5,143 research outputs found
`c' is the speed of light, isn't it?
Theories proposing a varying speed of light have recently been widely
promoted under the claim that they offer an alternative way of solving the
standard cosmological problems. Recent observational hints that the fine
structure constant may have varied during over cosmological scales also has
given impetus to these models. In theoretical physics the speed of light, ,
is hidden in almost all equations but with different facets that we try to
distinguish. Together with a reminder on scalar-tensor theories of gravity,
this sheds some light on these proposed varying speed of light theories.Comment: 14 pages, Late
The Covariant Approach to LRS Perfect Fluid Spacetime Geometries
The dynamics of perfect fluid spacetime geometries which exhibit {\em Local
Rotational Symmetry} (LRS) are reformulated in the language of a
"threading" decomposition of the spacetime manifold, where covariant fluid and
curvature variables are used. This approach presents a neat alternative to the
orthonormal frame formalism. The dynamical equations reduce to a set of
differential relations between purely scalar quantities. The consistency
conditions are worked out in a transparent way. We discuss their various
subcases in detail and focus in particular on models with higher symmetries
within the class of expanding spatially inhomogeneous LRS models, via a
consideration of functional dependencies between the dynamical variables.Comment: 25 pages, uuencoded/compressed postscript fil
Clinical significance of perioperative Q-wave myocardial infarction: The Emory Angioplasty versus Surgery Trial
AbstractObjective: The primary end point of the Emory Angioplasty versus Surgery Trial was a composite of three events: death, Q-wave infarction, and a new large defect on 3-year postoperative thallium scan. This study examines the clinical significance of Q-wave infarction in the surgical cohort (194 patients) of the Emory trial. Methods: Twenty patients (10.3%) with Q-wave infarctions were identified: 13 patients had inferior Q-wave infarctions and seven patients had anterior, lateral, septal, or posterior Q-wave infarctions (termed anterior Q-wave infarctions). Results: In the inferior Q-wave infarction group, postoperative cardiac catheterization (at 1 year or 3 years) in 11 patients revealed normal ejection fraction (ejection fraction >55%) in 10 (91%), no wall motion abnormalities in 10 (91%), and all grafts patent in 10 (91%). In the anterior Q-wave infarction group, postoperative catheterizatiOn in six patients revealed normal ejection fractions in five (83%), no wall motion abnormalities in three (50%), and all grafts patent in three (50%). Average peak postoperative creatine kinase MB levels were as follows: no Q-wave infarction (n = 174) 37 ± 43 IU/L, inferior Q-wave infarction 40 ± 27 IU/L, and anterior Q-wave infarction 58 ± 38 IU/L. Mortality in the 20 patients with Q-wave infarctions was 5% (1/20) at 3 years; in patients without a Q-wave infarction it was 6.3% (11/174) (p = 0.64). Of 17 patients with a Q-wave infarction who underwent postoperative catheterization, 11 (65%) had a normal ejection fraction, normal wall motion, and all grafts patent with an uneventful 3-year postoperative course. Conclusions: The core laboratory screening of postoperative electrocardiograms, particularly in the case of inferior Q-wave infarctions, appears to identify a number of patients as having a Q-wave infarction with minimal clinical significance. Q-wave infarction identified in the postoperative period seems to be a weak end point with little prognostic significance and therefore not valuable for future randomized trials. (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1996;112:1447-54
Bounce behaviour in Kantowski-Sachs and Bianchi Cosmologies
Many cosmological scenarios envisage either a bounce of the universe at early
times, or collapse of matter locally to form a black hole which re-expands into
a new expanding universe region. Energy conditions preclude this happening for
ordinary matter in general relativistic universes, but scalar or dilatonic
fields can violate some of these conditions, and so could possibly provide
bounce behaviour. In this paper we show that such bounces cannot occur in
Kantowski-Sachs models without violating the {\it reality condition}
. This also holds true for other isotropic spatially
homogenous Bianchi models, with the exception of closed
Friedmann-Robertson-Walker and Bianchi IX models; bounce behaviour violates the
{\em weak energy condition} and . We turn to the
Randall-Sundrum type braneworld scenario for a possible resolution of this
problem.Comment: Matches published versio
Quasi-Newtonian dust cosmologies
Exact dynamical equations for a generic dust matter source field in a
cosmological context are formulated with respect to a non-comoving
