443 research outputs found
Extrinsic Curvature and the Einstein Constraints
The Einstein initial-value equations in the extrinsic curvature (Hamiltonian)
representation and conformal thin sandwich (Lagrangian) representation are
brought into complete conformity by the use of a decomposition of symmetric
tensors which involves a weight function. In stationary spacetimes, there is a
natural choice of the weight function such that the transverse traceless part
of the extrinsic curvature (or canonical momentum) vanishes.Comment: 8 pages, no figures; added new section; significant polishing of tex
Corotating and irrotational binary black holes in quasi-circular orbits
A complete formalism for constructing initial data representing black-hole
binaries in quasi-equilibrium is developed. Radiation reaction prohibits, in
general, true equilibrium binary configurations. However, when the timescale
for orbital decay is much longer than the orbital period, a binary can be
considered to be in quasi-equilibrium. If each black hole is assumed to be in
quasi-equilibrium, then a complete set of boundary conditions for all initial
data variables can be developed. These boundary conditions are applied on the
apparent horizon of each black hole, and in fact force a specified surface to
be an apparent horizon. A global assumption of quasi-equilibrium is also used
to fix some of the freely specifiable pieces of the initial data and to
uniquely fix the asymptotic boundary conditions. This formalism should allow
for the construction of completely general quasi-equilibrium black hole binary
initial data.Comment: 13 pages, no figures, revtex4; Content changed slightly to reflect
fact that regularized shift solutions do satisfy the isometry boundary
condition
Boulware state and semiclassical thermodynamics of black holes in a cavity
A black hole, surrounded by a reflecting shell, acts as an effective
star-like object with respect to the outer region that leads to vacuum
polarization outside, where the quantum fields are in the Boulware state. We
find the quantum correction to the Hawking temperature, taking into account
this circumstance. It is proportional to the integral of the trace of the total
quantum stress-energy tensor over the whole space from the horizon to infinity.
For the shell, sufficiently close to the horizon, the leading term comes from
the boundary contribution of the Boulware state.Comment: 7 pages. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Two-dimensional quantum-corrected black hole in a finite size cavity
We consider the gravitation-dilaton theory (not necessarily exactly
solvable), whose potentials represent a generic linear combination of an
exponential and linear functions of the dilaton. A black hole, arising in such
theories, is supposed to be enclosed in a cavity, where it attains thermal
equilibrium, whereas outside the cavity the field is in the Boulware state. We
calculate quantum corrections to the Hawking temperature , with the
contribution from the boundary taken into account. Vacuum polarization outside
the shell tend to cool the system. We find that, for the shell to be in the
thermal equilibrium, it cannot be placed too close to the horizon. The quantum
corrections to the mass due to vacuum polarization vanish in spite of non-zero
quantum stresses. We discuss also the canonical boundary conditions and show
that accounting for the finiteness of the system plays a crucial role in some
theories (e.g., CGHS), where it enables to define the stable canonical
ensemble, whereas consideration in an infinite space would predict instability.Comment: 21 pages. In v.2 misprints corrected. To appear in Phys. Rev.
Dilaton black holes in grand canonical ensemble near the extreme state
Dilaton black holes with a pure electric charge are considered in a framework
of a grand canonical ensemble near the extreme state. It is shown that there
exists such a subset of boundary data that the Hawking temperature smoothly
goes to zero to an infinite value of a horizon radius but the horizon area and
entropy are finite and differ from zero. In string theory the existence of a
horizon in the extreme limit is due to the finiteness of a system only.Comment: 8 pages, RevTex 3.0. Presentation improved, discussion on metrics in
string theory simplified. To be published in Phys.Rev.
