25 research outputs found
The Refractive Index of Curved Spacetime II: QED, Penrose Limits and Black Holes
This work considers the way that quantum loop effects modify the propagation
of light in curved space. The calculation of the refractive index for scalar
QED is reviewed and then extended for the first time to QED with spinor
particles in the loop. It is shown how, in both cases, the low frequency phase
velocity can be greater than c, as found originally by Drummond and Hathrell,
but causality is respected in the sense that retarded Green functions vanish
outside the lightcone. A "phenomenology" of the refractive index is then
presented for black holes, FRW universes and gravitational waves. In some
cases, some of the polarization states propagate with a refractive index having
a negative imaginary part indicating a potential breakdown of the optical
theorem in curved space and possible instabilities.Comment: 62 pages, 14 figures, some signs corrected in formulae and graph
Use of Complex Lie Symmetries for Linearization of Systems of Differential Equations - II: Partial Differential Equations
The linearization of complex ordinary differential equations is studied by
extending Lie's criteria for linearizability to complex functions of complex
variables. It is shown that the linearization of complex ordinary differential
equations implies the linearizability of systems of partial differential
equations corresponding to those complex ordinary differential equations. The
invertible complex transformations can be used to obtain invertible real
transformations that map a system of nonlinear partial differential equations
into a system of linear partial differential equation. Explicit invariant
criteria are given that provide procedures for writing down the solutions of
the linearized equations. A few non-trivial examples are mentioned.Comment: This paper along with its first part ODE-I were combined in a single
research paper "Linearizability criteria for systems of two second-order
differential equations by complex methods" which has been published in
Nonlinear Dynamics. Due to citations of both parts I and II these are not
replaced with the above published articl
Unconventional Gravitational Excitation of a Schwarzschild Black Hole
Besides the well-known quasinormal modes, the gravitational spectrum of a
Schwarzschild black hole also has a continuum part on the negative imaginary
frequency axis. The latter is studied numerically for quadrupole waves. The
results show unexpected striking behavior near the algebraically special
frequency . This reveals a pair of unconventional damped modes very
near , confirmed analytically.Comment: REVTeX4, 4pp, 6 EPS figure files. N.B.: "Alec" is my first, and
"Maassen van den Brink" my family name. v2: better pole placement in Fig. 1.
v3: fixed Refs. [9,20]. v4: added context on "area quantum" research; trimmed
one Fig.; textual clarification
The Causal Structure of QED in Curved Spacetime: Analyticity and the Refractive Index
The effect of vacuum polarization on the propagation of photons in curved
spacetime is studied in scalar QED. A compact formula is given for the full
frequency dependence of the refractive index for any background in terms of the
Van Vleck-Morette matrix for its Penrose limit and it is shown how the
superluminal propagation found in the low-energy effective action is reconciled
with causality. The geometry of null geodesic congruences is found to imply a
novel analytic structure for the refractive index and Green functions of QED in
curved spacetime, which preserves their causal nature but violates familiar
axioms of S-matrix theory and dispersion relations. The general formalism is
illustrated in a number of examples, in some of which it is found that the
refractive index develops a negative imaginary part, implying an amplification
of photons as an electromagnetic wave propagates through curved spacetime.Comment: 54 pages, 19 figures, corrected some signs in formulae and graph
On stellar statistics
In this paper a method is proposed for treating the fundamental equation of stellar statistics which will take into account the known cloud structure of the interstellar absorbing matter. The method is based on the determination and the interpretation of the fluctuations in the numbers of stars, N(m), per unit solid angle, and brighter than a given apparent magnitude, m, in the various parts of the sky. The marked dependence of these fluctuations on the galactic latitude confirms their relation to the interstellar clouds. Theoretical formulae are derived for the dispersions to be expected in N(m) as a function of the galactic latitude on certain idealized distributions of stars and clouds. The results of star counts tabulated by van Rhijn and by Baker and Kiefer are analyzed in terms of these formulae, and a theoretical prediction based on them is verified. The analysis discloses the importance of taking into account the dispersion in the transparencies of the interstellar clouds as a factor in these considerations
Finite- N effects for ideal polymer chains near a flat impenetrable wall
This paper addresses the statistical mechanics of ideal polymer chains next to a hard wall. The principal quantity of interest, from which all monomer densities can be calculated, is the partition function, G N(z) , for a chain of N discrete monomers with one end fixed a distance z from the wall. It is well accepted that in the limit of infinite N , G N(z) satisfies the diffusion equation with the Dirichlet boundary condition, G N(0) = 0 , unless the wall possesses a sufficient attraction, in which case the Robin boundary condition, G N(0) = - x G N ′(0) , applies with a positive coefficient, x . Here we investigate the leading N -1/2 correction, D G N(z) . Prior to the adsorption threshold, D G N(z) is found to involve two distinct parts: a Gaussian correction (for z <~Unknown control sequence '\lesssim' aN 1/2 with a model-dependent amplitude, A , and a proximal-layer correction (for z <~Unknown control sequence '\lesssim' a described by a model-dependent function, B(z)