227 research outputs found
Singular shell embedded into a cosmological model
We generalize Israel's formalism to cover singular shells embedded in a
non-vacuum Universe. That is, we deduce the relativistic equation of motion for
a thin shell embedded in a Schwarzschild/Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker
spacetime. Also, we review the embedding of a Schwarzschild mass into a
cosmological model using "curvature" coordinates and give solutions with
(Sch/FLRW) and without the embedded mass (FLRW).Comment: 25 pages, 2 figure
Axially symmetric Einstein-Straus models
The existence of static and axially symmetric regions in a Friedman-Lemaitre
cosmology is investigated under the only assumption that the cosmic time and
the static time match properly on the boundary hypersurface. It turns out that
the most general form for the static region is a two-sphere with arbitrarily
changing radius which moves along the axis of symmetry in a determined way. The
geometry of the interior region is completely determined in terms of background
objects. When any of the most widely used energy-momentum contents for the
interior region is imposed, both the interior geometry and the shape of the
static region must become exactly spherically symmetric. This shows that the
Einstein-Straus model, which is the generally accepted answer for the null
influence of the cosmic expansion on the local physics, is not a robust model
and it is rather an exceptional and isolated situation. Hence, its suitability
for solving the interplay between cosmic expansion and local physics is
doubtful and more adequate models should be investigated.Comment: Latex, no figure
Exact Charged 2-Body Motion and the Static Balance Condition in Lineal Gravity
We find an exact solution to the charged 2-body problem in
dimensional lineal gravity which provides the first example of a relativistic
system that generalizes the Majumdar-Papapetrou condition for static balance.Comment: latex,7 pages, 2 figure
The evolution of interdisciplinarity in physics research
Science, being a social enterprise, is subject to fragmentation into groups
that focus on specialized areas or topics. Often new advances occur through
cross-fertilization of ideas between sub-fields that otherwise have little
overlap as they study dissimilar phenomena using different techniques. Thus to
explore the nature and dynamics of scientific progress one needs to consider
the large-scale organization and interactions between different subject areas.
Here, we study the relationships between the sub-fields of Physics using the
Physics and Astronomy Classification Scheme (PACS) codes employed for
self-categorization of articles published over the past 25 years (1985-2009).
We observe a clear trend towards increasing interactions between the different
sub-fields. The network of sub-fields also exhibits core-periphery
organization, the nucleus being dominated by Condensed Matter and General
Physics. However, over time Interdisciplinary Physics is steadily increasing
its share in the network core, reflecting a shift in the overall trend of
Physics research.Comment: Published version, 10 pages, 8 figures + Supplementary Informatio
On Properties of Vacuum Axial Symmetric Spacetime of Gravitomagnetic Monopole in Cylindrical Coordinates
We investigate general relativistic effects associated with the
gravitomagnetic monopole moment of gravitational source through the analysis of
the motion of test particles and electromagnetic fields distribution in the
spacetime around nonrotating cylindrical NUT source. We consider the circular
motion of test particles in NUT spacetime, their characteristics and the
dependence of effective potential on the radial coordinate for the different
values of NUT parameter and orbital momentum of test particles. It is shown
that the bounds of stability for circular orbits are displaced toward the event
horizon with the growth of monopole moment of the NUT object. In addition, we
obtain exact analytical solutions of Maxwell equations for magnetized and
charged cylindrical NUT stars.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures, 1 tabl
Gravitational lensing in the strong field limit
We provide an analytic method to discriminate among different types of black
holes on the ground of their strong field gravitational lensing properties. We
expand the deflection angle of the photon in the neighbourhood of complete
capture, defining a strong field limit, in opposition to the standard weak
field limit. This expansion is worked out for a completely generic spherically
symmetric spacetime, without any reference to the field equations and just
assuming that the light ray follows the geodesics equation. We prove that the
deflection angle always diverges logarithmically when the minimum impact
parameter is reached. We apply this general formalism to Schwarzschild,
Reissner-Nordstrom and Janis-Newman-Winicour black holes. We then compare the
coefficients characterizing these metrics and find that different collapsed
objects are characterized by different strong field limits. The strong field
limit coefficients are directly connected to the observables, such as the
position and the magnification of the relativistic images. As a concrete
example, we consider the black hole at the centre of our galaxy and estimate
the optical resolution needed to investigate its strong field behaviour through
its relativistic images.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, in press on Physical Review
Consensus formation on coevolving networks: groups' formation and structure
We study the effect of adaptivity on a social model of opinion dynamics and
consensus formation. We analyze how the adaptivity of the network of contacts
between agents to the underlying social dynamics affects the size and
topological properties of groups and the convergence time to the stable final
state. We find that, while on static networks these properties are determined
by percolation phenomena, on adaptive networks the rewiring process leads to
different behaviors: Adaptive rewiring fosters group formation by enhancing
communication between agents of similar opinion, though it also makes possible
the division of clusters. We show how the convergence time is determined by the
characteristic time of link rearrangement. We finally investigate how the
adaptivity yields nontrivial correlations between the internal topology and the
size of the groups of agreeing agents.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures,to appear in a special proceedings issue of J.
Phys. A covering the "Complex Networks: from Biology to Information
Technology" conference (Pula, Italy, 2007
Quantum singularity of Levi-Civita spacetimes
Quantum singularities in general relativistic spacetimes are determined by
the behavior of quantum test particles. A static spacetime is quantum
mechanically singular if the spatial portion of the wave operator is not
essentially self-adjoint. Here Weyl's limit point-limit circle criterion is
used to determine whether a wave operator is essentially self-adjoint. This
test is then applied to scalar wave packets in Levi-Civita spacetimes to help
elucidate the physical properties of the spacetimes in terms of their metric
parameters
Microwave Background Anisotropies and Nonlinear Structures I. Improved Theoretical Models
A new method is proposed for modelling spherically symmetric inhomogeneities
in the Universe. The inhomogeneities have finite size and are compensated, so
they do not exert any measurable gravitational force beyond their boundary. The
region exterior to the perturbation is represented by a
Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) Universe, which we use to study the anisotropy
in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) induced by the cluster. All
calculations are performed in a single, global coordinate system, with
nonlinear gravitational effects fully incorporated. An advantage of the gauge
choices employed here is that the resultant equations are essentially Newtonian
in form. Examination of the problem of specifying initial data shows that the
new model presented here has many advantages over `Swiss cheese' and other
models. Numerical implementation of the equations derived here is described in
a subsequent paper.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures; Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
Society (MNRAS), in pres
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