296 research outputs found
Gravitational waves in vacuum spacetimes with cosmological constant. I. Classification and geometrical properties of non-twisting type N solutions
All non-twisting Petrov-type N solutions of vacuum Einstein field equations
with cosmological constant Lambda are summarized. They are shown to belong
either to the non-expanding Kundt class or to the expanding Robinson-Trautman
class. Invariant subclasses of each class are defined and the corresponding
metrics are given explicitly in suitable canonical coordinates. Relations
between the subclasses and their geometrical properties are analyzed. In the
subsequent paper these solutions are interpreted as exact gravitational waves
propagating in de Sitter or anti-de Sitter spacetimes.Comment: 16 pages, no figures, LaTeX, To appear in J. Math. Phy
A Model for the Moving `Wisps' in the Crab Nebula
I propose that the moving `wisps' near the center of the Crab Nebula result
from nonlinear Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities in the equatorial plane of the
shocked pulsar wind. Recent observations suggest that the wisps trace out
circular wavefronts in this plane, expanding radially at speeds approximately
less than c/3. Instabilities could develop if there is sufficient velocity
shear between a faster-moving equatorial zone and a slower moving shocked
pulsar wind at higher latitudes. The development of shear could be related to
the existence of a neutral sheet -- with weak magnetic field -- in the
equatorial zone, and could also be related to a recent suggestion by Begelman
that the magnetic field in the Crab pulsar wind is much stronger than had been
thought. I show that plausible conditions could lead to the growth of
instabilities at the radii and speeds observed, and that their nonlinear
development could lead to the appearance of sharp wisplike features.Comment: 7 pages; 3 postscript figures; LaTex, uses emulateapj.sty; to Appear
in the Astrophysical Journal, Feb. 20, 1999, Vol. 51
Consequences of a Killing symmetry in spacetime's local structure
In this paper we discuss the consequences of a Killing symmetry on the local
geometrical structure of four-dimensional spacetimes. We have adopted the point
of view introduced in recent works where the exterior derivative of the Killing
plays a fundamental role. Then, we study some issues related with this approach
and clarify why in many circumstances its use has advantages with respect to
other approaches. We also extend the formalism developed in the case of vacuum
spacetimes to the general case of an arbitrary energy-momentum content.
Finally, we illustrate our framework with the case of spacetimes with a
gravitating electromagnetic field.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX2e, IOP style. Revised version accepted for
publication in Classical and Quantum Gravit
Generalised Kundt waves and their physical interpretation
We present the complete family of space-times with a non-expanding,
shear-free, twist-free, geodesic principal null congruence (Kundt waves) that
are of algebraic type III and for which the cosmological constant ()
is non-zero. The possible presence of an aligned pure radiation field is also
assumed. These space-times generalise the known vacuum solutions of type N with
arbitrary and type III with . It is shown that there
are two, one and three distinct classes of solutions when is
respectively zero, positive and negative. The wave surfaces are plane,
spherical or hyperboloidal in Minkowski, de Sitter or anti-de Sitter
backgrounds respectively, and the structure of the family of wave surfaces in
the background space-time is described. The weak singularities which occur in
these space-times are interpreted in terms of envelopes of the wave surfaces.Comment: 16 pages including 2 figures. To appear in Classical and Quantum Gra
General approach to the study of vacuum space-times with an isometry
In vacuum space-times the exterior derivative of a Killing vector field is a
2-form (named here as the Papapetrou field) that satisfies Maxwell's equations
without electromagnetic sources. In this paper, using the algebraic structure
of the Papapetrou field, we will set up a new formalism for the study of vacuum
space-times with an isometry, which is suitable to investigate the connections
between the isometry and the Petrov type of the space-time. This approach has
some advantages, among them, it leads to a new classification of these
space-times and the integrability conditions provide expressions that determine
completely the Weyl curvature. These facts make the formalism useful for
application to any problem or situation with an isometry and requiring the
knowledge of the curvature.Comment: 24 pages, LaTeX2e, IOP style. To appear in Classical and Quantum
Gravit
Evidence for Heating of Neutron Stars by Magnetic Field Decay
We show the existence of a strong trend between neutron star surface
temperature and the dipolar component of the magnetic field extending through
three orders of field magnitude, a range that includes magnetars, radio-quiet
isolated neutron stars, and many ordinary radio pulsars. We suggest that this
trend can be explained by the decay of currents in the crust over a time scale
of few Myr. We estimate the minimum temperature that a NS with a given magnetic
field can reach in this interpretation.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figures, version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Let
All conformally flat pure radiation metrics
The complete class of conformally flat, pure radiation metrics is given,
generalising the metric recently given by Wils.Comment: 7 pages, plain Te
- …