On the total mass of closed universes

The total mass, the Witten type gauge conditions and the spectral properties of the Sen-Witten and the 3-surface twistor operators in closed universes are investigated. It has been proven that a recently suggested expression ${\tt M}$ for the total mass density of closed universes is vanishing if and only if the spacetime is flat with toroidal spatial topology; it coincides with the first eigenvalue of the Sen-Witten operator; and it is vanishing if and only if Witten's gauge condition admits a non-trivial solution. Here we generalize slightly the result above on the zero-mass configurations: ${\tt M}=0$ if and only if the spacetime is holonomically trivial with toroidal spatial topology. Also, we show that the multiplicity of the eigenvalues of the (square of the) Sen-Witten operator is at least two, and a potentially viable gauge condition is suggested. The monotonicity properties of ${\tt M}$ through the examples of closed Bianchi I and IX cosmological spacetimes are also discussed. A potential spectral characterization of these cosmological spacetimes, in terms of the spectrum of the Riemannian Dirac operator and the Sen-Witten and the 3-surface twistor operators, is also indicated.Comment: 14 pages, plenary talk at the `Spanish Relativity Meeting in Portugal 2012', Guimar\~aes 3-7 September; Final version, appearing in General Relativity and Gravitatio

A positive Bondi--type mass in asymptotically de Sitter spacetimes

The general structure of the conformal boundary $\mathscr{I}^+$ of asymptotically de Sitter spacetimes is investigated. First we show that Penrose's quasi-local mass, associated with a cut ${\cal S}$ of the conformal boundary, can be zero even in the presence of outgoing gravitational radiation. On the other hand, following a Witten--type spinorial proof, we show that an analogous expression based on the Nester--Witten form is finite only if the Witten spinor field solves the 2-surface twistor equation on ${\cal S}$, and it yields a positive functional on the 2-surface twistor space on ${\cal S}$, provided the matter fields satisfy the dominant energy condition. Moreover, this functional is vanishing if and only if the domain of dependence of the spacelike hypersurface which intersects $\mathscr{I}^+$ in the cut ${\cal S}$ is locally isometric to the de Sitter spacetime. For non-contorted cuts this functional yields an invariant analogous to the Bondi mass.Comment: 51 pages; typos corrected, one reference added; final version, appearing in Class. Quantum Gra

The 'most classical' states of Euclidean invariant elementary quantum mechanical systems

Complex techniques of general relativity are used to determine \emph{all} the states in the two and three dimensional momentum spaces in which the equality holds in the uncertainty relations for the non-commuting basic observables of Euclidean invariant elementary quantum mechanical systems, even with non-zero intrinsic spin. It is shown that while there is a 1-parameter family of such states for any two components of the angular momentum vector operator with any angle between them, such states exist for the component of the linear and the angular momenta \emph{only if} these components are orthogonal to each other and hence the problem is reduced to the two-dimensional Euclidean invariant case. We also show that the analogous states exist for a component of the linear momentum and of the centre-of-mass vector \emph{only if} the angle between them is zero or an acute angle. \emph{No} such state (represented by a square integrable and differentiable wave function) can exist for \emph{any} pair of components of the centre-of-mass vector operator. Therefore, the existence of such states depends not only on the Lie algebra, but on the choice for its generators as well.Comment: 28 pages; v2: typos corrected, discussion improve

On gravity's role in the genesis of rest masses of classical fields

It is shown that in the Einstein-conformally coupled Higgs--Maxwell system with Friedman-Robertson-Walker symmetries the energy density of the Higgs field has stable local minimum only if the mean curvature of the $t={\rm const}$ hypersurfaces is less than a finite critical value $\chi_c$, while for greater mean curvature the energy density is not bounded from below. Therefore, there are extreme gravitational situations in which even quasi-locally defined instantaneous vacuum states of the Higgs sector cannot exist, and hence one cannot at all define the rest mass of all the classical fields. On hypersurfaces with mean curvature less than $\chi_c$ the energy density has the `wine bottle' (rather than the familiar `Mexican hat') shape, and the gauge field can get rest mass via the Brout--Englert--Higgs mechanism. The spacelike hypersurface with the critical mean curvature represents the moment of `genesis' of rest masses.Comment: 21 pages, 3 figures; short, journal version of arXiv:1603.0699