Newtonian-like timelike reference congruence and investigated for internal
consistency. On the basis of a lapse function (the relativistic
acceleration scalar potential) which evolves along the reference congruence
according to (), we find that
consistency of the quasi-Newtonian dynamical equations is not attained at the
first derivative level. We then proceed to show that a self-consistent set can
be obtained by linearising the dynamical equations about a (non-comoving) FLRW
background. In this case, on properly accounting for the first-order momentum
density relating to the non-relativistic peculiar motion of the matter,
additional source terms arise in the evolution and constraint equations
describing small-amplitude energy density fluctuations that do not appear in
similar gravitational instability scenarios in the standard literature.Comment: 25 pages, LaTeX 2.09 (10pt), to appear in Classical and Quantum
Gravity, Vol. 15 (1998
Shear free solutions in General Relativity Theory
The Goldberg-Sachs theorem is an exact result on shear-free null geodesics in
a vacuum spacetime. It is compared and contrasted with an exact result for
pressure-free matter: shear-free flows cannot both expand and rotate. In both
cases, the shear-free condition restricts the way distant matter can influence
the local gravitational field. This leads to intriguing discontinuities in the
relation of the General Relativity solutions to Newtonian solutions in the
timelike case, and of the full theory to the linearised theory in the null
case.
It is a pleasure to dedicate this paper to Josh Goldberg.Comment: 17 pages, no figures. For GRG special issue in honor of Josh Goldber
Group classification of the Sachs equations for a radiating axisymmetric, non-rotating, vacuum space-time
We carry out a Lie group analysis of the Sachs equations for a time-dependent
axisymmetric non-rotating space-time in which the Ricci tensor vanishes. These
equations, which are the first two members of the set of Newman-Penrose
equations, define the characteristic initial-value problem for the space-time.
We find a particular form for the initial data such that these equations admit
a Lie symmetry, and so defines a geometrically special class of such
spacetimes. These should additionally be of particular physical interest
because of this special geometric feature.Comment: 18 Pages. Submitted to Classical and Quantum Gravit
Leptogenesis through direct inflaton decay to light particles
We present a scenario of nonthermal leptogenesis following supersymmetric
hybrid inflation, in the case where inflaton decay to both heavy right handed
neutrino and SU(2)_L triplet superfields is kinematically disallowed. Lepton
asymmetry is generated through the decay of the inflaton into light particles
by the interference of one-loop diagrams with right handed neutrino and SU(2)_L
triplet exchange respectively. We require superpotential couplings explicitly
violating a U(1) R-symmetry and R-parity. However, the broken R-parity need not
have currently observable low-energy signatures. Also, the lightest sparticle
can be stable. Some R-parity violating slepton decays may, though, be
detectable in the future colliders. We take into account the constraints from
neutrino masses and mixing and the preservation of the primordial lepton
asymmetry.Comment: 11 pages including 3 figures, uses Revtex, minor corrections,
references adde
Nonperturbative gravito-magnetic fields
In a cold matter universe, the linearized gravito-magnetic tensor field
satisfies a transverse condition (vanishing divergence) when it is purely
radiative. We show that in the nonlinear theory, it is no longer possible to
maintain the transverse condition, since it leads to a non-terminating chain of
integrability conditions. These conditions are highly restrictive, and are
likely to hold only in models with special symmetries, such as the known
Bianchi and examples. In models with realistic inhomogeneity, the
gravito-magnetic field is necessarily non-transverse at second and higher
order.Comment: Minor changes to match published version; to appear in Phys. Rev.
On the Stability of the Einstein Static Universe
We show using covariant techniques that the Einstein static universe
containing a perfect fluid is always neutrally stable against small
inhomogeneous vector and tensor perturbations and neutrally stable against
adiabatic scalar density inhomogeneities so long as c_{s}^2>1/5, and unstable
otherwise. We also show that the stability is not significantly changed by the
presence of a self-interacting scalar field source, but we find that spatially
homogeneous Bianchi type IX modes destabilise an Einstein static universe. The
implications of these results for the initial state of the universe and its
pre-inflationary evolution are also discussed.Comment: some additional comments and references; version to appear in Class.
Quant. Gra
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