338 research outputs found
Two approaches to testing general relativity in the strong-field regime
Observations of compact objects in the electromagnetic spectrum and the
detection of gravitational waves from them can lead to quantitative tests of
the theory of general relativity in the strong-field regime following two very
different approaches. In the first approach, the general relativistic field
equations are modified at a fundamental level and the magnitudes of the
potential deviations are constrained by comparison with observations. In the
second approach, the exterior spacetimes of compact objects are parametrized in
a phenomenological way, the various parameters are measured observationally,
and the results are finally compared against the general relativistic
predictions. In this article, I discuss the current status of both approaches,
focusing on the lessons learned from a large number of recent investigations.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the conference New Developments in
Gravit
Modified Dispersion Relations from the Renormalization Group of Gravity
We show that the running of gravitational couplings, together with a suitable
identification of the renormalization group scale can give rise to modified
dispersion relations for massive particles. This result seems to be compatible
with both the frameworks of effective field theory with Lorentz invariance
violation and deformed special relativity. The phenomenological consequences
depend on which of the frameworks is assumed. We discuss the nature and
strength of the available constraints for both cases and show that in the case
of Lorentz invariance violation, the theory would be strongly constrained.Comment: revtex4, 9 pages, updated to match published versio
The universal viscosity to entropy density ratio from entanglement
We present evidence that the universal Kovtun-Son-Starinets shear viscosity
to entropy density ratio of 1/4\pi can be associated with a Rindler causal
horizon in flat spacetime. Since there is no known holographic (gauge/gravity)
duality for this spacetime, a natural microscopic explanation for this
viscosity is in the peculiar properties of quantum entanglement. In particular,
it is well-known that the Minkowski vacuum state is a thermal state and carries
an area entanglement entropy density in the Rindler spacetime. Based on the
fluctuation-dissipation theorem, we expect a similar notion of viscosity
arising from vacuum fluctuations. Therefore, we propose a holographic Kubo
formula in terms of a two-point function of the stress tensor of matter fields
in the bulk. We calculate this viscosity assuming a minimally coupled scalar
field theory and find that the ratio with respect to the entanglement entropy
density is exactly 1/4\pi in four dimensions. The issues that arise in
extending this result to non-minimally coupled scalar fields, higher spins, and
higher dimensions provide interesting hints about the relationship between
entanglement entropy and black hole entropy.Comment: 30 pages; v2: footnote added, minor editin
Cosmological evolution of interacting dark energy in Lorentz violation
The cosmological evolution of an interacting scalar field model in which the
scalar field interacts with dark matter, radiation, and baryon via Lorentz
violation is investigated. We propose a model of interaction through the
effective coupling . Using dynamical system analysis, we study the
linear dynamics of an interacting model and show that the dynamics of critical
points are completely controlled by two parameters. Some results can be
mentioned as follows. Firstly, the sequence of radiation, the dark matter, and
the scalar field dark energy exist and baryons are sub dominant. Secondly, the
model also allows the possibility of having a universe in the phantom phase
with constant potential. Thirdly, the effective gravitational constant varies
with respect to time through . In particular, we consider a simple
case where has a quadratic form and has a good agreement with the
modified CDM and quintessence models. Finally, we also calculate the
first post--Newtonian parameters for our model.Comment: 14 pages, published versio
Deformation of Codimension-2 Surface and Horizon Thermodynamics
The deformation equation of a spacelike submanifold with an arbitrary
codimension is given by a general construction without using local frames. In
the case of codimension-1, this equation reduces to the evolution equation of
the extrinsic curvature of a spacelike hypersurface. In the more interesting
case of codimension-2, after selecting a local null frame, this deformation
equation reduces to the well known (cross) focusing equations. We show how the
thermodynamics of trapping horizons is related to these deformation equations
in two different formalisms: with and without introducing quasilocal energy. In
the formalism with the quasilocal energy, the Hawking mass in four dimension is
generalized to higher dimension, and it is found that the deformation of this
energy inside a marginal surface can be also decomposed into the contributions
from matter fields and gravitational radiation as in the four dimension. In the
formalism without the quasilocal energy, we generalize the definition of slowly
evolving future outer trapping horizons proposed by Booth to past trapping
horizons. The dynamics of the trapping horizons in FLRW universe is given as an
example. Especially, the slowly evolving past trapping horizon in the FLRW
universe has close relation to the scenario of slow-roll inflation. Up to the
second order of the slowly evolving parameter in this generalization, the
temperature (surface gravity) associated with the slowly evolving trapping
horizon in the FLRW universe is essentially the same as the one defined by
using the quasilocal energy.Comment: Latex, 61 pages, no figures; v2, type errors corrected; v3,
references and comments are added, English is improved, to appear in JHE
Chiral drag force
We provide a holographic evaluation of novel contributions to the drag force
acting on a heavy quark moving through strongly interacting plasma. The new
contributions are chiral in that they act in opposite directions in plasmas
containing an excess of left- or right-handed quarks and in that they are
proportional to the coefficient of the axial anomaly. These new contributions
