We construct a familly of exact solutions of Lovelock equations describing codimension four branes with discrete symmetry in the transverse space. Unlike what is known from pure Einstein gravity, where such brane solutions of higher codimension are singular, the solutions we find, for the complete Lovelock theory, only present removable singularities. The latter account for a localised tension-like energy-momentum tensor on the brane, in analogy with the case of a codimension two self-gravitating cosmic string in pure Einstein gravity. However, the solutions we discuss present two main distinctive features : the tension of the brane receives corrections from the induced curvature of the brane's worldsheet and, in a given Lovelock theory, the spectrum of possible values of the tension is discrete. These solutions provide a new framework for the study of higher codimension braneworlds.
We consider a static self-gravitating system consisting of perfect fluid with isometries of an $(n-2)$-dimensional maximally symmetric space in Lovelock gravity theory. A straightforward analysis of the time-time component of the equations of motion suggests a generalized mass function. Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff like equation is obtained by using this mass function and gravitational equations. We investigate the maximum entropy principle in Lovelock gravity, and find that this Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equation can also be deduced from the so called "maximum entropy principle" which is origi…
We present matching conditions for distributional sources of arbitrary codimension in the context of Lovelock gravity. Then we give examples, treating maximally symmetric distributional p-branes, embedded in flat, de Sitter and anti-de Sitter spacetime. Unlike Einstein theory, distributional defects of locally smooth geometry and codimension greater than 2 are demonstrated to exist in Lovelock theories. The form of the matching conditions depends on the parity of the brane codimension. For odd codimension, the matching conditions involve discontinuities of Chern-Simons forms and are thus simil…
We consider four-dimensional de Sitter, flat and anti de Sitter branes embedded in a six-dimensional bulk spacetime whose dynamics is dictated by Lovelock theory. We find, applying a generalised version of Birkhoff's theorem, that all possible maximally symmetric braneworld solutions are embedded in Wick-rotated black hole spacetimes of Lovelock theory. These are warped solitonic spaces, where the horizons of the black hole geometries correspond to the possible positions of codimension-2 branes. The horizon temperature is related via conical singularities to the tension or vacuum energy of the…
We give the equations of motion for a self-gravitating Dirac p-brane embedded in an even co-dimension spacetime. The dynamics of the bulk are dictated by Lovelock gravity and permit matching conditions, even when the codimension is strictly greater than 2. We show that the equations of motion involve both induced Lovelock densities on the brane and regular extrinsic curvature terms. The brane dynamics can be derived from an exact (p+1)-dimensional induced action. The Dirac charge is carried by an overall (solid) angle defect which sets the Planck scale on the brane. In particular, if the codim…
Thin gravitating defects with conical singularities in higher codimensions and with generalized Israel matching conditions are known to be inconsistent for generic energy-momentum. A way to remove this inconsistency is proposed and is realized for an axially symmetric gravitating codimension-two defect in six dimensional Einstein gravity. By varying with respect to the brane embedding fields, alternative matching conditions are derived, which are generalizations of the Nambu-Goto equations of motion of the defect, consistent with bulk gravity. For a maximally symmetric defect the standard pict…
We study codimension-even conical defects that contain a deficit solid angle around each point along the defect. We show that they lead to a delta function contribution to the Lovelock scalar and we compute the contribution by two methods. We then show that these codimension-even defects appear as Euclidean brane solutions in higher dimensional topological AdS gravity which is Lovelock-Chern-Simons gravity without torsion. The theory possesses a holographic Weyl anomaly that is purely of type-A and proportional to the Lovelock scalar. Using the formula for the defect contribution, we prove a h…
We consider a static self-gravitating perfect fluid system in Lovelock gravity theory. For a spacial region on the hypersurface orthogonal to static Killing vector, by the Tolman's law of temperature, the assumption of a fixed total particle number inside the spacial region, and all of the variations (of relevant fields) in which the induced metric and its first derivatives are fixed on the boundary of the spacial region, then with the help of the gravitational equations of the theory, we can prove a theorem says that the total entropy of the fluid in this region takes an extremum value. A con…
The recently proposed gravitational entropy generalize the usual black hole entropy to Euclidean solutions without U(1) symmetry in the framework of Einstein gravity. The entropy of such smooth configuration is given by the area of minimal surface, therefore explaining the Ryu-Takayanagi formula of holographic entanglement entropy. In this note we investigate the generalized gravitational entropy for general Lovelock gravity in arbitrary dimensions. We use the replica trick and consider the Euclidean bulk spacetime with conical singularity localized at a codimension two surface. We obtain a co…
We study the matching conditions of intersecting brane worlds in Lovelock gravity in arbitrary dimension. We show that intersecting various codimension 1 and/or codimension 2 branes one can find solutions that represent energy-momentum densities localized in the intersection, providing thus the first examples of infinitesimally thin higher codimension braneworlds that are free of singularities and where the backreaction of the brane in the background is fully taken into account.
