Stresses in lipid membranes

The stresses in a closed lipid membrane described by the Helfrich hamiltonian, quadratic in the extrinsic curvature, are identified using Noether's theorem. Three equations describe the conservation of the stress tensor: the normal projection is identified as the shape equation describing equilibrium configurations; the tangential projections are consistency conditions on the stresses which capture the fluid character of such membranes. The corresponding torque tensor is also identified. The use of the stress tensor as a basis for perturbation theory is discussed. The conservation laws are cast in terms of the forces and torques on closed curves. As an application, the first integral of the shape equation for axially symmetric configurations is derived by examining the forces which are balanced along circles of constant latitude.Comment: 16 pages, introduction rewritten, other minor changes, new references added, version to appear in Journal of Physics

Remarks on Conserved Quantities and Entropy of BTZ Black Hole Solutions. Part II: BCEA Theory

The BTZ black hole solution for (2+1)-spacetime is considered as a solution of a triad-affine theory (BCEA) in which topological matter is introduced to replace the cosmological constant in the model. Conserved quantities and entropy are calculated via Noether theorem, reproducing in a geometrical and global framework earlier results found in the literature using local formalisms. Ambiguities in global definitions of conserved quantities are considered in detail. A dual and covariant Legendre transformation is performed to re-formulate BCEA theory as a purely metric (natural) theory (BCG) coupled to topological matter. No ambiguities in the definition of mass and angular momentum arise in BCG theory. Moreover, gravitational and matter contributions to conserved quantities and entropy are isolated. Finally, a comparison of BCEA and BCG theories is carried out by relying on the results obtained in both theories.Comment: PlainTEX, 20 page

Second variation of the Helfrich-Canham Hamiltonian and reparametrization invariance

A covariant approach towards a theory of deformations is developed to examine both the first and second variation of the Helfrich-Canham Hamiltonian -- quadratic in the extrinsic curvature -- which describes fluid vesicles at mesoscopic scales. Deformations are decomposed into tangential and normal components; At first order, tangential deformations may always be identified with a reparametrization; at second order, they differ. The relationship between tangential deformations and reparametrizations, as well as the coupling between tangential and normal deformations, is examined at this order for both the metric and the extrinsic curvature tensors. Expressions for the expansion to second order in deformations of geometrical invariants constructed with these tensors are obtained; in particular, the expansion of the Hamiltonian to this order about an equilibrium is considered. Our approach applies as well to any geometrical model for membranes.Comment: 20 page

Hamiltonian Analysis of non-chiral Plebanski Theory and its Generalizations

We consider non-chiral, full Lorentz group-based Plebanski formulation of general relativity in its version that utilizes the Lagrange multiplier field Phi with "internal" indices. The Hamiltonian analysis of this version of the theory turns out to be simpler than in the previously considered in the literature version with Phi carrying spacetime indices. We then extend the Hamiltonian analysis to a more general class of theories whose action contains scalars invariants constructed from Phi. Such theories have recently been considered in the context of unification of gravity with other forces. We show that these more general theories have six additional propagating degrees of freedom as compared to general relativity, something that has not been appreciated in the literature treating them as being not much different from GR.Comment: 10 page

Hamiltonian dynamics of extended objects

We consider a relativistic extended object described by a reparametrization invariant local action that depends on the extrinsic curvature of the worldvolume swept out by the object as it evolves. We provide a Hamiltonian formulation of the dynamics of such higher derivative models which is motivated by the ADM formulation of general relativity. The canonical momenta are identified by looking at boundary behavior under small deformations of the action; the relationship between the momentum conjugate to the embedding functions and the conserved momentum density is established. The canonical Hamiltonian is constructed explicitly; the constraints on the phase space, both primary and secondary, are identified and the role they play in the theory described. The multipliers implementing the primary constraints are identified in terms of the ADM lapse and shift variables and Hamilton's equations shown to be consistent with the Euler-Lagrange equations.Comment: 24 pages, late

The one-loop elastic coefficients for the Helfrich membrane in higher dimensions

Using a covariant geometric approach we obtain the effective bending couplings for a 2-dimensional rigid membrane embedded into a $(2+D)$-dimensional Euclidean space. The Hamiltonian for the membrane has three terms: The first one is quadratic in its mean extrinsic curvature. The second one is proportional to its Gaussian curvature, and the last one is proportional to its area. The results we obtain are in agreement with those finding that thermal fluctuations soften the 2-dimensional membrane embedded into a 3-dimensional Euclidean space.Comment: 9 page

The Generalised Raychaudhuri Equations : Examples

Specific examples of the generalized Raychaudhuri Equations for the evolution of deformations along families of $D$ dimensional surfaces embedded in a background $N$ dimensional spacetime are discussed. These include string worldsheets embedded in four dimensional spacetimes and two dimensional timelike hypersurfaces in a three dimensional curved background. The issue of focussing of families of surfaces is introduced and analysed in some detail.Comment: 8 pages (Revtex, Twocolumn format). Corrected(see section on string worldsheets), reorganised and shortened slightl

Hamiltonian dynamics for Einstein's action in G→\rightarrow0 limit

The Hamiltonian analysis for the Einstein's action in $G\to 0$ limit is performed. Considering the original configuration space without involve the usual $ADM$ variables we show that the version $Gto 0$ for Einstein's action is devoid of physical degrees of freedom. In addition, we will identify the relevant symmetries of the theory such as the extended action, the extended Hamiltonian, the gauge transformations and the algebra of the constraints. As complement part of this work, we develop the covariant canonical formalism where will be constructed a closed and gauge invariant symplectic form. In particular, using the geometric form we will obtain by means of other way the same symmetries that we found using the Hamiltonian analysis

Holographic Formulation of Quantum Supergravity

We show that ${\cal N}=1$ supergravity with a cosmological constant can be expressed as constrained topological field theory based on the supergroup $Osp(1|4)$. The theory is then extended to include timelike boundaries with finite spatial area. Consistent boundary conditions are found which induce a boundary theory based on a supersymmetric Chern-Simons theory. The boundary state space is constructed from states of the boundary supersymmetric Chern-Simons theory on the punctured two sphere and naturally satisfies the Bekenstein bound, where area is measured by the area operator of quantum supergravity.Comment: 30 pages, no figur

Brst Cohomology and Invariants of 4D Gravity in Ashtekar Variables

We discuss the BRST cohomologies of the invariants associated with the description of classical and quantum gravity in four dimensions, using the Ashtekar variables. These invariants are constructed from several BRST cohomology sequences. They provide a systematic and clear characterization of non-local observables in general relativity with unbroken diffeomorphism invariance, and could yield further differential invariants for four-manifolds. The theory includes fluctuations of the vierbein fields, but there exits a non-trivial phase which can be expressed in terms of Witten's topological quantum field theory. In this phase, the descent sequences are degenerate, and the corresponding classical solutions can be identified with the conformally self-dual sector of Einstein manifolds. The full theory includes fluctuations which bring the system out of this sector while preserving diffeomorphism invariance.Comment: 15 page