141 research outputs found
The Physical Role of Gravitational and Gauge Degrees of Freedom in General Relativity - I: Dynamical Synchronization and Generalized Inertial Effects
This is the first of a couple of papers in which, by exploiting the
capabilities of the Hamiltonian approach to general relativity, we get a number
of technical achievements that are instrumental both for a disclosure of
\emph{new} results concerning specific issues, and for new insights about
\emph{old} foundational problems of the theory. The first paper includes: 1) a
critical analysis of the various concepts of symmetry related to the
Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian viewpoint on the one hand, and to the Hamiltonian
viewpoint, on the other. This analysis leads, in particular, to a
re-interpretation of {\it active} diffeomorphisms as {\it passive and
metric-dependent} dynamical symmetries of Einstein's equations, a
re-interpretation which enables to disclose the (nearly unknown) connection of
a subgroup of them to Hamiltonian gauge transformations {\it on-shell}; 2) a
re-visitation of the canonical reduction of the ADM formulation of general
relativity, with particular emphasis on the geometro-dynamical effects of the
gauge-fixing procedure, which amounts to the definition of a \emph{global
(non-inertial) space-time laboratory}. This analysis discloses the peculiar
\emph{dynamical nature} that the traditional definition of distant simultaneity
and clock-synchronization assume in general relativity, as well as the {\it
gauge relatedness} of the "conventions" which generalize the classical
Einstein's convention.Comment: 45 pages, Revtex4, some refinements adde
The York map as a Shanmugadhasan canonical transformation in tetrad gravity and the role of non-inertial frames in the geometrical view of the gravitational field
A new parametrization of the 3-metric allows to find explicitly a York map in
canonical ADM tetrad gravity, the two pairs of physical tidal degrees of
freedom and 14 gauge variables. These gauge quantities (generalized inertial
effects) are all configurational except the trace of
the extrinsic curvature of the instantaneous 3-spaces (clock
synchronization convention) of a non-inertial frame. The Dirac hamiltonian is
the sum of the weak ADM energy (whose density is coordinate-dependent due to the inertial
potentials) and of the first-class constraints. Then: i) The explicit form of
the Hamilton equations for the two tidal degrees of freedom in an arbitrary
gauge: a deterministic evolution can be defined only in a completely fixed
gauge, i.e. in a non-inertial frame with its pattern of inertial forces. ii) A
general solution of the super-momentum constraints, which shows the existence
of a generalized Gribov ambiguity associated to the 3-diffeomorphism gauge
group. It influences: a) the explicit form of the weak ADM energy and of the
super-momentum constraint; b) the determination of the shift functions and then
of the lapse one. iii) The dependence of the Hamilton equations for the two
pairs of dynamical gravitational degrees of freedom (the generalized tidal
effects) and for the matter, written in a completely fixed 3-orthogonal
Schwinger time gauge, upon the gauge variable ,
determining the convention of clock synchronization. Therefore it should be
possible (for instance in the weak field limit but with relativistic motion) to
try to check whether in Einstein's theory the {\it dark matter} is a gauge
relativistic inertial effect induced by .Comment: 90 page
New Directions in Non-Relativistic and Relativistic Rotational and Multipole Kinematics for N-Body and Continuous Systems
In non-relativistic mechanics the center of mass of an isolated system is
easily separated out from the relative variables. For a N-body system these
latter are usually described by a set of Jacobi normal coordinates, based on
the clustering of the centers of mass of sub-clusters. The Jacobi variables are
then the starting point for separating {\it orientational} variables, connected
with the angular momentum constants of motion, from {\it shape} (or {\it
vibrational}) variables. Jacobi variables, however, cannot be extended to
special relativity. We show by group-theoretical methods that two new sets of
relative variables can be defined in terms of a {\it clustering of the angular
momenta of sub-clusters} and directly related to the so-called {\it dynamical
body frames} and {\it canonical spin bases}. The underlying group-theoretical
structure allows a direct extension of such notions from a non-relativistic to
a special- relativistic context if one exploits the {\it rest-frame instant
form of dynamics}. The various known definitions of relativistic center of mass
are recovered. The separation of suitable relative variables from the so-called
{\it canonical internal} center of mass leads to the correct kinematical
framework for the relativistic theory of the orbits for a N-body system with
action -at-a-distance interactions. The rest-frame instant form is also shown
to be the correct kinematical framework for introducing the Dixon multi-poles
