Invariants of the harmonic conformal class of an asymptotically flat manifold

Consider an asymptotically flat Riemannian manifold $(M,g)$ of dimension $n \geq 3$ with nonempty compact boundary. We recall the harmonic conformal class $[g]_h$ of the metric, which consists of all conformal rescalings given by a harmonic function raised to an appropriate power. The geometric significance is that every metric in $[g]_h$ has the same pointwise sign of scalar curvature. For this reason, the harmonic conformal class appears in the study of general relativity, where scalar curvature is related to energy density. Our purpose is to introduce and study invariants of the harmonic conformal class. These invariants are closely related to constrained geometric optimization problems involving hypersurface area-minimizers and the ADM mass. In the final section, we discuss possible applications of the invariants and their relationship with zero area singularities and the positive mass theorem.Comment: 26 pages, 2 figure

On the lower semicontinuity of the ADM mass

The ADM mass, viewed as a functional on the space of asymptotically flat Riemannian metrics of nonnegative scalar curvature, fails to be continuous for many natural topologies. In this paper we prove that lower semicontinuity holds in natural settings: first, for pointed Cheeger--Gromov convergence (without any symmetry assumptions) for $n=3$, and second, assuming rotational symmetry, for weak convergence of the associated canonical embeddings into Euclidean space, for $n \geq 3$. We also apply recent results of LeFloch and Sormani to deal with the rotationally symmetric case, with respect to a pointed type of intrinsic flat convergence. We provide several examples, one of which demonstrates that the positive mass theorem is implied by a statement of the lower semicontinuity of the ADM mass.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure

Smoothing the Bartnik boundary conditions and other results on Bartnik's quasi-local mass

Quite a number of distinct versions of Bartnik's definition of quasi-local mass appear in the literature, and it is not a priori clear that any of them produce the same value in general. In this paper we make progress on reconciling these definitions. The source of discrepancies is two-fold: the choice of boundary conditions (of which there are three variants) and the non-degeneracy or "no-horizon" condition (at least six variants). To address the boundary conditions, we show that given a 3-dimensional region $\Omega$ of nonnegative scalar curvature ($R \geq 0$) extended in a Lipschitz fashion across $\partial \Omega$ to an asymptotically flat 3-manifold with $R \geq 0$ (also holding distributionally along $\partial \Omega$), there exists a smoothing, arbitrarily small in $C^0$ norm, such that $R \geq 0$ and the geometry of $\Omega$ are preserved, and the ADM mass changes only by a small amount. With this we are able to show that the three boundary conditions yield equivalent Bartnik masses for two reasonable non-degeneracy conditions. We also discuss subtleties pertaining to the various non-degeneracy conditions and produce a nontrivial inequality between a no-horizon version of the Bartnik mass and Bray's replacement of this with the outward-minimizing condition.Comment: 25 pages, 3 figure

Lower semicontinuity of the ADM mass in dimensions two through seven

The semicontinuity phenomenon of the ADM mass under pointed (i.e., local) convergence of asymptotically flat metrics is of interest because of its connections to nonnegative scalar curvature, the positive mass theorem, and Bartnik's mass-minimization problem in general relativity. In this paper, we extend a previously known semicontinuity result in dimension three for $C^2$ pointed convergence to higher dimensions, up through seven, using recent work of S. McCormick and P. Miao (which itself builds on the Riemannian Penrose inequality of H. Bray and D. Lee). For a technical reason, we restrict to the case in which the limit space is asymptotically Schwarzschild. In a separate result, we show that semicontinuity holds under weighted, rather than pointed, $C^2$ convergence, in all dimensions $n \geq 3$, with a simpler proof independent of the positive mass theorem. Finally, we also address the two-dimensional case for pointed convergence, in which the asymptotic cone angle assumes the role of the ADM mass.Comment: 23 pages. Comments welcome