We discuss a particular higher order gravity theory, Lovelock theory, that generalises in higher dimensions, general relativity. After briefly motivating modifications of gravity, we will introduce the theory in question and we will argue that it is a unique, mathematically sensible, and physically interesting extension of general relativity. We will see, by using the formalism of differential forms, the relation of Lovelock gravity to differential geometry and topology of even dimensional manifolds. We will then discuss a generic staticity theorem, which will give us the charged static black …
We consider two specific approaches to evaluate the black hole entropy which are known to produce correct results in the case of Einstein's theory and generalize them to Lanczos-Lovelock models. In the first approach (which could be called extrinsic) we use a procedure motivated by earlier work by Pretorius, Vollick and Israel, and by Oppenheim, and evaluate the entropy of a configuration of densely packed gravitating shells on the verge of forming a black hole in Lanczos-Lovelock theories of gravity. We find that this matter entropy is not equal to (it is less than) Wald entropy, except in th…
We raise on theoretical grounds the question of the physical relevance of Israel matching conditions and their generalizations to higher codimensions, the standard cornerstone of the braneworld and other membrane scenarios. Our reasoning is twofold: First, the incapability of the conventional matching conditions to accept the Nambu-Goto probe limit (even the geodesic limit of the Israel matching conditions is not acceptable since being the geodesic equation a kinematical fact it should be preserved for all gravitational theories or defects, which is not the case for these conditions). Second, …
We continue the investigation of a recent proposal on alternative matching conditions for self-gravitating defects which generalize the standard matching conditions. The reasoning for this study is the need for consistency of the various codimension defects and the existence of a meaningful equation of motion at the probe limit, things that seem to lack from the standard approach. These matching conditions arise by varying the brane-bulk action with respect to the brane embedding fields (and not with respect to the bulk metric at the brane position) in a way that takes into account the gravita…
We propose the almost-geodesic motion of self-gravitating test bodies as a possible selection rule among metric theories of gravity. Starting from a heuristic statement, the "gravitational weak equivalence principle", we build a formal, operative test able to probe the validity of the principle for any metric theory of gravity, in an arbitrary number of spacetime dimensions. We show that, if the theory admits a well-posed variational formulation, this test singles out only the purely metric theories of gravity. This conclusion reproduces known results in the cases of general relativity (also w…
We study axially symmetric codimension-2 cosmology for a distributional braneworld fueled by a localised 4D perfect fluid, in a 6D Lovelock theory. We argue that only the matching conditions (dubbed topological) where the extrinsic curvature on the brane has no jump describe a pure codimension-2 brane. If there is discontinuity in the extrinsic curvature on the brane, this induces inevitably codimension-1 distributional terms. We study these topological matching conditions, together with constraints from the bulk equations evaluated at the brane position, for two cases of regularisation of the…
We investigate the maximum entropy principle for general field theory, including a metric tensor $g_{ μν}$, a vector field $A_{ μ}$, and a scalar field $φ$ as the fundamental fields, and find (i) imposing an ordinary constraint relation on $\varepsilon$, the field equations, which is constructed of the Euler-Lagrange derivative of an arbitrary Lagrangian density, the stress tensor of a perfect fluid, and the electric current vector, in ordinary manner, are compatible with the maximum entropy principle, and (ii) varying also the constraint relation on $\varepsilon$, the maximum entropy principl…
