1,027 research outputs found
Editorial note to "The beginning of the world from the point of view of quantum theory"
This is an editorial note to accompany reprinting as a Golden Oldie in the
Journal of General Relativity and Gravitation of the famous note by Georges
Lemaitre on the quantum birth of the universe, published in Nature in 1931. We
explain why this short (457 words) article can be considered to be the true
"Charter" of the modern Big Bang theory.Comment: This is an editorial comment to accompany reprinting of a classical
paper in the Journal of General Relativity and Gravitation. 16 pages, 2
figure
"Cut-bristles": a sex-limited mutant phenotype of male orbital bristles of Ceratitis capitata
International audienc
Velocity dominated singularities in the cheese slice universe
We investigate the properties of spacetimes resulting from matching together
exact solutions using the Darmois matching conditions. In particular we focus
on the asymptotically velocity term dominated property (AVTD). We propose a
criterion that can be used to test if a spacetime constructed from a matching
can be considered AVTD. Using the Cheese Slice universe as an example, we show
that a spacetime constructed from a such a matching can inherit the AVTD
property from the original spacetimes. Furthermore the singularity resulting
from this particular matching is an AVTD singularity.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in the International
Journal of Modern Physics
Reflection and Transmission at the Apparent Horizon during Gravitational Collapse
We examine the wave-functionals describing the collapse of a self-gravitating
dust ball in an exact quantization of the gravity-dust system. We show that
ingoing (collapsing) dust shell modes outside the apparent horizon must
necessarily be accompanied by outgoing modes inside the apparent horizon, whose
amplitude is suppressed by the square root of the Boltzmann factor at the
Hawking temperature. Likewise, ingoing modes in the interior must be
accompanied by outgoing modes in the exterior, again with an amplitude
suppressed by the same factor. A suitable superposition of the two solutions is
necessary to conserve the dust probability flux across the apparent horizon,
thus each region contains both ingoing and outgoing dust modes. If one
restricts oneself to considering only the modes outside the apparent horizon
then one should think of the apparent horizon as a partial reflector, the
probability for a shell to reflect being given by the Boltzmann factor at the
Hawking temperature determined by the mass contained within it. However, if one
considers the entire wave function, the outgoing wave in the exterior is seen
to be the transmission through the horizon of the interior outgoing wave that
accompanies the collapsing shells. This transmission could allow information
from the interior to be transferred to the exterior.Comment: 19 pages, no figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Matching LTB and FRW spacetimes through a null hypersurface
Matching of a LTB metric representing dust matter to a background FRW
universe across a null hypersurface is studied. In general, an unrestricted
matching is possible only if the background FRW is flat or open. There is in
general no gravitational impulsive wave present on the null hypersurface which
is shear-free and expanding. Special cases of the vanishing pressure or energy
density on the hypersurface is discussed. In the case of vanishing energy
momentum tensor of the null hypersurface, i.e. in the case of a null boundary,
it turns out that all possible definitions of the Hubble parameter on the null
hypersurface, being those of LTB or that of FRW, are equivalent, and that a
flat FRW can only be joined smoothly to a flat LTB.Comment: 9 page
Topological Quintessence
A global monopole (or other topological defect) formed during a recent phase
transition with core size comparable to the present Hubble scale, could induce
the observed accelerating expansion of the universe. In such a model,
topological considerations trap the scalar field close to a local maximum of
its potential in a cosmologically large region of space. We perform detailed
numerical simulations of such an inhomogeneous dark energy system (topological
quintessence) minimally coupled to gravity, in a flat background of initially
homogeneous matter. We find that when the energy density of the field in the
monopole core starts dominating the background density, the spacetime in the
core starts to accelerate its expansion in accordance to a \Lambda CDM model
with an effective inhomogeneous spherical dark energy density parameter
\Omega_\Lambda(r). The matter density profile is found to respond to the global
monopole profile via an anti-correlation (matter underdensity in the monopole
