We present a new expression for the Weyl scalar Psi_4 that can be used in numerical relativity to extract the gravitational wave content of a spacetime. The formula relies upon the identification of transverse tetrads, namely the ones in which Psi_1=Psi_3=0. It is well known that tetrads with this property always exist in a general Petrov type I spacetime. A sub-class of these tetrads naturally converges to the Kinnersley tetrad in the limit of Petrov type D spacetime. However, the transverse condition fixes only four of the six parameters coming from the Lorentz group of transformations applied to tetrads. Here we fix the tetrad completely, in particular by giving the expression for the spin-boost transformation that was still unclear. The value of Psi_4 in this optimal tetrad is given as a function of the two curvature invariants I and J.
We discuss a set of relations, set in the form of results, conjectures and problems, between the L^{2}-norm of the Ricci curvature of a 3-manifold, the scalar curvature and the volume radius. We illustrate the scope of these relations with potential applications to the Einstein Constant Mean Curvature flow (or GR seen as a geometric flow of constant mean curvature), but we believe the framework has it own geometric interest.
We review curvature-based hyperbolic forms of the evolution part of the Cauchy problem of General Relativity that we have obtained recently. We emphasize first order symmetrizable hyperbolic systems possessing only physical characteristics.
The equations of General Relativity are recast in the form of a wave equation for the Weyl tensor. This allows to reformulate gravitational wave theory in terms of curvature waves, rather than metric waves. The existence of two transverse polarization states for curvature waves is proven and in the linearized approximation the quadrupole formula is rederived. A perturbative scheme to extend the linearized result to the non-linear regime is outlined.
A numerical-relativity calculation yields in general a solution of the Einstein equations including also a radiative part, which is in practice computed in a region of finite extent. Since gravitational radiation is properly defined only at null infinity and in an appropriate coordinate system, the accurate estimation of the emitted gravitational waves represents an old and non-trivial problem in numerical relativity. A number of methods have been developed over the years to "extract" the radiative part of the solution from a numerical simulation and these include: quadrupole formulas, gauge-i…
Within the framework of projective geometry, we investigate kinematics and symmetry in $(α,β)$ spacetime-one special types of Finsler spacetime. The projectively flat $(α,β)$ spacetime with constant flag curvature is divided into four types. The symmetry in type A-Riemann spacetime with constant sectional curvature is just the one in de Sitter special relativity. The symmetry in type B-locally Minkowski spacetime is just the one in very special relativity. It is found that type C-Funk spacetime and type D-scaled Berwald's metric spacetime both possess the Lorentz group as its isometric group. …
Wave extraction plays a fundamental role in the binary black hole simulations currently performed in numerical relativity. Having a well defined procedure for wave extraction, which matches simplicity with efficiency, is critical especially when comparing waveforms from different simulations. Recently, progress has been made in defining a general technique which uses Weyl scalars to extract the gravitational wave signal, through the introduction of the {\it quasi-Kinnersley tetrad}. This procedure has been used successfully in current numerical simulations; however, it involves complicated cal…
Characteristic classes in space-time manifolds are discussed for both even- and odd-dimensional spacetimes. In particular, it is shown that the Einstein--Hilbert action is equivalent to a second Chern-class on a modified Poincare bundle in four dimensions. Consequently, the cosmological constant and the trace of an energy-momentum tensor become divisible modulo R/Z.
