
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