to the drag force act either parallel to or antiparallel to an external
magnetic field or to the vorticity of the fluid plasma. In all these respects,
these contributions to the drag force felt by a heavy quark are analogous to
the chiral magnetic effect on light quarks. However, the new contribution to
the drag force is independent of the electric charge of the heavy quark and is
the same for heavy quarks and antiquarks. We show that although the chiral drag
force can be non-vanishing for heavy quarks that are at rest in the local fluid
rest frame, it does vanish for heavy quarks that are at rest in a suitably
chosen frame. In this frame, the heavy quark at rest sees counterpropagating
momentum and charge currents, both proportional to the axial anomaly
coefficient, but feels no drag force. This provides strong concrete evidence
for the absence of dissipation in chiral transport, something that has been
predicted previously via consideration of symmetries. Along the way to our
principal results, we provide a general calculation of the corrections to the
drag force due to the presence of gradients in the flowing fluid in the
presence of a nonzero chemical potential. We close with a consequence of our
result that is at least in principle observable in heavy ion collisions, namely
an anticorrelation between the direction of the CME current for light quarks in
a given event and the direction of the kick given to the momentum of all the
heavy quarks and antiquarks in that event.Comment: 28 pages, small improvement to the discussion of gravitational
anomaly, references adde
One-Dimensional Approximation of Viscous Flows
Attention has been paid to the similarity and duality between the
Gregory-Laflamme instability of black strings and the Rayleigh-Plateau
instability of extended fluids. In this paper, we derive a set of simple
(1+1)-dimensional equations from the Navier-Stokes equations describing thin
flows of (non-relativistic and incompressible) viscous fluids. This
formulation, a generalization of the theory of drop formation by Eggers and his
collaborators, would make it possible to examine the final fate of
Rayleigh-Plateau instability, its dimensional dependence, and possible
self-similar behaviors before and after the drop formation, in the context of
fluid/gravity correspondence.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures; v2: refs & comments adde
Future of the universe in modified gravitational theories: Approaching to the finite-time future singularity
We investigate the future evolution of the dark energy universe in modified
gravities including gravity, string-inspired scalar-Gauss-Bonnet and
modified Gauss-Bonnet ones, and ideal fluid with the inhomogeneous equation of
state (EoS). Modified Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) dynamics for all these
theories may be presented in universal form by using the effective ideal fluid
with an inhomogeneous EoS without specifying its explicit form. We construct
several examples of the modified gravity which produces accelerating
cosmologies ending at the finite-time future singularity of all four known
types by applying the reconstruction program. Some scenarios to resolve the
finite-time future singularity are presented. Among these scenarios, the most
natural one is related with additional modification of the gravitational action
in the early universe. In addition, late-time cosmology in the non-minimal
Maxwell-Einstein theory is considered. We investigate the forms of the
non-minimal gravitational coupling which generates the finite-time future
singularities and the general conditions for this coupling in order that the
finite-time future singularities cannot emerge. Furthermore, it is shown that
the non-minimal gravitational coupling can remove the finite-time future
singularities or make the singularity stronger (or weaker) in modified gravity.Comment: 25 pages, no figure, title changed, accepted in JCA
Holographic Wilsonian flows and emergent fermions in extremal charged black holes
We study holographic Wilsonian RG in a general class of asymptotically AdS
backgrounds with a U(1) gauge field. We consider free charged Dirac fermions in
such a background, and integrate them up to an intermediate radial distance,
yielding an equivalent low energy dual field theory. The new ingredient,
compared to scalars, involves a `generalized' basis of coherent states which
labels a particular half of the fermion components as coordinates or momenta,
depending on the choice of quantization (standard or alternative). We apply
this technology to explicitly compute RG flows of charged fermionic operators
and their composites (double trace operators) in field theories dual to (a)
pure AdS and (b) extremal charged black hole geometries. The flow diagrams and
fixed points are determined explicitly. In the case of the extremal black hole,
the RG flows connect two fixed points at the UV AdS boundary to two fixed
points at the IR AdS_2 region. The double trace flow is shown, both numerically
and analytically, to develop a pole singularity in the AdS_2 region at low
frequency and near the Fermi momentum, which can be traced to the appearance of
massless fermion modes on the low energy cut-off surface. The low energy field
theory action we derive exactly agrees with the semi-holographic action
proposed by Faulkner and Polchinski in arXiv:1001.5049 [hep-th]. In terms of
field theory, the holographic version of Wilsonian RG leads to a quantum theory
with random sources. In the extremal black hole background the random sources
become `light' in the AdS_2 region near the Fermi surface and emerge as new
dynamical degrees of freedom.Comment: 37 pages (including 8 pages of appendix), 10 figures and 2 table
Thermodynamics in gravity in the Palatini formalism
We investigate thermodynamics of the apparent horizon in gravity in
the Palatini formalism with non-equilibrium and equilibrium descriptions. We
demonstrate that it is more transparent to understand the horizon entropy in
the equilibrium framework than that in the non-equilibrium one. Furthermore, we
show that the second law of thermodynamics can be explicitly verified in both
phantom and non-phantom phases for the same temperature of the universe outside
and inside the apparent horizon.Comment: 20 pages, no figure, accepted in JCA
- …