45,326 research outputs found
The Singularity in Generic Gravitational Collapse Is Spacelike, Local, and Oscillatory
A longstanding conjecture by Belinskii, Khalatnikov, and Lifshitz that the
singularity in generic gravitational collapse is spacelike, local, and
oscillatory is explored analytically and numerically in spatially inhomogeneous
cosmological spacetimes. With a convenient choice of variables, it can be seen
analytically how nonlinear terms in Einstein's equations control the approach
to the singularity and cause oscillatory behavior. The analytic picture
requires the drastic assumption that each spatial point evolves toward the
singularity as an independent spatially homogeneous universe. In every case,
detailed numerical simulations of the full Einstein evolution equations support
this assumption.Comment: 7 pages includes 4 figures. Uses Revtex and psfig. Received
"honorable mention" in 1998 Gravity Research Foundation essay contest.
Submitted to Mod. Phys. Lett.
Oscillatory approach to the singularity in vacuum symmetric spacetimes
A combination of qualitative analysis and numerical study indicates that
vacuum symmetric spacetimes are, generically, oscillatory.Comment: 2 pages submitted to the Ninth Marcel Grossmann Proceedings; v2, "all
known cases" changed to "various known cases" in the first paragrap
Why Solve the Hamiltonian Constraint in Numerical Relativity?
The indefinite sign of the Hamiltonian constraint means that solutions to
Einstein's equations must achieve a delicate balance--often among numerically
large terms that nearly cancel. If numerical errors cause a violation of the
Hamiltonian constraint, the failure of the delicate balance could lead to
qualitatively wrong behavior rather than just decreased accuracy. This issue is
different from instabilities caused by constraint-violating modes. Examples of
stable numerical simulations of collapsing cosmological spacetimes exhibiting
local mixmaster dynamics with and without Hamiltonian constraint enforcement
are presented.Comment: Submitted to a volume in honor of Michael P. Ryan, Jr. Based on talk
given at GR1
Hunting Local Mixmaster Dynamics in Spatially Inhomogeneous Cosmologies
Heuristic arguments and numerical simulations support the Belinskii et al
(BKL) claim that the approach to the singularity in generic gravitational
collapse is characterized by local Mixmaster dynamics (LMD). Here, one way to
identify LMD in collapsing spatially inhomogeneous cosmologies is explored. By
writing the metric of one spacetime in the standard variables of another,
signatures for LMD may be found. Such signatures for the dynamics of spatially
homogeneous Mixmaster models in the variables of U(1)-symmetric cosmologies are
reviewed. Similar constructions for U(1)-symmetric spacetimes in terms of the
dynamics of generic -symmetric spacetime are presented.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures. Contribution to CQG Special Issue "A Spacetime
Safari: Essays in Honour of Vincent Moncrief
A novel experiment searching for the lepton flavour violating decay mu -> eee
Since the discovery of neutrino oscillations it is known that lepton flavour
is not conserved. Lepton flavour violating processes in the charged lepton
sector have so far however eluded detection; as they are heavily suppressed in
the standard model of particle physics, an observation would be a clear signal
for new physics and help to understand the source of neutrino masses and CP
violation. We propose a novel experiment searching for the decay mu -> eee with
the aim of ultimately reaching a sensitivity of 10^-16, an improvement by four
orders of magnitude compared to previous experiments. The technologies enabling
this step are thin high-voltage monolithic active pixel sensors for precise
tracking at high rates with a minimum of material and scintillating fibres for
high resolution time measurements.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, contribution to NUFACT 11, XIIIth International
Workshop on Neutrino Factories, Super beams and Beta beams, 1-6 August 2011,
CERN and University of Genev
Some new results on electron transport in the atmosphere
