49 research outputs found
Gravitational shock waves and vacuum fluctuations
We show that the vacuum expectation value of the stress-energy tensor of a
scalar particle on the background of a spherical gravitational shock wave does
not give a finite expression in second order perturbation theory, contrary to
the case seen for the impulsive wave. No infrared divergences appear at this
order. This result shows that there is a qualitative difference between the
shock and impulsive wave solutions which is not exhibited in first order.Comment: Submitted to Class. and Quant. Grav.,7 pages, no figure
Comparison of Exact and perturbative Results for Two Metrics
We compare the exact and perturbative results in two metrics and show that
the spurious effects due to the perturbation method do not survive for
physically relevant quantities such as the vacuum expectation value of the
stress-energy tensor.Comment: 12 page
Vacuum Fluctuations of a massless spin-1/2 field around multiple cosmic strings
We study the interaction of a massless quantized spinor field with the
gravitational filed of N parallel static cosmic strings by using a perturbative
approach. We show that the presence of more than one cosmic string gives rise
to an additional contribution to the energy density of vacuum fluctuations,
thereby leading to a vacuum force attraction between two parallel cosmic
strings.Comment: Class. Quantum Grav. 14(1997) 321
A Model with Interacting Composites
We show that we can construct a model in 3+1 dimensions where only composite
scalars take place in physical processes as incoming and outgoing particles,
whereas constituent spinors only act as intermediary particles. Hence while the
spinor-spinor scattering goes to zero, the scattering of composites gives
nontrivial results.Comment: 9 Page
Can a Unruh Detector Feel a Cosmic String?
Unruh's detector calculation is used to study the effect of the defect angle
in a space-time with a cosmic string for both the excitation and
deexcitation cases. It is found that a rotating detector results in a non-zero
effect for both finite (small) and infinite (large) time
Vacuum fluctuations for spherical gravitational impulsive waves
We propose a method for calculating vacuum fluctuations on the background of
a spherical impulsive gravitational wave which results in a finite expression
for the vacuum expectation value of the stress-energy tensor. The method is
based on first including a cosmological constant as an auxiliary constant. We
show that the result for the vacuum expectation value of the stress-energy
tensor in second-order perturbation theory is finite if both the cosmological
constant and the infrared parameter tend to zero at the same rate.Comment: Class. Quantum Grav. 13(1996) 2683-269
Particle Creation If a Cosmic String Snaps
We calculate the Bogolubov coefficients for a metric which describes the
snapping of a cosmic string. If we insist on a matching condition for all times
{\it and} a particle interpretation, we find no particle creation.Comment: 10 pages, MRC.PH.17/9
Gravitational Instantons from Minimal Surfaces
Physical properties of gravitational instantons which are derivable from
minimal surfaces in 3-dimensional Euclidean space are examined using the
Newman-Penrose formalism for Euclidean signature. The gravitational instanton
that corresponds to the helicoid minimal surface is investigated in detail.
This is a metric of Bianchi Type , or E(2) which admits a hidden
symmetry due to the existence of a quadratic Killing tensor. It leads to a
complete separation of variables in the Hamilton-Jacobi equation for geodesics,
as well as in Laplace's equation for a massless scalar field. The scalar Green
function can be obtained in closed form which enables us to calculate the
vacuum fluctuations of a massless scalar field in the background of this
instanton.Comment: One figure available by fax upon request. Abstract missing in
original submission. Submitted to Classical and Quantum Gravit
Impulsive spherical gravitational waves
Penrose's identification with warp provides the general framework for
constructing the continuous form of impulsive gravitational wave metrics. We
present the 2-component spinor formalism for the derivation of the full family
of impulsive spherical gravitational wave metrics which brings out the power in
identification with warp and leads to the simplest derivation of exact
solutions. These solutions of the Einstein vacuum field equations are obtained
by cutting Minkowski space into two pieces along a null cone and re-identifying
them with warp which is given by an arbitrary non-linear holomorphic
transformation. Using 2-component spinor techniques we construct a new metric
describing an impulsive spherical gravitational wave where the vertex of the
null cone lies on a world-line with constant acceleration
Properties of Solutions in 2+1 Dimensions
We solve the Einstein equations for the 2+1 dimensions with and without
scalar fields. We calculate the entropy, Hawking temperature and the emission
probabilities for these cases. We also compute the Newman-Penrose coefficients
for different solutions and compare them.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figures, PlainTeX, Dedicated to Prof. Yavuz Nutku on his
60th birthday. References adde