631 research outputs found
Closed timelike curves in general relativity
Many solutions of Einstein's field equations contain closed timelike curves
(CTC). Some of these solutions refer to ordinary materials in situations which
might occur in the laboratory, or in astrophysics. It is argued that, in
default of a reasonable interpretation of CTC, general relativity does not give
a satisfactory account of all phenomena within its terms of reference.Comment: 3 pages, PACS: 042
Null limits of generalised Bonnor-Swaminarayan solutions
The Bonnor-Swaminarayan solutions are boost-rotation symmetric space-times
which describe the motion of pairs of accelerating particles which are possibly
connected to strings (struts). In an explicit and unified form we present a
generalised class of such solutions with a few new observations. We then
investigate the possible limits in which the accelerations become unbounded.
The resulting space-times represent spherical impulsive gravitational waves
with snapping or expanding cosmic strings. We also obtain an exact solution for
a snapping string of finite length.Comment: 13 pages LaTeX 2e. To appear in Gen. Rel. Gra
The gravitational wave rocket
Einstein's equations admit solutions corresponding to photon rockets. In
these a massive particle recoils because of the anisotropic emission of
photons. In this paper we ask whether rocket motion can be powered only by the
emission of gravitational waves. We use the double series approximation method
and show that this is possible. A loss of mass and gain in momentum arise in
the second approximation because of the emission of quadrupole and octupole
waves.Comment: 10 pages LaTe
The physical meaning of the "boost-rotation symmetric" solutions within the general interpretation of Einstein's theory of gravitation
The answer to the question, what physical meaning should be attributed to the
so-called boost-rotation symmetric exact solutions to the field equations of
general relativity, is provided within the general interpretation scheme for
the ``theories of relativity'', based on group theoretical arguments, and set
forth by Erich Kretschmann already in the year 1917.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure; text to appear in General Relativity and
Gravitatio
Regular and quasi black hole solutions for spherically symmetric charged dust distributions in the Einstein-Maxwell theory
Static spherically symmetric distributions of electrically counterpoised dust
(ECD) are used to construct solutions to Einstein-Maxwell equations in
Majumdar--Papapetrou formalism. Unexpected bifurcating behaviour of solutions
with regard to source strength is found for localized, as well as for the
delta-function ECD distributions. Unified treatment of general ECD
distributions is accomplished and it is shown that for certain source strengths
one class of regular solutions approaches Minkowski spacetime, while the other
comes arbitrarily close to black hole solutions.Comment: LaTeX (IOP style) 17 pages, 10 figure
A Non-singular Theory of Gravity
We present a geometrical gravitational theory which reduces to Einstein's
theory for weak gravitational potentials and which has a singularity-free
analog of the Schwarzschild metric.Comment: 8 pages, RevTeX, 3 figures included in compressed form, UTPT-94-0
Evolution of the density contrast in inhomogeneous dust models
With the help of families of density contrast indicators, we study the
tendency of gravitational systems to become increasingly lumpy with time.
Depending upon their domain of definition, these indicators could be local or
global. We make a comparative study of these indicators in the context of
inhomogeneous cosmological models of Lemaitre--Tolman and Szekeres. In
particular, we look at the temporal asymptotic behaviour of these indicators
and ask under what conditions, and for which class of models, they evolve
monotonically in time. We find that for the case of ever-expanding models,
there is a larger class of indicators that grow monotonically with time,
whereas the corresponding class for the recollapsing models is more restricted.
Nevertheless, in the absence of decaying modes, indicators exist which grow
monotonically with time for both ever-expanding and recollapsing models
simultaneously. On the other hand, no such indicators may found which grow
monotonically if the decaying modes are allowed to exist. We also find the
conditions for these indicators to be non-divergent at the initial singularity
in both models. Our results can be of potential relevance for understanding
structure formation in inhomogeneous settings and in debates regarding
gravitational entropy and arrow of time. In particular, the spatial dependence
of turning points in inhomogeneous cosmologies may result in multiple density
contrast arrows in recollapsing models over certain epochs. We also find that
different notions of asymptotic homogenisation may be deduced, depending upon
the density contrast indicators used.Comment: 22 pages, 1 figure. To be published in Classical and Quantum Gravit
Exact Relativistic Static Charged Dust Disks and Non-axisymmetric Structures
The well-known ``displace, cut and reflect'' method used to generate disks
from given solutions of Einstein field equations is applied to the
superposition of twoextreme Reissner-Nordstrom black holes to construct disks
made of charged dust and alsonon-axisymmetric planar distributions of charged
dust on the z=0 plane. They are symmetric with respect to twoor one coordinate
axes, depending whether the black holes have equal or unequal masses,
respectively.For these non-axisymmetric distributions of matter we also study
the effective potential for geodesic motion of neutral test particles.Comment: Classical and Quantum Gravity (in press). 15 pages, LaTex, 8 .eps
fig
Levi-Civita Solutions Coupled with Electromagnetic Fields
The local and global properties of the Levi-Civita (LC) solutions coupled
with an electromagnetic field are studied and some limits to the vacuum LC
solutions are given. By doing such limits, the physical and geometrical
interpretations of the free parameters involved in the solutions are made
clear. Sources for both the LC vacuum solutions and the LC solutions coupled
with an electromagnetic field are studied, and in particular it is found that
all the LC vacuum solutions with can be produced by
cylindrically symmetric thin shells that satisfy all the energy conditions,
weak, dominant, and strong. When the electromagnetic field is present, the
situation changes dramatically. In the case of a purely magnetic field, all the
solutions with or can be
produced by physically acceptable cylindrical thin shells, while in the case of
a purely electric field, no such shells are found for any value of .Comment: Typed in Revtex, including two figure
A new look at the Plebanski-Demianski family of solutions
The Plebanski-Demianski metric, and those that can be obtained from it by
taking coordinate transformations in certain limits, include the complete
family of space-times of type D with an aligned electromagnetic field and a
possibly non-zero cosmological constant. Starting with a new form of the line
element which is better suited both for physical interpretation and for
identifying different subfamilies, we review this entire family of solutions.
Our metric for the expanding case explicitly includes two parameters which
represent the acceleration of the sources and the twist of the repeated
principal null congruences, the twist being directly related to both the
angular velocity of the sources and their NUT-like properties. The
non-expanding type D solutions are also identified. All special cases are
derived in a simple and transparent way.Comment: 33 pages, 2 figures. To appear in Int. J. Mod. Phys.
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