van Vleck determinants: traversable wormhole spacetimes

Calculating the van Vleck determinant in traversable wormhole spacetimes is an important ingredient in understanding the physical basis behind Hawking's chronology protection conjecture. This paper presents extensive computations of this object --- at least in the short--throat flat--space approximation. An important technical trick is to use an extension of the usual junction condition formalism to probe the full Riemann tensor associated with a thin shell of matter. Implications with regard to Hawking's chronology protection conjecture are discussed. Indeed, any attempt to transform a single isolated wormhole into a time machine results in large vacuum polarization effects sufficient to disrupt the internal structure of the wormhole before the onset of Planck scale physics, and before the onset of time travel. On the other hand, it is possible to set up a putative time machine built out of two or more wormholes, each of which taken in isolation is not itself a time machine. Such ``Roman configurations'' are much more subtle to analyse. For some particularly bizarre configurations (not traversable by humans) the vacuum polarization effects can be arranged to be arbitrarily small at the onset of Planck scale physics. This indicates that the disruption scale has been pushed down into the Planck slop. Ultimately, for these configurations, questions regarding the truth or falsity of Hawking's chronology protection can only be addressed by entering the uncharted wastelands of full fledged quantum gravity.Comment: 42 pages, ReV_TeX 3.

Wormholes and Child Universes

Evidence to the case that classical gravitation provides the clue to make sense out of quantum gravity is presented. The key observation is the existence in classical gravitation of child universe solutions or "almost" solutions, "almost" because of some singularity problems. The difficulties of these child universe solutions due to their generic singularity problems will be very likely be cured by quantum effects, just like for example "almost" instanton solutions are made relevant in gauge theories with breaking of conformal invariance. Some well motivated modifcations of General Relativity where these singularity problems are absent even at the classical level are discussed. High energy density excitations, responsible for UV divergences in quantum field theories, including quantum gravity, are likely to be the source of child universes which carry them out of the original space time. This decoupling could prevent these high UV excitations from having any influence on physical amplitudes. Child universe production could therefore be responsible for UV regularization in quantum field theories which take into account semiclassically gravitational effects. Child universe production in the last stages of black hole evaporation, the prediction of absence of tranplanckian primordial perturbations, connection to the minimum length hypothesis and in particular the connection to the maximal curvature hypothesis are discussed. Some discussion of superexcited states in the case these states are Kaluza Klein excitations is carried out. Finally, the posibility of obtaining "string like" effects from the wormholes associated with the child universes is discussed.Comment: Talk presented at the IWARA 2009 Conference, Maresias, Brazil, October 2009, accepted for publication in the proceedings, World Scientific format, 8 page

From wormhole to time machine: Comments on Hawking's Chronology Protection Conjecture

The recent interest in ``time machines'' has been largely fueled by the apparent ease with which such systems may be formed in general relativity, given relatively benign initial conditions such as the existence of traversable wormholes or of infinite cosmic strings. This rather disturbing state of affairs has led Hawking to formulate his Chronology Protection Conjecture, whereby the formation of ``time machines'' is forbidden. This paper will use several simple examples to argue that the universe appears to exhibit a ``defense in depth'' strategy in this regard. For appropriate parameter regimes Casimir effects, wormhole disruption effects, and gravitational back reaction effects all contribute to the fight against time travel. Particular attention is paid to the role of the quantum gravity cutoff. For the class of model problems considered it is shown that the gravitational back reaction becomes large before the Planck scale quantum gravity cutoff is reached, thus supporting Hawking's conjecture.Comment: 43 pages,ReV_TeX,major revision

Is Quantum Spacetime Foam Unstable?

A very simple wormhole geometry is considered as a model of a mode of topological fluctutation in Planck-scale spacetime foam. Quantum dynamics of the hole reduces to quantum mechanics of one variable, throat radius, and admits a WKB analysis. The hole is quantum-mechanically unstable: It has no bound states. Wormhole wave functions must eventually leak to large radii. This suggests that stability considerations along these lines may place strong constraints on the nature and even the existence of spacetime foam.Comment: 15 page

Quantum Dynamics of Lorentzian Spacetime Foam

A simple spacetime wormhole, which evolves classically from zero throat radius to a maximum value and recontracts, can be regarded as one possible mode of fluctuation in the microscopic ``spacetime foam'' first suggested by Wheeler. The dynamics of a particularly simple version of such a wormhole can be reduced to that of a single quantity, its throat radius; this wormhole thus provides a ``minisuperspace model'' for a structure in Lorentzian-signature foam. The classical equation of motion for the wormhole throat is obtained from the Einstein field equations and a suitable equation of state for the matter at the throat. Analysis of the quantum behavior of the hole then proceeds from an action corresponding to that equation of motion. The action obtained simply by calculating the scalar curvature of the hole spacetime yields a model with features like those of the relativistic free particle. In particular the Hamiltonian is nonlocal, and for the wormhole cannot even be given as a differential operator in closed form. Nonetheless the general solution of the Schr\"odinger equation for wormhole wave functions, i.e., the wave-function propagator, can be expressed as a path integral. Too complicated to perform exactly, this can yet be evaluated via a WKB approximation. The result indicates that the wormhole, classically stable, is quantum-mechanically unstable: A Feynman-Kac decomposition of the WKB propagator yields no spectrum of bound states. Though an initially localized wormhole wave function may oscillate for many classical expansion/recontraction periods, it must eventually leak to large radius values. The possibility of such a mode unstable against growth, combined withComment: 37 pages, 93-