The penetration, diffusion and slowing down of electrons in a semi-infinite air medium has been studied by the Monte Carlo method. The results are applicable to the atmosphere at altitudes up to 300 km. Most of the results pertain to monoenergetic electron beams injected into the atmosphere at a height of 300 km, either vertically downwards or with a pitch-angle distribution isotropic over the downward hemisphere. Some results were also obtained for various initial pitch angles between 0 deg and 90 deg. Information has been generated concerning the following topics: (1) the backscattering of electrons from the atmosphere, expressed in terms of backscattering coefficients, angular distributions and energy spectra of reflected electrons, for incident energies T(o) between 2 keV and 2 MeV; (2) energy deposition by electrons as a function of the altitude, down to 80 km, for T(o) between 2 keV and 2 MeV; (3) the corresponding energy depostion by electron-produced bremsstrahlung, down to 30 km; (4) the evolution of the electron flux spectrum as function of the atmospheric depth, for T(o) between 2 keV and 20 keV. Energy deposition results are given for incident electron beams with exponential and power-exponential spectra
Simultaneous Multiwavelength Observations of Magnetic Activity in Ultracool Dwarfs. IV. The Active, Young Binary NLTT 33370 AB (=2MASS J13142039+1320011)
We present multi-epoch simultaneous radio, optical, H{\alpha}, UV, and X-ray
observations of the active, young, low-mass binary NLTT 33370 AB (blended
spectral type M7e). This system is remarkable for its extreme levels of
magnetic activity: it is the most radio-luminous ultracool dwarf (UCD) known,
and here we show that it is also one of the most X-ray luminous UCDs known. We
detect the system in all bands and find a complex phenomenology of both flaring
and periodic variability. Analysis of the optical light curve reveals the
simultaneous presence of two periodicities, 3.7859 0.0001 and 3.7130
0.0002 hr. While these differ by only ~2%, studies of differential
rotation in the UCD regime suggest that it cannot be responsible for the two
signals. The system's radio emission consists of at least three components:
rapid 100% polarized flares, bright emission modulating periodically in phase
with the optical emission, and an additional periodic component that appears
only in the 2013 observational campaign. We interpret the last of these as a
gyrosynchrotron feature associated with large-scale magnetic fields and a cool,
equatorial plasma torus. However, the persistent rapid flares at all rotational
phases imply that small-scale magnetic loops are also present and reconnect
nearly continuously. We present an SED of the blended system spanning more than
9 orders of magnitude in wavelength. The significant magnetism present in NLTT
33370 AB will affect its fundamental parameters, with the components' radii and
temperatures potentially altered by ~+20% and ~-10%, respectively. Finally, we
suggest spatially resolved observations that could clarify many aspects of this
system's nature.Comment: emulateapj, 22 pages, 15 figures, ApJ in press; v2: fixes low-impact
error in Figure 15; v3: now in-pres
Evidence for an oscillatory singularity in generic U(1) symmetric cosmologies on
A longstanding conjecture by Belinskii, Lifshitz, and Khalatnikov that the
singularity in generic gravitational collapse is locally oscillatory is tested
numerically in vacuum, U(1) symmetric cosmological spacetimes on . If the velocity term dominated (VTD) solution to Einstein's equations is
substituted into the Hamiltonian for the full Einstein evolution equations, one
term is found to grow exponentially. This generates a prediction that
oscillatory behavior involving this term and another (which the VTD solution
causes to decay exponentially) should be observed in the approach to the
singularity. Numerical simulations strongly support this prediction.Comment: 15 pages, Revtex, includes 12 figures, psfig. High resolution
versions of figures 7, 8, 9, and 11 may be obtained from anonymous ftp to
ftp://vela.acs.oakland.edu/pub/berger/u1genfig
Curvature blow up in Bianchi VIII and IX vacuum spacetimes
The maximal globally hyperbolic development of non-Taub-NUT Bianchi IX vacuum
initial data and of non-NUT Bianchi VIII vacuum initial data is C2
inextendible. Furthermore, a curvature invariant is unbounded in the incomplete
directions of inextendible causal geodesics.Comment: 20 pages, no figures. Submitted to Classical and Quantum Gravit
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