Chamseddine and Mukhanov recently proposed a modified version of general relativity that implements the idea of a limiting curvature. In the spatially flat, homogeneous, and isotropic sector, their theory turns out to agree with the effective dynamics of the simplest version of loop quantum gravity if one identifies their limiting curvature with a multiple of the Planck curvature. At the same time, it extends to full general relativity without any symmetry assumptions and thus provides an ideal toy model for full loop quantum gravity in the form of a generally covariant effective action known …
Beetle and Burko recently introduced a background--independent scalar curvature invariant for general relativity that carries information only about the gravitational radiation in generic spacetimes, in cases where such radiation is incontrovertibly defined. In this paper we adopt a formalism that only uses spatial data as they are used in numerical relativity and compute the Beetle--Burko radiation scalar for a number of analytical examples, specifically linearized Einstein--Rosen cylindrical waves, linearized quadrupole waves, the Kerr spacetime, Bowen--York initial data, and the Kasner spac…
We consider the thermodynamic properties of the constant curvature black hole solution recently found by Banados. We show that it is possible to compute the entropy and the quasilocal thermodynamics of the spacetime using the Einstein-Hilbert action of General Relativity. The constant curvature black hole has some unusual properties which have not been seen in other black hole spacetimes. The entropy of the black hole is not associated with the event horizon; rather it is associated with the region between the event horizon and the observer. Further, surfaces of constant internal energy are no…
An experiment in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is proposed to measure components of the Riemann curvature tensor using atom interferometry. We show that the difference in the quantum phase $Δϕ$ of an atom that can travel along two intersecting geodesics is given by $mR_{0i0j}/\hbar$ times the spacetime volume contained within the geodesics. Our expression for $Δϕ$ also holds for gravitational waves in the long wavelength limit.
We clarify some points about the systems considered by Sota, Suzuki and Maeda in Class. Quantum Grav. 13, 1241 (1996). Contrary to the authors' claim for a non-homoclinic kind of chaos, we show the chaotic cases they considered are homoclinic in origin. The power of local criteria to predict chaos is once more questioned. We find that their local, curvature--based criterion is neither necessary nor sufficient for the occurrence of chaos. In fact, we argue that a merit of their search for local criteria applied to General Relativity is just to stress the weakness of locality itself, free of any…
We treat the calculation of gravitational radiation using the mixed timelike-null initial value formulation of general relativity. The determination of an exterior radiative solution is based on boundary values on a timelike worldtube $Γ$ and on characteristic data on an outgoing null cone emanating from an initial cross-section of $Γ$. We present the details of a 3-dimensional computational algorithm which evolves this initial data on a numerical grid, which is compactified to include future null infinity as finite grid points. A code implementing this algorithm is calibrated in the quasisphe…
We present the recent results of a research project aimed at constructing a robust wave extraction technique for numerical relativity. Our procedure makes use of Weyl scalars to achieve wave extraction. It is well known that, with a correct choice of null tetrad, Weyl scalars are directly associated to physical properties of the space-time under analysis in some well understood way. In particular it is possible to associate $Ψ_4$ with the outgoing gravitational radiation degrees of freedom, thus making it a promising tool for numerical wave--extraction. The right choice of the tetrad is, howev…
We present a numerical study of the evolution of a non-linearly disturbed black hole described by the Bondi--Sachs metric, for which the outgoing gravitational waves can readily be found using the news function. We compare the gravitational wave output obtained with the use of the news function in the Bondi--Sachs framework, with that obtained from the Weyl scalars, where the latter are evaluated in a quasi-Kinnersley tetrad. The latter method has the advantage of being applicable to any formulation of Einstein's equations---including the ADM formulation and its various descendants---in additi…
We examine an extension of General Relativity with an explicit non-minimal coupling between matter and curvature. The purpose of this work is to present an overview of the implications of the latter to various contexts, ranging from astrophysical matter distributions to a cosmological setting. Various results are discussed, including the impact of this non-minimal coupling on the choice of Lagrangian density, on a mechanism to mimic galactic and cluster dark matter, on the possibility of accounting for the accelerated expansion of the Universe, energy density fluctuations and modifications to …
A underlying dynamical structure for both relativity and quantum theory-``superrelativity'' has been proposed in order to overcome the well known incompatibility between these theories. The relationship between curvature of spacetime (gravity) and curvature of the projective Hilbert space of pure quantum states is established as well.
We present a practical application of parallel symbolic computation in General Relativity: the calculation of curvature invariants for large dimension. We discuss the structure of the calculations, an implementation of the technique and scaling of the computation with spacetime dimension for various invariants.