for closed and open N-body systems, as well as for continuous systems,
exemplified here by the configurations of the Klein-Gordon field that are
compatible with the previous notions of center of mass.Comment: Latex, p.75, Invited contribution for the book {\it Atomic and
Molecular Clusters: New Research} (Nova Science
Charged Particles and the Electro-Magnetic Field in Non-Inertial Frames of Minkowski Spacetime: I. Admissible 3+1 Splittings of Minkowski Spacetime and the Non-Inertial Rest Frames
By using the 3+1 point of view and parametrized Minkowski theories we develop
the theory of {\it non-inertial} frames in Minkowski space-time. The transition
from a non-inertial frame to another one is a gauge transformation connecting
the respective notions of instantaneous 3-space (clock synchronization
convention) and of the 3-coordinates inside them. As a particular case we get
the extension of the inertial rest-frame instant form of dynamics to the
non-inertial rest-frame one. We show that every isolated system can be
described as an external decoupled non-covariant canonical center of mass
(described by frozen Jacobi data) carrying a pole-dipole structure: the
invariant mass and an effective spin. Moreover we identify the constraints
eliminating the internal 3-center of mass inside the instantaneous 3-spaces. In
the case of the isolated system of positive-energy scalar particles with
Grassmann-valued electric charges plus the electro-magnetic field we obtain
both Maxwell equations and their Hamiltonian description in non-inertial
frames. Then by means of a non-covariant decomposition we define the
non-inertial radiation gauge and we find the form of the non-covariant Coulomb
potential. We identify the coordinate-dependent relativistic inertial
potentials and we show that they have the correct Newtonian limit. In the
second paper we will study properties of Maxwell equations in non-inertial
frames like the wrap-up effect and the Faraday rotation in astrophysics. Also
the 3+1 description without coordinate-singularities of the rotating disk and
the Sagnac effect will be given, with added comments on pulsar magnetosphere
and on a relativistic extension of the Earth-fixed coordinate system.Comment: This paper and the second one are an adaptation of arXiv 0812.3057
for publication on Int.J.Geom. Methods in Modern Phys. 77
The Chrono-geometrical Structure of Special and General Relativity: a Re-Visitation of Canonical Geometrodynamics
A modern re-visitation of the consequences of the lack of an intrinsic notion
of instantaneous 3-space in relativistic theories leads to a reformulation of
their kinematical basis emphasizing the role of non-inertial frames centered on
an arbitrary accelerated observer. In special relativity the exigence of
predictability implies the adoption of the 3+1 point of view, which leads to a
well posed initial value problem for field equations in a framework where the
change of the convention of synchronization of distant clocks is realized by
means of a gauge transformation. This point of view is also at the heart of the
canonical approach to metric and tetrad gravity in globally hyperbolic
asymptotically flat space-times, where the use of Shanmugadhasan canonical
transformations allows the separation of the physical degrees of freedom of the
gravitational field (the tidal effects) from the arbitrary gauge variables.
Since a global vision of the equivalence principle implies that only global
non-inertial frames can exist in general relativity, the gauge variables are
naturally interpreted as generalized relativistic inertial effects, which have
to be fixed to get a deterministic evolution in a given non-inertial frame. As
a consequence, in each Einstein's space-time in this class the whole
chrono-geometrical structure, including also the clock synchronization
convention, is dynamically determined and a new approach to the Hole Argument
leads to the conclusion that "gravitational field" and "space-time" are two
faces of the same entity. This view allows to get a classical scenario for the
unification of the four interactions in a scheme suited to the description of
the solar system or our galaxy with a deperametrization to special relativity
and the subsequent possibility to take the non-relativistic limit.Comment: 33 pages, Lectures given at the 42nd Karpacz Winter School of
Theoretical Physics, "Current Mathematical Topics in Gravitation and
Cosmology", Ladek, Poland, 6-11 February 200
Solving Gauss' Laws and Searching Dirac Observables for the Four Interactions
A review is given of the status of the program of classical reduction to
Dirac's observables of the four interactions (standard SU(3)xSU(2)xU(1)
particle model and tetrad gravity) with the matter described either by
Grassmann-valued fermion fields or by particles with Grassmann charges.Comment: 9 pages, LaTeX (using espcrc2.sty). Talk given at the Second Conf. on
Constrained Dynamics and Quantum Gravity, S.Margherita Ligure, 17-21
September 199
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