Gauge conditions for binary black hole puncture data based on an approximate helical Killing vector
We show that puncture data for quasicircular binary black hole orbits allow a
special gauge choice that realizes some of the necessary conditions for the
existence of an approximate helical Killing vector field. Introducing free
parameters for the lapse at the punctures we can satisfy the condition that the
Komar and ADM mass agree at spatial infinity. Several other conditions for an
approximate Killing vector are then automatically satisfied, and the 3-metric
evolves on a timescale smaller than the orbital timescale. The time derivative
of the extrinsic curvature however remains significant. Nevertheless,
quasicircular puncture data are not as far from possessing a helical Killing
vector as one might have expected.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, 2 table
A Linear-Nonlinear Formulation of Einstein Equations for the Two-Body Problem in General Relativity
A formulation of Einstein equations is presented that could yield advantages
in the study of collisions of binary compact objects during regimes between
linear-nonlinear transitions. The key idea behind this formulation is a
separation of the dynamical variables into i) a fixed conformal 3-geometry, ii)
a conformal factor possessing nonlinear dynamics and iii) transverse-traceless
perturbations of the conformal 3-geometry.Comment: 7 pages, no figure
Shape Space Methods for Quantum Cosmological Triangleland
With toy modelling of conceptual aspects of quantum cosmology and the problem
of time in quantum gravity in mind, I study the classical and quantum dynamics
of the pure-shape (i.e. scale-free) triangle formed by 3 particles in 2-d. I do
so by importing techniques to the triangle model from the corresponding 4
particles in 1-d model, using the fact that both have 2-spheres for shape
spaces, though the latter has a trivial realization whilst the former has a
more involved Hopf (or Dragt) type realization. I furthermore interpret the
ensuing Dragt-type coordinates as shape quantities: a measure of
anisoscelesness, the ellipticity of the base and apex's moments of inertia, and
a quantity proportional to the area of the triangle. I promote these quantities
at the quantum level to operators whose expectation and spread are then useful
in understanding the quantum states of the system. Additionally, I tessellate
the 2-sphere by its physical interpretation as the shape space of triangles,
and then use this as a back-cloth from which to read off the interpretation of
dynamical trajectories, potentials and wavefunctions. I include applications to
timeless approaches to the problem of time and to the role of uniform states in
quantum cosmological modelling.Comment: A shorter version, as per the first stage in the refereeing process,
and containing some new reference
Shape Dynamics in 2+1 Dimensions
Shape Dynamics is a formulation of General Relativity where refoliation
invariance is traded for local spatial conformal invariance. In this paper we
explicitly construct Shape Dynamics for a torus universe in 2+1 dimensions
through a linking gauge theory that ensures dynamical equivalence with General
Relativity. The Hamiltonian we obtain is formally a reduced phase space
Hamiltonian. The construction of the Shape Dynamics Hamiltonian on higher genus
surfaces is not explicitly possible, but we give an explicit expansion of the
Shape Dynamics Hamiltonian for large CMC volume. The fact that all local
constraints are linear in momenta allows us to quantize these explicitly, and
the quantization problem for Shape Dynamics turns out to be equivalent to
reduced phase space quantization. We consider the large CMC-volume asymptotics
of conformal transformations of the wave function. We then use the similarity
of Shape Dynamics on the 2-torus with the explicitly constructible strong
gravity (BKL) Shape Dynamics Hamiltonian in higher dimensions to suggest a
quantization strategy for Shape Dynamics.Comment: 15 pages, LaTeX, no figure
Time-symmetric initial data for binary black holes in numerical relativity
We look for physically realistic initial data in numerical relativity which
are in agreement with post-Newtonian approximations. We propose a particular
solution of the time-symmetric constraint equation, appropriate to two
momentarily static black holes, in the form of a conformal decomposition of the
spatial metric. This solution is isometric to the post-Newtonian metric up to
the 2PN order. It represents a non-linear deformation of the solution of Brill
and Lindquist, i.e. an asymptotically flat region is connected to two
asymptotically flat (in a certain weak sense) sheets, that are the images of
the two singularities through appropriate inversion transformations. The total
ADM mass M as well as the individual masses m_1 and m_2 (when they exist) are
computed by surface integrals performed at infinity. Using second order
perturbation theory on the Brill-Lindquist background, we prove that the
binary's interacting mass-energy M-m_1-m_2 is well-defined at the 2PN order and
in agreement with the known post-Newtonian result.Comment: 27 pages, to appear in Phys. Rev.
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