2,806 research outputs found
Closed Trapped Surfaces in Cosmology
The existence of closed trapped surfaces need not imply a cosmological
singularity when the spatial hypersurfaces are compact. This is illustrated by
a variety of examples, in particular de Sitter spacetime admits many closed
trapped surfaces and obeys the null convergence condition but is non-singular
in the k=+1 frame.Comment: 11 pages. To appear in GRG, Vol 35 (August issue
Superluminal travel requires negative energies
I investigate the relationship between faster-than-light travel and
weak-energy-condition violation, i.e., negative energy densities. In a general
spacetime it is difficult to define faster-than-light travel, and I give an
example of a metric which appears to allow superluminal travel, but in fact is
just flat space. To avoid such difficulties, I propose a definition of
superluminal travel which requires that the path to be traveled reach a
destination surface at an earlier time than any neighboring path. With this
definition (and assuming the generic condition) I prove that superluminal
travel requires weak-energy-condition violation.Comment: 5 pages, RevTeX, 2 figures with epsf. This paper now contains all the
material of gr-qc/6805003 and gr-qc/9806091 since these became a single
article in Phys. Rev. Let
Detection Techniques of Microsecond Gamma-Ray Bursts using Ground-Based Telescopes
Gamma-ray observations above 200 MeV are conventionally made by
satellite-based detectors. The EGRET detector on the Compton Gamma Ray
Observatory (CGRO) has provided good sensitivity for the detection of bursts
lasting for more than 200 ms. Theoretical predictions of high-energy gamma-ray
bursts produced by quantum-mechanical decay of primordial black holes (Hawking
1971) suggest the emission of bursts on shorter time scales. The final stage of
a primordial black hole results in a burst of gamma-rays, peaking around 250
MeV and lasting for a tenth of a microsecond or longer depending on particle
physics. In this work we show that there is an observational window using
ground-based imaging Cherenkov detectors to measure gamma-ray burst emission at
energies E greater than 200 MeV. This technique, with a sensitivity for bursts
lasting nanoseconds to several microseconds, is based on the detection of
multi-photon-initiated air showers.Comment: accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa
Quantum state of the multiverse
A third quantization formalism is applied to a simplified multiverse
scenario. A well defined quantum state of the multiverse is obtained which
agrees with standard boundary condition proposals. These states are found to be
squeezed, and related to accelerating universes: they share similar properties
to those obtained previously by Grishchuk and Siderov. We also comment on
related works that have criticized the third quantization approach.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figure
Entropic gravity, minimum temperature, and modified Newtonian dynamics
Verlinde's heuristic argument for the interpretation of the standard
Newtonian gravitational force as an entropic force is generalized by the
introduction of a minimum temperature (or maximum wave length) for the
microscopic degrees of freedom on the holographic screen. With the simplest
possible setup, the resulting gravitational acceleration felt by a test mass m
from a point mass M at a distance R is found to be of the form of the modified
Newtonian dynamics (MOND) as suggested by Milgrom. The corresponding MOND-type
acceleration constant is proportional to the minimum temperature, which can be
interpreted as the Unruh temperature of an emerging de-Sitter space. This
provides a possible explanation of the connection between local MOND-type
two-body systems and cosmology.Comment: 12 pages, v6: published versio
Higher Spin Field Equation in a Virtual Black Hole Metric
In a quantum theory of gravity, fluctuations about the vacuum may be
considered as Planck scale virtual black holes appearing and annihilating in
pairs. Incident fields scattering from such fluctuations would lose quantum
coherence.
In a recent paper (hep-th/9705147), Hawking and Ross obtained an estimate for
the magnitude of this loss in the case of a scalar field. Their calculation
exploited the separability of the conformally invariant scalar wave equation in
the electrovac C metric background, which is justified as a sufficiently good
description of a virtual black hole pair in the limit considered.
In anticipation of extending this result, the Teukolsky equations for
incident fields of higher spin are separated on the vacuum C metric background
and solved in the same limit. With the exception of spin 2 fields, these
equations are shown in addition to be valid on the electrovac C metric
background. The angular solutions are found to reduce to the spin- weighted
spherical harmonics, and the radial solutions are found to approach
hypergeometrics close to the horizons.
By defining appropriate scattering boundary conditions, these solutions are
then used to estimate the transmission and reflection coefficients for an
incident field of spin s. The transmission coefficient is required in order to
estimate the loss of quantum coherence of an incident field through scattering
off virtual black holes.Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures, LaTeX, minor typo correcte
The Ori-Soen time machine
Ori and Soen have proposed a spacetime which has closed causal curves on the
boundary of a region of normal causality, all within a region where the weak
energy condition (positive energy density) is satisfied. I analyze the causal
structure of this spacetime in some simplified models, show that the Cauchy
horizon is compactly generated, and argue that any attempt to build such a
spacetime with normal matter might lead to singular behavior where the
causality violation would otherwise take place.Comment: 5 pages, RevTeX, 7 figures with epsf, miscellaneous clarifications in
v2, minor updates to correspond to version to appear in PR
Anti-de Sitter wormhole kink
The metric describing a given finite sector of a four-dimensional
asymptotically anti-de Sitter wormhole can be transformed into the metric of
the time constant sections of a Tangherlini black hole in a five-dimensional
anti-de Sitter spacetime when one allows light cones to tip over on the
hypersurfaces according to the conservation laws of an one-kink. The resulting
kinked metric can be maximally extended, giving then rise to an instantonic
structure on the euclidean continuation of both the Tangherlini time and the
radial coordinate. In the semiclassical regime, this kink is related to the
existence of closed timelike curves.Comment: 10 pages, to appear in IJMP
Gravitational Entropy and Global Structure
The underlying reason for the existence of gravitational entropy is traced to
the impossibility of foliating topologically non-trivial Euclidean spacetimes
with a time function to give a unitary Hamiltonian evolution. In dimensions
the entropy can be expressed in terms of the obstructions to foliation,
bolts and Misner strings, by a universal formula. We illustrate with a number
of examples including spaces with nut charge. In these cases, the entropy is
not just a quarter the area of the bolt, as it is for black holes.Comment: 18 pages. References adde
Pair Creation of Black Holes During Inflation
Black holes came into existence together with the universe through the
quantum process of pair creation in the inflationary era. We present the
instantons responsible for this process and calculate the pair creation rate
from the no boundary proposal for the wave function of the universe. We find
that this proposal leads to physically sensible results, which fit in with
other descriptions of pair creation, while the tunnelling proposal makes
unphysical predictions. We then describe how the pair created black holes
evolve during inflation. In the classical solution, they grow with the horizon
scale during the slow roll-down of the inflaton field; this is shown to
correspond to the flux of field energy across the horizon according to the
First Law of black hole mechanics. When quantum effects are taken into account,
however, it is found that most black holes evaporate before the end of
inflation. Finally, we consider the pair creation of magnetically charged black
holes, which cannot evaporate. In standard Einstein-Maxwell theory we find that
their number in the presently observable universe is exponentially small. We
speculate how this conclusion may change if dilatonic theories are applied.Comment: 29 pages, LaTeX, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D; minor typos
corrected, missing minus sign in Eq. (3.11) inserte
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