core). Away from the monopole core, the spacetime is effectively
Einstein-deSitter (\Omega_\Lambda(r_{out}) -> 0) while at the center
\Omega_\Lambda(r ~ 0) is maximum. We fit the numerically obtained expansion
rate at the monopole core to the Union2 data and show that the quality of fit
is almost identical to that of \Lambda CDM. Finally, we discuss potential
observational signatures of this class of inhomogeneous dark energy models.Comment: Accepted in Phys. Rev. D (to appear). Added observational bounds on
parameters. 10 pages (two column revtex), 6 figures. The Mathematica files
used to produce the figures of this study may be downloaded from
http://leandros.physics.uoi.gr/topquin
More examples of structure formation in the Lemaitre-Tolman model
In continuing our earlier research, we find the formulae needed to determine
the arbitrary functions in the Lemaitre-Tolman model when the evolution
proceeds from a given initial velocity distribution to a final state that is
determined either by a density distribution or by a velocity distribution. In
each case the initial and final distributions uniquely determine the L-T model
that evolves between them, and the sign of the energy-function is determined by
a simple inequality. We also show how the final density profile can be more
accurately fitted to observational data than was done in our previous paper. We
work out new numerical examples of the evolution: the creation of a galaxy
cluster out of different velocity distributions, reflecting the current data on
temperature anisotropies of CMB, the creation of the same out of different
density distributions, and the creation of a void. The void in its present
state is surrounded by a nonsingular wall of high density.Comment: LaTeX 2e with eps figures. 30 pages, 11 figures, 30 figure files.
Revision matches published versio
Macroscopic Discontinuous Shear Thickening vs Local Shear Jamming in Cornstarch
We study the emergence of discontinuous shear-thickening (DST) in cornstarch,
by combining macroscopic rheometry with local Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
measurements. We bring evidence that macroscopic DST is observed only when the
flow separates into a low-density flowing and a high-density jammed region. In
the shear-thickened steady state, the local rheology in the flowing region, is
not DST but, strikingly, is often shear-thinning. Our data thus show that the
stress jump measured during DST, in cornstach, does not capture a secondary,
high-viscosity branch of the local steady rheology, but results from the
existence of a shear jamming limit at volume fractions quite significantly
below random close packing.Comment: To be published in PR
Direct probing of band-structure Berry phase in diluted magnetic semiconductors
We report on experimental evidence of the Berry phase accumulated by the
charge carrier wave function in single-domain nanowires made from a
(Ga,Mn)(As,P) diluted ferromagnetic semiconductor layer. Its signature on the
mesoscopic transport measurements is revealed as unusual patterns in the
magnetoconductance, that are clearly distinguished from the universal
conductance fluctuations. We show that these patterns appear in a magnetic
field region where the magnetization rotates coherently and are related to a
change in the band-structure Berry phase as the magnetization direction
changes. They should be thus considered as a band structure Berry phase
fingerprint of the effective magnetic monopoles in the momentum space. We argue
that this is an efficient method to vary the band structure in a controlled way
and to probe it directly. Hence, (Ga,Mn)As appears to be a very interesting
test bench for new concepts based on this geometrical phase.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
Alternative Methods of Describing Structure Formation in the Lemaitre-Tolman Model
We describe several new ways of specifying the behaviour of Lemaitre-Tolman
(LT) models, in each case presenting the method for obtaining the LT arbitrary
functions from the given data, and the conditions for existence of such
solutions. In addition to our previously considered `boundary conditions', the
new ones include: a simultaneous big bang, a homogeneous density or velocity
distribution in the asymptotic future, a simultaneous big crunch, a
simultaneous time of maximal expansion, a chosen density or velocity
distribution in the asymptotic future, only growing or only decaying
fluctuations. Since these conditions are combined in pairs to specify a
particular model, this considerably increases the possible ways of designing LT
models with desired properties.Comment: Accepted by Phys Rev D. RevTeX 4, 13 pages, no figures. Part of a
series: gr-qc/0106096, gr-qc/0303016, gr-qc/0309119. Replacement contains
very minor correction
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