The Geometry of Small Causal Diamonds

The geometry of causal diamonds or Alexandrov open sets whose initial and final events $p$ and $q$ respectively have a proper-time separation $\tau$ small compared with the curvature scale is a universal. The corrections from flat space are given as a power series in $\tau$ whose coefficients involve the curvature at the centre of the diamond. We give formulae for the total 4-volume $V$ of the diamond, the area $A$ of the intersection the future light cone of $p$ with the past light cone of $q$ and the 3-volume of the hyper-surface of largest 3-volume bounded by this intersection valid to ${\cal O} (\tau ^4)$. The formula for the 4-volume agrees with a previous result of Myrheim. Remarkably, the iso-perimetric ratio ${3V_3 \over 4 \pi} / ({A \over 4 \pi}) ^{3 \over 2}$ depends only on the energy density at the centre and is bigger than unity if the energy density is positive. These results are also shown to hold in all spacetime dimensions. Formulae are also given, valid to next non-trivial order, for causal domains in two spacetime dimensions. We suggest a number of applications, for instance, the directional dependence of the volume allows one to regard the volumes of causal diamonds as an observable providing a measurement of the Ricci tensor.Comment: 17 pages, no figures; Misprints in eqs.(62), (65), (66) and (81) corrected; a new note on page 13 (with 2 new equations) adde

Time-Dependent Multi-Centre Solutions from New Metrics with Holonomy Sim(n-2)

The classifications of holonomy groups in Lorentzian and in Euclidean signature are quite different. A group of interest in Lorentzian signature in n dimensions is the maximal proper subgroup of the Lorentz group, SIM(n-2). Ricci-flat metrics with SIM(2) holonomy were constructed by Kerr and Goldberg, and a single four-dimensional example with a non-zero cosmological constant was exhibited by Ghanam and Thompson. Here we reduce the problem of finding the general $n$-dimensional Einstein metric of SIM(n-2) holonomy, with and without a cosmological constant, to solving a set linear generalised Laplace and Poisson equations on an (n-2)-dimensional Einstein base manifold. Explicit examples may be constructed in terms of generalised harmonic functions. A dimensional reduction of these multi-centre solutions gives new time-dependent Kaluza-Klein black holes and monopoles, including time-dependent black holes in a cosmological background whose spatial sections have non-vanishing curvature.Comment: Typos corrected; 29 page

Compactifications of Deformed Conifolds, Branes and the Geometry of Qubits

We present three families of exact, cohomogeneity-one Einstein metrics in $(2n+2)$ dimensions, which are generalizations of the Stenzel construction of Ricci-flat metrics to those with a positive cosmological constant. The first family of solutions are Fubini-Study metrics on the complex projective spaces $CP^{n+1}$, written in a Stenzel form, whose principal orbits are the Stiefel manifolds $V_2(R ^{n+2})=SO(n+2)/SO(n)$ divided by $Z_2$. The second family are also Einstein-K\"ahler metrics, now on the Grassmannian manifolds $G_2(R^{n+3})=SO(n+3)/((SO(n+1)\times SO(2))$, whose principal orbits are the Stiefel manifolds $V_2(R^{n+2})$ (with no $Z_2$ factoring in this case). The third family are Einstein metrics on the product manifolds $S^{n+1}\times S^{n+1}$, and are K\"ahler only for $n=1$. Some of these metrics are believed to play a role in studies of consistent string theory compactifications and in the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence. We also elaborate on the geometric approach to quantum mechanics based on the K\"ahler geometry of Fubini-Study metrics on $CP^{n+1}$, and we apply the formalism to study the quantum entanglement of qubits.Comment: 31 page

Shielding of Space Vehicles by Magnetic Fields

Spacecraft shielding by magnetic field

Thermodynamics of Magnetised Kerr-Newman Black Holes

The thermodynamics of a magnetised Kerr-Newman black hole is studied to all orders in the appended magnetic field $B$. The asymptotic properties of the metric and other fields are dominated by the magnetic flux that extends to infinity along the axis, leading to subtleties in the calculation of conserved quantities such as the angular momentum and the mass. We present a detailed discussion of the implementation of a Wald-type procedure to calculate the angular momentum, showing how ambiguities that are absent in the usual asymptotically-flat case may be resolved by the requirement of gauge invariance. We also present a formalism from which we are able to obtain an expression for the mass of the magnetised black holes. The expressions for the mass and the angular momentum are shown to be compatible with the first law of thermodynamics and a Smarr type relation. Allowing the appended magnetic field $B$ to vary results in an extra term in the first law of the form $-\mu dB$ where $\mu$ is interpreted as an induced magnetic moment. Minimising the total energy with respect to the total charge $Q$ at fixed values of the angular momentum and energy of the seed metric allows an investigation of Wald's process. The Meissner effect is shown to hold for electrically neutral extreme black holes. We also present a derivation of the angular momentum for black holes in the four-dimensional STU model, which is ${\cal N}=2$ supergravity coupled to three vector multiplets.Comment: 27 page