We present convergent gravitational waveforms extracted from three-dimensional, numerical simulations in the wave zone and with causally disconnected boundaries. These waveforms last for multiple periods and are very accurate, showing a peak error to peak amplitude ratio of 2% or better. Our approach includes defining the Weyl scalar Psi_4 in terms of a three-plus-one decomposition of the Einstein equations; applying, for the first time, a novel algorithm due to Misner for computing spherical harmonic components of our wave data; and using fixed mesh refinement to focus resolution on non-linea…
Starting from the Lovelock action and its supplementation by the relevant Gibbons-Hawking-York boundary term, the curvature action corresponding to second-order General Relativity is stated in accordance to the topological properties of the space-time manifold $\mathcal{M}$ with metric solutions being interpreted as topological solitons. Furthermore, this is shown to arise naturally from a topological interpretation of Mach's principle, with the appropriate manifestation of general covariance. Mach's principle is again invoked to suggest formulations of the curvature action in alternative elli…
We derive a generalized deviation equation -- analogous to the well-known geodesic deviation equation -- for test bodies in General Relativity. Our result encompasses and generalizes previous extensions of the standard geodesic deviation equation. We show how the standard as well as a generalized deviation equation can be used to measure the curvature of spacetime by means of a set of test bodies. In particular, we provide exact solutions for the curvature by using the standard deviation equation as well as its next order generalization.
The Newman-Penrose formalism may be used in numerical relativity to extract coordinate-invariant information about gravitational radiation emitted in strong-field dynamical scenarios. The main challenge in doing so is to identify a null tetrad appropriately adapted to the simulated geometry such that Newman-Penrose quantities computed relative to it have an invariant physical meaning. In black hole perturbation theory, the Teukolsky formalism uses such adapted tetrads, those which differ only perturbatively from the background Kinnersley tetrad. At late times, numerical simulations of astrophy…
Given a collection of N asymptotically Euclidean ends with zero scalar curvature, we construct a Riemannian manifold with zero scalar curvature and one asymptotically Euclidean end, whose boundary has a neighborhood isometric to the disjoint union of a specified collection of sub-regions of the given ends. An application is the construction of time-symmetric solutions of the constraint equations which model N-body initial data.
The Teukolsky formalism of black hole perturbation theory describes weak gravitational radiation generated by a mildly dynamical hole near equilibrium. A particular null tetrad of the background Kerr geometry, due to Kinnersley, plays a singularly important role within this formalism. In order to apply the rich physical intuition of Teukolsky's approach to the results of fully non-linear numerical simulations, one must approximate this Kinnersley tetrad using raw numerical data, with no a priori knowledge of a background. This paper addresses this issue by identifying the directions of the tet…
The conformal method for constructing initial data for Einstein's equations is presented in both the Hamiltonian and Lagrangian picture (extrinsic curvature decomposition and conformal thin sandwich formalism, respectively), and advantages due to the recent introduction of a weight-function in the extrinsic curvature decomposition are discussed. I then describe recent progress in numerical techniques to solve the resulting elliptic equations, and explore innovative approaches toward the construction of astrophysically realistic initial data for binary black hole simulations.
Using the generally covariant magnetofluid formalism for a hot plasma, a new spacetime curvature driven mechanism for generating seed vorticity/magnetic field is presented. The ``battery'' owes its origin to the interaction between gravity and the inhomogeneous plasma thermodynamics. The general relativistic drive is evaluated for two simple cases: seed formation in a simplified model of a hot plasma accreting in stable orbits around a Schwarzschild black hole, and for particles in free fall near the horizon. Some astrophysical applications are suggested.
General relativity can be presented in terms of other geometries besides Riemannian. In particular, teleparallel geometry (i.e., curvature vanishes) has some advantages, especially concerning energy-momentum localization and its ``translational gauge theory'' nature. The standard version is metric compatible, with torsion representing the gravitational ``force''. However there are many other possibilities. Here we focus on an interesting alternate extreme: curvature and torsion vanish but the nonmetricity $\nabla g$ does not---it carries the ``gravitational force''. This {\it symmetric telepar…
A family of quasilocal mass definitions that includes as special cases the Hawking mass and the Brown-York ``rest mass'' energy is derived for spacelike 2-surfaces in spacetime. The definitions involve an integral of powers of the norm of the spacetime mean curvature vector of the 2-surface, whose properties are connected with apparent horizons. In particular, for any spacelike 2-surface, the direction of mean curvature is orthogonal (dual in the normal space) to a unique normal direction in which the 2-surface has vanishing expansion in spacetime. The quasilocal mass definitions are obtained …
We will present a complete set of equations, in the form of an Einstein-Bianchi system, that describe the evolution of generic smooth lattices in spacetime. All 20 independent Riemann curvatures will be evolved in parallel with the leg-lengths of the lattice. We will show that the evolution equations for the curvatures forms a hyperbolic system and that the associated constraints are preserved. This work is a generalisation of our previous paper arXiv:1101.3171 on the Einstein-Bianchi system for the Schwarzschild spacetime to general 3+1 vacuum spacetimes.
