92 research outputs found
Lagrangian and Hamiltonian for the Bondi-Sachs metrics
We calculate the Hilbert action for the Bondi-Sachs metrics. It yields the
Einstein vacuum equations in a closed form. Following the Dirac approach to
constrained systems we investigate the related Hamiltonian formulation.Comment: 8 page
Multivortex Solutions of the Weierstrass Representation
The connection between the complex Sine and Sinh-Gordon equations on the
complex plane associated with a Weierstrass type system and the possibility of
construction of several classes of multivortex solutions is discussed in
detail. We perform the Painlev\'e test and analyse the possibility of deriving
the B\"acklund transformation from the singularity analysis of the complex
Sine-Gordon equation. We make use of the analysis using the known relations for
the Painlev\'{e} equations to construct explicit formulae in terms of the
Umemura polynomials which are -functions for rational solutions of the
third Painlev\'{e} equation. New classes of multivortex solutions of a
Weierstrass system are obtained through the use of this proposed procedure.
Some physical applications are mentioned in the area of the vortex Higgs
model when the complex Sine-Gordon equation is reduced to coupled Riccati
equations.Comment: 27 pages LaTeX2e, 1 encapsulated Postscript figur
SO(n + 1) Symmetric Solutions of the Einstein Equations in Higher Dimensions
A method of solving the Einstein equations with a scalar field is presented.
It is applied to find higher dimensional vacuum metrics invariant under the
group SO(n + 1) acting on n-dimensional spheres.Comment: 11 page
The Singularity Problem for Space-Times with Torsion
The problem of a rigorous theory of singularities in space-times with torsion
is addressed. We define geodesics as curves whose tangent vector moves by
parallel transport. This is different from what other authors have done,
because their definition of geodesics only involves the Christoffel connection,
though studying theories with torsion. We propose a preliminary definition of
singularities which is based on timelike or null geodesic incompleteness, even
though for theories with torsion the paths of particles are not geodesics. The
study of the geodesic equation for cosmological models with torsion shows that
the definition has a physical relevance. It can also be motivated, as done in
the literature, remarking that the causal structure of a space-time with
torsion does not get changed with respect to general relativity. We then prove
how to extend Hawking's singularity theorem without causality assumptions to
the space-time of the ECSK theory. This is achieved studying the generalized
Raychaudhuri equation in the ECSK theory, the conditions for the existence of
conjugate points and properties of maximal timelike geodesics. Hawking's
theorem can be generalized, provided the torsion tensor obeys some conditions.
Thus our result can also be interpreted as a no-singularity theorem if these
additional conditions are not satisfied. In other words, it turns out that the
occurrence of singularities in closed cosmological models based on the ECSK
theory is less generic than in general relativity. Our work is to be compared
with previous papers in the literature. There are some relevant differences,
because we rely on a different definition of geodesics, we keep the field
equations of the ECSK theory in their original form rather than casting them in
a form similar to general relativity with a modified energy momentum tensor,Comment: 17 pages, plain-tex, published in Nuovo Cimento B, volume 105, pages
75-90, year 199
The Raychaudhuri equations: a brief review
We present a brief review on the Raychaudhuri equations. Beginning with a
summary of the essential features of the original article by Raychaudhuri and
subsequent work of numerous authors, we move on to a discussion of the
equations in the context of alternate non--Riemannian spacetimes as well as
other theories of gravity, with a special mention on the equations in
spacetimes with torsion (Einstein--Cartan--Sciama--Kibble theory). Finally, we
give an overview of some recent applications of these equations in General
Relativity, Quantum Field Theory, String Theory and the theory of relativisitic
membranes. We conclude with a summary and provide our own perspectives on
directions of future research.Comment: 35 pages, two figures, to appear in the special issue of Pramana
dedicated to the memory of A. K. Raychaudhur
Big bounce from spin and torsion
The Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble theory of gravity naturally extends general
relativity to account for the intrinsic spin of matter. Spacetime torsion,
generated by spin of Dirac fields, induces gravitational repulsion in fermionic
matter at extremely high densities and prevents the formation of singularities.
