6 research outputs found
Quantum Gravity Hamiltonian for Manifolds with Boundary
In canonical quantum gravity, when space is a compact manifold with boundary
there is a Hamiltonian given by an integral over the boundary. Here we compute
the action of this `boundary Hamiltonian' on observables corresponding to open
Wilson lines in the new variables formulation of quantum gravity. In cases
where the boundary conditions fix the metric on the boundary (e.g., in the
asymptotically Minkowskian case) one can obtain a finite result, given by a
`shift operator' generating translations of the Wilson line in the direction of
its tangent vector. A similar shift operator serves as the Hamiltonian
constraint in Morales-T\'ecotl and Rovelli's work on quantum gravity coupled to
Weyl spinors. This suggests the appearance of an induced field theory of Weyl
spinors on the boundary, analogous to that considered in Carlip's work on the
statistical mechanics of the 2+1-dimensional black hole.Comment: 17 pages in LaTeX format, vastly improved versio
Matter effects on neutrino oscillations in gravitational and magnetic fields
When neutrinos propagate in a background, their gravitational couplings are
modified by their weak interactions with the particles in the background. In a
medium that contains electrons but no muons or taons, the matter-induced
gravitational couplings of neutrinos are different for the various neutrino
flavors, and they must be taken into account in describing the phenomena
associated with the neutrino oscillations in the presence of strong
gravitational fields. Here we incorporate those couplings in that description,
including also the effects of a magnetic field, and consider the implications
that they have for the emission of high energy neutrinos in the vicinity of
Active Galactic Nuclei.Comment: Latex, 12 page
Critical Behavior of Dimensionally Continued Black Holes
The critical behavior of black holes in even and odd dimensional spacetimes
is studied based on Ba\~nados-Teitelboim-Zanelli (BTZ) dimensionally continued
black holes. In even dimensions it is found that asymptotically flat and anti
de-Sitter Reissner-Nordstr\"om black holes present up to two second order phase
transitions. The case of asymptotically anti-de-Sitter Schwarzschild black
holes present only one critical transition and a minimum of temperature, which
occurs at the transition. Finally, it is shown that phase transitions are
absent in odd dimensions.Comment: 21 pages in Latex format, no figures, vastly improved version to
appear in Phys. Rev.