Cosmology and stellar equilibrium using Newtonian hydrodynamics with general relativistic pressure

We revisit the analysis made by Hwang and Noh [JCAP 1310 (2013)] aiming the construction of a Newtonian set of equations incorporating pressure effects typical of the General Relativity theory. We explicitly derive the Hwang-Noh equations, comparing them with similar computations found in the literature. Then, we investigate $i)$ the cosmological expansion, $ii)$ linear cosmological perturbations theory and $iii)$ stellar equilibrium by using the new set of equations and comparing the results with those coming from the usual Newtonian theory, from the Neo-Newtonian theory and from the General Relativity theory. We show that the predictions for the background evolution of the Universe are deeply changed with respect to the General Relativity theory: the acceleration of the Universe is achieved with positive pressure. On the other hand, the behaviour of small cosmological perturbations reproduces the one found in the relativistic context, even if only at small scales. We argue that this last result may open new possibilities for numerical simulations for structure formation in the Universe. Finally, the properties of neutron stars are qualitatively reproduced by Hwang-Noh equations, but the upper mass limit is at least one order of magnitude higher than the one obtained in General Relativity.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures. Section 2 greatly extended with a post-Newtonian analysis. Final results strengthe

High energy processes in the vicinity of the Kerr's black hole horizon

Two particle collisions close to the horizon of the rotating nonextremal black hole are analyzed. It is shown that high energy of the order of the Grand Unification scale in the centre of mass of colliding particles can be obtained when there is a multiple collision - the particle from the accretion disc gets the critical momentum in first collision with the other particle close to the horizon and then there is a second collision of the critical particle with the ordinary one. High energy occurs due to a great relative velocity of two particles and a large Lorentz factor. The dependence of the relative velocity on the distance to horizon is analyzed, the time of movement from the point in the accretion disc to the point of scattering with large energy as well as the time of back movement to the Earth are calculated. It is shown that they have reasonable order.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures, added some formulas and one referenc

A method for evaluating models that use galaxy rotation curves to derive the density profiles

There are some approaches, either based on General Relativity (GR) or modified gravity, that use galaxy rotation curves to derive the matter density of the corresponding galaxy, and this procedure would either indicate a partial or a complete elimination of dark matter in galaxies. Here we review these approaches, clarify the difficulties on this inverted procedure, present a method for evaluating them, and use it to test two specific approaches that are based on GR: the Cooperstock-Tieu (CT) and the Balasin-Grumiller (BG) approaches. Using this new method, we find that neither of the tested approaches can satisfactorily fit the observational data without dark matter. The CT approach results can be significantly improved if some dark matter is considered, while for the BG approach no usual dark matter halo can improve its results.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, 4 tables. v2: diverse text improvements, no changes in the conclusions. Version accepted in MNRA

Static, spherically symmetric solutions with a scalar field in Rastall gravity

Rastall's theory belongs to the class of non-conservative theories of gravity. In vacuum, the only non-trivial static, spherically symmetric solution is the Schwarzschild one, except in a very special case. When a canonical scalar field is coupled to the gravity sector in this theory, new exact solutions appear for some values of the Rastall parameter $a$. Some of these solutions describe the same space-time geometry as the recently found solutions in the $k$-essence theory with a power function for the kinetic term of the scalar field. There is a large class of solutions (in particular, those describing wormholes and regular black holes) whose geometry coincides with that of solutions of GR coupled to scalar fields with nontrivial self-interaction potentials; the form of these potentials, however, depends on the Rastall parameter $a$. We also note that all solutions of GR with a zero trace of the energy-momentum tensor, including black-hole and wormhole ones, may be re-interpreted as solutions of Rastall's theory.Comment: Latex file, 18 pages. To fit published versio

Viscous dark fluid Universe: a unified model of the dark sector?

The Universe is modeled as consisting of pressureless baryonic matter and a bulk viscous fluid which is supposed to represent a unified description of the dark sector. In the homogeneous and isotropic background the \textit{total} energy density of this mixture behaves as a generalized Chaplygin gas. The perturbations of this energy density are intrinsically nonadiabatic and source relative entropy perturbations. The resulting baryonic matter power spectrum is shown to be compatible with the 2dFGRS and SDSS (DR7) data. A joint statistical analysis, using also Hubble-function and supernovae Ia data, shows that, different from other studies, there exists a maximum in the probability distribution for a negative present value of the deceleration parameter. Moreover, the unified model presented here favors a matter content that is of the order of the baryonic matter abundance suggested by big-bang nucleosynthesis. A problem of simple bulk viscous models, however, is the behavior of the gravitational potential and the reproduction of the CMB power spectrum.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures, contributed paper to 8th Friedmann Seminar, 30 May to 3 June 2011, Rio de Janeiro, Brazi

Bouncing solutions in Rastall's theory with a barotropic fluid

Rastall's theory is a modification of Einstein's theory of gravity where the covariant divergence of the stress-energy tensor is no more vanishing, but proportional to the gradient of the Ricci scalar. The motivation of this theory is to investigate a possible non-minimal coupling of the matter fields to geometry which, being proportional to the curvature scalar, may represent an effective description of quantum gravity effects. Non-conservation of the stress-energy tensor, via Bianchi identities, implies new field equations which have been recently used in a cosmological context, leading to some interesting results. In this paper we adopt Rastall's theory to reproduce some features of the effective Friedmann's equation emerging from loop quantum cosmology. We determine a class of bouncing cosmological solutions and comment about the possibility of employing these models as effective descriptions of the full quantum theory.Comment: Latex file, 14 pages, 1 figure in eps format. Typos corrected, one reference added. Published versio