9,549 research outputs found
Physical process version of the first law of thermodynamics for black holes in Einstein-Maxwell axion-dilaton gravity
We derive general formulae for the first order variation of the ADM mass,
angular momentum for linear perturbations of a stationary background in
Einstein-Maxwell axion-dilaton gravity being the low-energy limit of the
heterotic string theory. All these variations were expressed in terms of the
perturbed matter energy momentum tensor and the perturbed charge current
density. Combining these expressions we reached to the form of the {\it
physical version} of the first law of black hole dynamics for the stationary
black holes in the considered theory being the strong support for the cosmic
censorship.Comment: 8 pages, Revte
A general variational principle for spherically symmetric perturbations in diffeomorphism covariant theories
We present a general method for the analysis of the stability of static,
spherically symmetric solutions to spherically symmetric perturbations in an
arbitrary diffeomorphism covariant Lagrangian field theory. Our method involves
fixing the gauge and solving the linearized gravitational field equations to
eliminate the metric perturbation variable in terms of the matter variables. In
a wide class of cases--which include f(R) gravity, the Einstein-aether theory
of Jacobson and Mattingly, and Bekenstein's TeVeS theory--the remaining
perturbation equations for the matter fields are second order in time. We show
how the symplectic current arising from the original Lagrangian gives rise to a
symmetric bilinear form on the variables of the reduced theory. If this
bilinear form is positive definite, it provides an inner product that puts the
equations of motion of the reduced theory into a self-adjoint form. A
variational principle can then be written down immediately, from which
stability can be tested readily. We illustrate our method in the case of
Einstein's equation with perfect fluid matter, thereby re-deriving, in a
systematic manner, Chandrasekhar's variational principle for radial
oscillations of spherically symmetric stars. In a subsequent paper, we will
apply our analysis to f(R) gravity, the Einstein-aether theory, and
Bekenstein's TeVeS theory.Comment: 13 pages; submitted to Phys. Rev. D. v2: changed formatting, added
conclusion, corrected sign convention
Isolated Horizon, Killing Horizon and Event Horizon
We consider space-times which in addition to admitting an isolated horizon
also admit Killing horizons with or without an event horizon. We show that an
isolated horizon is a Killing horizon provided either (1) it admits a
stationary neighbourhood or (2) it admits a neighbourhood with two independent,
commuting Killing vectors. A Killing horizon is always an isolated horizon. For
the case when an event horizon is definable, all conceivable relative locations
of isolated horizon and event horizons are possible. Corresponding conditions
are given.Comment: 14 pages, Latex, no figures. Some arguments tightened. To appear in
Class. Quant. Gra
Trapped surfaces in prolate collapse in the Gibbons-Penrose construction
We investigate existence and properties of trapped surfaces in two models of
collapsing null dust shells within the Gibbons-Penrose construction. In the
first model, the shell is initially a prolate spheroid, and the resulting
singularity forms at the ends first (relative to a natural time slicing by flat
hyperplanes), in analogy with behavior found in certain prolate collapse
examples considered by Shapiro and Teukolsky. We give an explicit example in
which trapped surfaces are present on the shell, but none exist prior to the
last flat slice, thereby explicitly showing that the absence of trapped
surfaces on a particular, natural slicing does not imply an absence of trapped
surfaces in the spacetime. We then examine a model considered by Barrabes,
Israel and Letelier (BIL) of a cylindrical shell of mass M and length L, with
hemispherical endcaps of mass m. We obtain a "phase diagram" for the presence
of trapped surfaces on the shell with respect to essential parameters and . It is found that no trapped surfaces are
present on the shell when or are sufficiently small. (We are
able only to search for trapped surfaces lying on the shell itself.) In the
limit , the existence or nonexistence of trapped surfaces lying
within the shell is seen to be in remarkably good accord with the hoop
conjecture.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figure
Monitoring the Thermal Power of Nuclear Reactors with a Prototype Cubic Meter Antineutrino Detector
In this paper, we estimate how quickly and how precisely a reactor's
operational status and thermal power can be monitored over hour to month time
scales, using the antineutrino rate as measured by a cubic meter scale
detector. Our results are obtained from a detector we have deployed and
operated at 25 meter standoff from a reactor core. This prototype can detect a
prompt reactor shutdown within five hours, and monitor relative thermal power
to three percent within seven days. Monitoring of short-term power changes in
this way may be useful in the context of International Atomic Energy Agency's
(IAEA) Reactor Safeguards Regime, or other cooperative monitoring regimes.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
New thought experiment to test the generalized second law of thermodynamics
We propose an extension of the original thought experiment proposed by
Geroch, which sparked much of the actual debate and interest on black hole