Time flat surfaces and the monotonicity of the spacetime Hawking mass

We identify a condition on spacelike 2-surfaces in a spacetime that is relevant to understanding the concept of mass in general relativity. We prove a formula for the variation of the spacetime Hawking mass under a uniformly area expanding flow and show that it is nonnegative for these so-called "time flat surfaces." Such flows generalize inverse mean curvature flow, which was used by Huisken and Ilmanen to prove the Riemannian Penrose inequality for one black hole. A flow of time flat surfaces may have connections to the problem in general relativity of bounding the mass of a spacetime from below by the quasi-local mass of a spacelike 2-surface contained therein.Comment: 23 pages; sign error fixed from previous version, statement of Theorem 1.1 changed accordingl

A geometric theory of zero area singularities in general relativity

The Schwarzschild spacetime metric of negative mass is well-known to contain a naked singularity. In a spacelike slice, this singularity of the metric is characterized by the property that nearby surfaces have arbitrarily small area. We develop a theory of such "zero area singularities" in Riemannian manifolds, generalizing far beyond the Schwarzschild case (for example, allowing the singularities to have nontrivial topology). We also define the mass of such singularities. The main result of this paper is a lower bound on the ADM mass of an asymptotically flat manifold of nonnegative scalar curvature in terms of the masses of its singularities, assuming a certain conjecture in conformal geometry. The proof relies on the Riemannian Penrose Inequality. Equality is attained in the inequality by the Schwarzschild metric of negative mass. An immediate corollary is a version of the Positive Mass Theorem that allows for certain types of incomplete metrics.Comment: 36 pages, 9 figure

On curves with nonnegative torsion

We provide new results and new proofs of results about the torsion of curves in $\mathbb{R}^3$. Let $\gamma$ be a smooth curve in $\mathbb{R}^3$ that is the graph over a simple closed curve in $\mathbb{R}^2$ with positive curvature. We give a new proof that if $\gamma$ has nonnegative (or nonpositive) torsion, then $\gamma$ has zero torsion and hence lies in a plane. Additionally, we prove the new result that a simple closed plane curve, without any assumption on its curvature, cannot be perturbed to a closed space curve of constant nonzero torsion. We also prove similar statements for curves in Lorentzian $\mathbb{R}^{2,1}$ which are related to important open questions about time flat surfaces in spacetimes and mass in general relativity.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figures; references added in second versio

Lower semicontinuity of mass under C0C^0 convergence and Huisken's isoperimetric mass

Given a sequence of asymptotically flat 3-manifolds of nonnegative scalar curvature with outermost minimal boundary, converging in the pointed $C^0$ Cheeger--Gromov sense to an asymptotically flat limit space, we show that the total mass of the limit is bounded above by the liminf of the total masses of the sequence. In other words, total mass is lower semicontinuous under such convergence. In order to prove this, we use Huisken's isoperimetric mass concept, together with a modified weak mean curvature flow argument. We include a brief discussion of Huisken's work before explaining our extension of that work. The results are all specific to three dimensions.Comment: 30 pages, 5 figure

Time flat surfaces and the monotonicity of the spacetime Hawking mass II

In this sequel paper we give a shorter, second proof of the monotonicity of the Hawking mass for time flat surfaces under spacelike uniformly area expanding flows in spacetimes that satisfy the dominant energy condition. We also include a third proof which builds on a known formula and describe a class of sufficient conditions of divergence type for the monotonicity of the Hawking mass. These flows of surfaces may have connections to the problem in general relativity of bounding the total mass of a spacetime from below by the quasi-local mass of spacelike 2-surfaces in the spacetime.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figur

Unfolding a degeneracy point of two unbound states: Crossings and anticrossings of energies and widths

We show that when an isolated doublet of unbound states of a physical system becomes degenerate for some values of the control parameters of the system, the energy hypersurfaces representing the complex resonance energy eigenvalues as functions of the control parameters have an algebraic branch point of rank one in parameter space. Associated with this singularity in parameter space, the scattering matrix, S_l(E), and the Green's function, G_l^(+)(k; r,r'), have one double pole in the unphysical sheet of the complex energy plane. We characterize the universal unfolding or deformation of a typical degeneracy point of two unbound states in parameter space by means of a universal 2-parameter family of functions which is contact equivalent to the pole position function of the isolated doublet of resonances at the exceptional point and includes all small perturbations of the degeneracy condition up to contact equivalence.Comment: 6 pages and 3 eps figure