15,719 research outputs found
Branes as BIons
A BIon may be defined as a finite energy solution of a non-linear field
theory with distributional sources. By contrast a soliton is usually defined to
have no sources. I show how harmonic coordinates map the exteriors of the
topologically and causally non-trivial spacetimes of extreme p-branes to BIonic
solutions of the Einstein equations in a topologically trivial spacetime in
which the combined gravitational and matter energy momentum is located on
distributional sources. As a consequence the tension of BPS p-branes is
classically unrenormalized. The result holds equally for spacetimes with
singularities and for those, like the M-5-brane, which are everywhere
singularity free.Comment: Latex, 9 pages, no figure
Gravitational Instantons, Confocal Quadrics and Separability of the Schr\"odinger and Hamilton-Jacobi equations
A hyperk\"ahler 4-metric with a triholomorphic SU(2) action gives rise to a
family of confocal quadrics in Euclidean 3-space when cast in the canonical
form of a hyperk\"ahler 4-metric metric with a triholomorphic circle action.
Moreover, at least in the case of geodesics orthogonal to the U(1) fibres, both
the covariant Schr\"odinger and the Hamilton-Jacobi equation is separable and
the system integrable.Comment: 10 pages Late
Two loop and all loop finite 4-metrics
In pure Einstein theory, Ricci flat Lorentzian 4-metrics of Petrov types III
or N have vanishing counter terms up to and including two loops. Moreover for
pp-waves and type-N spacetimes of Kundt's class which admit a non-twisting, non
expanding, null congruence all possible invariants formed from the Weyl tensor
and its covariant derivatives vanish. Thus these Lorentzian metrics suffer no
quantum corrections to all loop orders. By contrast for complete non-singular
Riemannian metrics the two loop counter term vanishes only if the metric is
flat.Comment: 4 pages Latex file, no figure
Bohm and Einstein-Sasaki Metrics, Black Holes and Cosmological Event Horizons
We study physical applications of the Bohm metrics, which are infinite
sequences of inhomogeneous Einstein metrics on spheres and products of spheres
of dimension 5 <= d <= 9. We prove that all the Bohm metrics on S^3 x S^2 and
S^3 x S^3 have negative eigenvalue modes of the Lichnerowicz operator and by
numerical methods we establish that Bohm metrics on S^5 have negative
eigenvalues too. We argue that all the Bohm metrics will have negative modes.
These results imply that higher-dimensional black-hole spacetimes where the
Bohm metric replaces the usual round sphere metric are classically unstable. We
also show that the stability criterion for Freund-Rubin solutions is the same
as for black-hole stability, and hence such solutions using Bohm metrics will
also be unstable. We consider possible endpoints of the instabilities, and show
that all Einstein-Sasaki manifolds give stable solutions. We show how Wick
rotation of Bohm metrics gives spacetimes that provide counterexamples to a
strict form of the Cosmic Baldness conjecture, but they are still consistent
with the intuition behind the cosmic No-Hair conjectures. We show how the
Lorentzian metrics may be created ``from nothing'' in a no-boundary setting. We
argue that Lorentzian Bohm metrics are unstable to decay to de Sitter
spacetime. We also argue that noncompact versions of the Bohm metrics have
infinitely many negative Lichernowicz modes, and we conjecture a general
relation between Lichnerowicz eigenvalues and non-uniqueness of the Dirichlet
problem for Einstein's equations.Comment: 53 pages, 11 figure
The Action of Instantons with Nut Charge
We examine the effect of a non-trivial nut charge on the action of
non-compact four-dimensional instantons with a U(1) isometry. If the instanton
action is calculated by dimensionally reducing along the isometry, then the nut
charge is found to make an explicit non-zero contribution. For metrics
satisfying AF, ALF or ALE boundary conditions, the action can be expressed
entirely in terms of quantities (including the nut charge) defined on the fixed
point set of the isometry. A source (or sink) of nut charge also implies the
presence of a Misner string coordinate singularity, which will have an
important effect on the Hamiltonian of the instanton.Comment: 25 page
Nucleating Black Holes via Non-Orientable Instantons
We extend the analysis of black hole pair creation to include non- orientable
instantons. We classify these instantons in terms of their fundamental
symmetries and orientations. Many of these instantons admit the pin structure
which corresponds to the fermions actually observed in nature, and so the
natural objection that these manifolds do not admit spin structure may not be
relevant. Furthermore, we analyse the thermodynamical properties of
non-orientable black holes and find that in the non-extreme case, there are
interesting modifications of the usual formulae for temperature and entropy.Comment: 27 pages LaTeX, minor typos are correcte
Vacuum decay via Lorentzian wormholes
We speculate about the spacetime description due to the presence of
Lorentzian wormholes (handles in spacetime joining two distant regions or other
universes) in quantum gravity. The semiclassical rate of production of these
Lorentzian wormholes in Reissner-Nordstr\"om spacetimes is calculated as a
result of the spontaneous decay of vacuum due to a real tunneling
configuration. In the magnetic case it only depends on the field theoretical
fine structure constant. We predict that the quantum probability corresponding
to the nucleation of such geodesically complete spacetimes should be actually
negligible in our physical Universe
Rotating Black Holes which Saturate a Bogomol'nyi Bound
We construct and study the electrically charged, rotating black hole solution
in heterotic string theory compactified on a dimensional torus. This
black hole is characterized by its mass, angular momentum, and a
dimensional electric charge vector. One of the novel features of this solution
is that for , its extremal limit saturates the Bogomol'nyi bound. This is
in contrast with the case where the rotating black hole solution develops
a naked singularity before the Bogomol'nyi bound is reached. The extremal black
holes can be superposed, and by taking a periodic array in , one obtains
effectively four dimensional solutions without naked singularities.Comment: 13 pages, no figure
Convex Functions and Spacetime Geometry
Convexity and convex functions play an important role in theoretical physics.
To initiate a study of the possible uses of convex functions in General
Relativity, we discuss the consequences of a spacetime or an
initial data set admitting a suitably defined convex
function. We show how the existence of a convex function on a spacetime places
restrictions on the properties of the spacetime geometry.Comment: 26 pages, latex, 7 figures, improved version. some claims removed,
references adde
Entropy for dilatonic black hole
The area formula for entropy is extended to the case of a dilatonic black
hole. The entropy of a scalar field in the background of such a black hole is
calculated semiclassically. The area and cutoff dependences are normal {\it
except in the extremal case}, where the area is zero but the entropy nonzero.Comment: 13 pages (Applicability of area formula justified and a reference
added
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