Accordingly, the big bang is replaced by a bounce that occurred when the energy
density was on the order of (in
natural units), where is the fermion number density and is
the number of thermal degrees of freedom. If the early Universe contained only
the known standard-model particles (), then the energy density at
the big bounce was about 15 times larger than the Planck energy. The minimum
scale factor of the Universe (at the bounce) was about times smaller
than its present value, giving \approx 50 \mum. If more fermions existed in
the early Universe, then the spin-torsion coupling causes a bounce at a lower
energy and larger scale factor. Recent observations of high-energy photons from
gamma-ray bursts indicate that spacetime may behave classically even at scales
below the Planck length, supporting the classical spin-torsion mechanism of the
big bounce. Such a classical bounce prevents the matter in the contracting
Universe from reaching the conditions at which a quantum bounce could possibly
occur.Comment: 6 pages; published versio
Radiation from accelerated black holes in an anti-de Sitter universe
We study gravitational and electromagnetic radiation generated by uniformly
accelerated charged black holes in anti-de Sitter spacetime. This is described
by the C-metric exact solution of the Einstein-Maxwell equations with a
negative cosmological constant Lambda. We explicitly find and interpret the
pattern of radiation that characterizes the dependence of the fields on a null
direction from which the (timelike) conformal infinity is approached. This
directional pattern exhibits specific properties which are more complicated if
compared with recent analogous results obtained for asymptotic behavior of
fields near a de Sitter-like infinity. In particular, for large acceleration
the anti-de Sitter-like infinity is divided by Killing horizons into several
distinct domains with a different structure of principal null directions, in
which the patterns of radiation differ.Comment: 19 pages, 11 colour figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D [Low quality
figures are included in this version because of arXive size restrictions. The
version with the standard quality figures is available at
http://utf.mff.cuni.cz/~podolsky/jppubl.htm.
Four-fermion interaction from torsion as dark energy
The observed small, positive cosmological constant may originate from a
four-fermion interaction generated by the spin-torsion coupling in the
Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble gravity if the fermions are condensing. In
particular, such a condensation occurs for quark fields during the
quark-gluon/hadron phase transition in the early Universe. We study how the
torsion-induced four-fermion interaction is affected by adding two terms to the
Dirac Lagrangian density: the parity-violating pseudoscalar density dual to the
curvature tensor and a spinor-bilinear scalar density which measures the
nonminimal coupling of fermions to torsion.Comment: 6 pages; published versio
Algebraically special axisymmetric solutions of the higher-dimensional vacuum Einstein equation
A d-dimensional spacetime is "axisymmetric" if it possesses an SO(d-2)
isometry group whose orbits are (d-3)-spheres. In this paper, algebraically
special, axisymmetric solutions of the higher dimensional vacuum Einstein
equation (with cosmological constant) are investigated. Necessary and
sufficient conditions for static axisymmetric solutions to belong to different
algebraic classes are presented. Then general (possibly time-dependent)
axisymmetric solutions are discussed. All axisymmetric solutions of algebraic
types II, D, III and N are obtained.Comment: 28 page
Surfactant proteins SP-B and SP-C and their precursors in bronchoalveolar lavages from children with acute and chronic inflammatory airway disease
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The surfactant proteins B (SP-B) and C (SP-C) are important for the stability and function of the alveolar surfactant film. Their involvement and down-regulation in inflammatory processes has recently been proposed, but their level during neutrophilic human airway diseases are not yet known.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used 1D-electrophoresis and Western blotting to determine the concentrations and molecular forms of SP-B and SP-C in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid of children with different inflammatory airway diseases. 21 children with cystic fibrosis, 15 with chronic bronchitis and 14 with pneumonia were included and compared to 14 healthy control children.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>SP-B was detected in BAL of all 64 patients, whereas SP-C was found in BAL of all but 3 children; those three BAL fluids had more than 80% neutrophils, and in two patients, who were re-lavaged later, SP-C was then present and the neutrophil count was lower. SP-B was mainly present as a dimer, SP-C as a monomer. For both qualitative and quantitative measures of SP-C and SP-B, no significant differences were observed between the four evaluated patient groups.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Concentration or molecular form of SP-B and SP-C is not altered in BAL of children with different acute and chronic inflammatory lung diseases. We conclude that there is no down-regulation of SP-B and SP-C at the protein level in inflammatory processes of neutrophilic airway disease.</p
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