thermodynamics, and show that the generalized second law of thermodynamics is
in compliance with it.Comment: 4 pages (revtex), 3 figure
Extremal black holes, gravitational entropy and nonstationary metric fields
We show that extremal black holes have zero entropy by pointing out a simple
fact: they are time-independent throughout the spacetime and correspond to a
single classical microstate. We show that non-extremal black holes, including
the Schwarzschild black hole, contain a region hidden behind the event horizon
where all their Killing vectors are spacelike. This region is nonstationary and
the time labels a continuous set of classical microstates, the phase space
, where is a three-metric induced on a
spacelike hypersurface and is its momentum conjugate. We
determine explicitly the phase space in the interior region of the
Schwarzschild black hole. We identify its entropy as a measure of an outside
observer's ignorance of the classical microstates in the interior since the
parameter which labels the states lies anywhere between 0 and 2M. We
provide numerical evidence from recent simulations of gravitational collapse in
isotropic coordinates that the entropy of the Schwarzschild black hole stems
from the region inside and near the event horizon where the metric fields are
nonstationary; the rest of the spacetime, which is static, makes no
contribution. Extremal black holes have an event horizon but in contrast to
non-extremal black holes, their extended spacetimes do not possess a bifurcate
Killing horizon. This is consistent with the fact that extremal black holes are
time-independent and therefore have no distinct time-reverse.Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures. To appear in Class. and Quant. Gravity. Based on
an essay selected for honorable mention in the 2010 gravity research
foundation essay competitio
Glassy states and microphase separation in cross-linked homopolymer blends
The physical properties of blends of distinct homopolymers, cross-linked
beyond the gelation point, are addressed via a Landau approach involving a pair
of coupled order-parameter fields: one describing vulcanisation, the other
describing local phase separation. Thermal concentration fluctuations, present
at the time of cross-linking, are frozen in by cross-linking, and the structure
of the resulting glassy fluctuations is analysed at the Gaussian level in
various regimes, determined by the relative values of certain physical
length-scales. The enhancement, due to gelation, of the stability of the blend
with respect to demixing is also analysed. Beyond the corresponding stability
limit, gelation prevents complete demixing, replacing it by microphase
separation, which occurs up to a length-scale set by the rigidity of the
network, as a simple variational scheme reveals.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure
The thermodynamic structure of Einstein tensor
We analyze the generic structure of Einstein tensor projected onto a 2-D
spacelike surface S defined by unit timelike and spacelike vectors u_i and n_i
respectively, which describe an accelerated observer (see text). Assuming that
flow along u_i defines an approximate Killing vector X_i, we then show that
near the corresponding Rindler horizon, the flux j_a=G_ab X^b along the ingoing
null geodesics k_i normalised to have unit Killing energy, given by j . k, has
a natural thermodynamic interpretation. Moreover, change in cross-sectional
area of the k_i congruence yields the required change in area of S under
virtual displacements \emph{normal} to it. The main aim of this note is to
clearly demonstrate how, and why, the content of Einstein equations under such
horizon deformations, originally pointed out by Padmanabhan, is essentially
different from the result of Jacobson, who employed the so called Clausius
relation in an attempt to derive Einstein equations from such a Clausius
relation. More specifically, we show how a \emph{very specific geometric term}
[reminiscent of Hawking's quasi-local expression for energy of spheres]
corresponding to change in \emph{gravitational energy} arises inevitably in the
first law: dE_G/d{\lambda} \alpha \int_{H} dA R_(2) (see text) -- the
contribution of this purely geometric term would be missed in attempts to
obtain area (and hence entropy) change by integrating the Raychaudhuri
equation.Comment: added comments and references; matches final version accepted in
Phys. Rev.
Gravity-induced vacuum dominance
It has been widely believed that, except in very extreme situations, the
influence of gravity on quantum fields should amount to just small,
sub-dominant contributions. This view seemed to be endorsed by the seminal
results obtained over the last decades in the context of renormalization of
quantum fields in curved spacetimes. Here, however, we argue that this belief
is false by showing that there exist well-behaved spacetime evolutions where
the vacuum energy density of free quantum fields is forced, by the very same
background spacetime, to become dominant over any classical energy-density
component. This semiclassical gravity effect finds its roots in the infrared
behavior of fields on curved spacetimes. By estimating the time scale for the
vacuum energy density to become dominant, and therefore for backreaction on the
background spacetime to become important, we argue that this vacuum dominance
may bear unexpected astrophysical and cosmological implications.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. Lett
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