Derivation of fluid dynamics from kinetic theory with the 14--moment approximation

We review the traditional derivation of the fluid-dynamical equations from kinetic theory according to Israel and Stewart. We show that their procedure to close the fluid-dynamical equations of motion is not unique. Their approach contains two approximations, the first being the so-called 14-moment approximation to truncate the single-particle distribution function. The second consists in the choice of equations of motion for the dissipative currents. Israel and Stewart used the second moment of the Boltzmann equation, but this is not the only possible choice. In fact, there are infinitely many moments of the Boltzmann equation which can serve as equations of motion for the dissipative currents. All resulting equations of motion have the same form, but the transport coefficients are different in each case.Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, typos fixed and discussions added; EPJA: Topical issue on "Relativistic Hydro- and Thermodynamics

Massive spinor fields in flat spacetimes with non-trivial topology

The vacuum expectation value of the stress-energy tensor is calculated for spin $1\over 2$ massive fields in several multiply connected flat spacetimes. We examine the physical effects of topology on manifolds such as $R^3 \times S^1$, $R^2\times T^2$, $R^1 \times T^3$, the Mobius strip and the Klein bottle. We find that the spinor vacuum stress tensor has the opposite sign to, and twice the magnitude of, the scalar tensor in orientable manifolds. Extending the above considerations to the case of Misner spacetime, we calculate the vacuum expectation value of spinor stress-energy tensor in this space and discuss its implications for the chronology protection conjecture.Comment: 18 pages, Some of the equations in section VI as well as typographical errors corrected, 5 figures, Revtex

Semiclassical Stability of the Extreme Reissner-Nordstrom Black Hole

The stress-energy tensor of a free quantized scalar field is calculated in the extreme Reissner-Nordstr\"{o}m black hole spacetime in the zero temperature vacuum state. The stress-energy appears to be regular on the event horizon, contrary to the suggestion provided by two-dimensional calculations. An analytic calculation on the event horizon for a thermal state shows that if the temperature is nonzero then the stress-energy diverges strongly there.Comment: 10 pages, REVTeX, 4 figures in separate uuencoded compressed fil

Renormalization of the charged scalar field in curved space

The DeWitt-Schwinger proper time point-splitting procedure is applied to a massive complex scalar field with arbitrary curvature coupling interacting with a classical electromagnetic field in a general curved spacetime. The scalar field current is found to have a linear divergence. The presence of the external background gauge field is found to modify the stress-energy tensor results of Christensen for the neutral scalar field by adding terms of the form $(eF)^2$ to the logarithmic counterterms. These results are shown to be expected from an analysis of the degree of divergence of scalar quantum electrodynamics.Comment: 24 pages REVTe

Vanishing of Gravitational Particle Production in the Formation of Cosmic Strings

We consider the gravitationally induced particle production from the quantum vacuum which is defined by a free, massless and minimally coupled scalar field during the formation of a gauge cosmic string. Previous discussions of this topic estimate the power output per unit length along the string to be of the order of $10^{68}$ ergs/sec/cm in the s-channel. We find that this production may be completely suppressed. A similar result is also expected to hold for the number of produced photons.Comment: 10 pages, Plain LaTex. Minor improvements. To appear in PR

Exact metric around a wiggly cosmic string

The exact metric around a wiggly cosmic string is found by modifying the energy momentum-tensor of a straight infinitely thin cosmic string to include an electric current along the symmetry axis.Comment: 5 page

Cosmic Censorship: The Role of Quantum Gravity

The cosmic censorship hypothesis introduced by Penrose thirty years ago is still one of the most important open questions in {\it classical} general relativity. In this essay we put forward the idea that cosmic censorship is intrinsically a {\it quantum gravity} phenomena. To that end we construct a gedanken experiment in which cosmic censorship is violated within the purely {\it classical} framework of general relativity. We prove, however, that {\it quantum} effects restore the validity of the conjecture. This suggests that classical general relativity is inconsistent and that cosmic censorship might be enforced only by a quantum theory of gravity.Comment: 7 pages. This essay received the Second Prize from the Gravity Research Foundation 200

Second Order Dissipative Fluid Dynamics for Ultra-Relativistic Nuclear Collisions

The M\"uller-Israel-Stewart second order theory of relativistic imperfect fluids based on Grad's moment method is used to study the expansion of hot matter produced in ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions. The temperature evolution is investigated in the framework of the Bjorken boost-invariant scaling limit. The results of these second-order theories are compared to those of first-order theories due to Eckart and to Landau and Lifshitz and those of zeroth order (perfect fluid) due to Euler.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, size of y-axis tick marks for Figs. 3 and 4 fixe