Dirty black holes: Entropy versus area

Considerable interest has recently been expressed in the entropy versus area relationship for ``dirty'' black holes --- black holes in interaction with various classical matter fields, distorted by higher derivative gravity, or infested with various forms of quantum hair. In many cases it is found that the entropy is simply related to the area of the event horizon: S = k A_H/(4\ell_P^2). For example, the ``entropy = (1/4) area'' law *holds* for: Schwarzschild, Reissner--Nordstrom, Kerr--Newman, and dilatonic black holes. On the other hand, the ``entropy = (1/4) area'' law *fails* for: various types of (Riemann)^n gravity, Lovelock gravity, and various versions of quantum hair. The pattern underlying these results is less than clear. This paper systematizes these results by deriving a general formula for the entropy: S = {k A_H/(4\ell_P^2)} + {1/T_H} \int_\Sigma [rho - {L}_E ] K^\mu d\Sigma_\mu + \int_\Sigma s V^\mu d\Sigma_\mu. (K^\mu is the timelike Killing vector, V^\mu the four velocity of a co--rotating observer.) If no hair is present the validity of the ``entropy = (1/4) area'' law reduces to the question of whether or not the Lorentzian energy density for the system under consideration is formally equal to the Euclideanized Lagrangian. ****** To appear in Physical Review D 15 July 1993 ****** [Stylistic changes, minor typos fixed, references updated, discussion of the Born-Infeld system excised]Comment: plain LaTeX, 17 pages, minor revision

Gravastars must have anisotropic pressures

One of the very small number of serious alternatives to the usual concept of an astrophysical black hole is the "gravastar" model developed by Mazur and Mottola; and a related phase-transition model due to Laughlin et al. We consider a generalized class of similar models that exhibit continuous pressure -- without the presence of infinitesimally thin shells. By considering the usual TOV equation for static solutions with negative central pressure, we find that gravastars cannot be perfect fluids -- anisotropic pressures in the "crust" of a gravastar-like object are unavoidable. The anisotropic TOV equation can then be used to bound the pressure anisotropy. The transverse stresses that support a gravastar permit a higher compactness than is given by the Buchdahl--Bondi bound for perfect fluid stars. Finally we comment on the qualitative features of the equation of state that gravastar material must have if it is to do the desired job of preventing horizon formation.Comment: V1: 15 pages; 4 figures; uses iopart.cls; V2: 16 pages; added 3 references and brief discussio

Shaping Robust System through Evolution

Biological functions are generated as a result of developmental dynamics that form phenotypes governed by genotypes. The dynamical system for development is shaped through genetic evolution following natural selection based on the fitness of the phenotype. Here we study how this dynamical system is robust to noise during development and to genetic change by mutation. We adopt a simplified transcription regulation network model to govern gene expression, which gives a fitness function. Through simulations of the network that undergoes mutation and selection, we show that a certain level of noise in gene expression is required for the network to acquire both types of robustness. The results reveal how the noise that cells encounter during development shapes any network's robustness, not only to noise but also to mutations. We also establish a relationship between developmental and mutational robustness through phenotypic variances caused by genetic variation and epigenetic noise. A universal relationship between the two variances is derived, akin to the fluctuation-dissipation relationship known in physics

"Cosmological" quasiparticle production in harmonically trapped superfluid gases

We show that a variety of cosmologically motivated effective quasiparticle space-times can be produced in harmonically trapped superfluid Bose and Fermi gases. We study the analogue of cosmological particle production in these effective space-times, induced by trapping potentials and coupling constants possessing an arbitrary time dependence. The WKB probabilities for phonon creation from the superfluid vacuum are calculated, and an experimental procedure to detect quasiparticle production by measuring density-density correlation functions is proposed.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure; references updated, as published in Physical Review

Light Rays at Optical Black Holes in Moving Media

Light experiences a non-uniformly moving medium as an effective gravitational field, endowed with an effective metric tensor $\tilde{g}^{\mu \nu}=\eta^{\mu \nu}+(n^2-1)u^\mu u^\nu$, $n$ being the refractive index and $u^\mu$ the four-velocity of the medium. Leonhardt and Piwnicki [Phys. Rev. A {\bf 60}, 4301 (1999)] argued that a flowing dielectric fluid of this kind can be used to generate an 'optical black hole'. In the Leonhardt-Piwnicki model, only a vortex flow was considered. It was later pointed out by Visser [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 85}, 5252 (2000)] that in order to form a proper optical black hole containing an event horizon, it becomes necessary to add an inward radial velocity component to the vortex flow. In the present paper we undertake this task: we consider a full spiral flow, consisting of a vortex component plus a radially infalling component. Light propagates in such a dielectric medium in a way similar to that occurring around a rotating black hole. We calculate, and show graphically, the effective potential versus the radial distance from the vortex singularity, and show that the spiral flow can always capture light in both a positive, and a negative, inverse impact parameter interval. The existence of a genuine event horizon is found to depend on the strength of the radial flow, relative to the strength of the azimuthal flow. A limitation of our fluid model is that it is nondispersive.Comment: 30 pages, LaTeX, 4 ps figures. Expanded discussion especially in section 6; 5 new references. Version to appear in Phys. Rev.