In this work we examine what are the cosmological implications of allowing the geometrical curvature density to behave independently from the energy density contents. Using the full data extracted by Planck mission from CMB, combined with BAO and SNIa measurements, we derive, in the light of this approach, new constraints on the cosmological parameters. In particular we determine the behavior of the curvature dark energy degeneracy when allowing a varying equation of state for the latter. We also examine whether this approach could bridge the gap recently found between the Hubble parameter val…
A new type of gauge quantum theory (superrelativity) has been proposed. This differs from ordinary gauge theories in sense that the affine connection of our theory is constructed from first derivatives of the Fubini-Study metric tensor. That is we have not merely analogy with general relativity but this construction should presumably provide a unification of general relativity and quantum theory. Here we shall discuss the physical meaning of metric properties of the projective Hilbert space and manifestation of its nontrivial physical character.
A regularization procedure, that allows one to relate singularities of curvature to those of the Einstein tensor without some of the shortcomings of previous approaches, is proposed. This regularization is obtained by requiring that (i) the density $|det {\bf g}|^{1/2}G^a_{b}$, associated to the Einstein tensor $G^a_{b}$ of the regularized metric, rather than the Einstein tensor itself, be a distribution and (ii) the regularized metric be a continuous metric with a discontinuous extrinsic curvature across a non-null hypersurface of codimension one. In this paper, the curvature and Einstein ten…
Recent data suggest that the Universe could be positively curved. Combined with an inflationary stage, this might lead to a curvature bounce instead of the Big Bang. The background evolution is presented, as a function of the parameters controlling the cosmic evolution. The primordial tensor spectrum is also calculated and possible observational footprints of the model are underlined. Several potentials are considered and general remarks are made about "naturalness" in this context.
We study gravitational curvature effects in circular and radial geodesics in static, spherically symmetric space-times, using Fermi normal coordinates. We first set up these coordinates in the general case, and then use this to study effective magnetic fields due to gravitational curvature in the exterior and interior Schwarzschild, Janis-Newman-Winicour, and Bertrand space-times. We show that these fields can be large for specific parameter values in the theories, and thus might have observational significance. We discuss the qualitative differences of the magnetic field for vacuum space-time…
Gravitational wave observations of compact binaries allow us to test general relativity (and modifications thereof) in the strong and highly-dynamical field regime of gravity. Here we confront two extensions to general relativity, dynamical Chern-Simons and Einstein-dilaton-Gauss-Bonnet theories, against the gravitational wave sources from the GWTC-1 and GWTC-2 catalogs by the LIGO-Virgo Collaboration. By stacking the posterior of individual events, we strengthen the constraint on the square root of the coupling parameter in Einstein-dilaton-Gauss-Bonnet gravity to $\sqrt{α_{\rm \tiny EdGB}} <…
Spin 1/2 particles in geodesic trajectories experience no gravitational potential but they still have non-zero couplings to the curvature tensor. The effect of space time curvature on fermions can be parameterized by a vector and a pseudo-vector potential. These apparent CPT violating terms can be measured with satellite based spin-polarized torsion balance and clock comparison experiments. The Earth's curvature effect is of the order of 10^{-37} Gev which is not far from the present bounds of ~10^{-29} Gev on such CPT violating couplings.
This paper surveys aspects of the convergence and degeneration of Riemannian metrics on a given manifold M - the Cheeger-Gromov theory - and extensions thereof to Ricci curvature in place of full curvature. This theory is then applied to study a collection of different issues in mathematical aapects of General Relativity.
We examine the problem of overcharging extremal and near-extremal black hole solutions of Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity in any dimension, generalizing the result in general relativity. We show that as in the case of general relativity, it is not possible to create a naked singularity by overcharging an extremal black hole in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity using a charged test particle. Our result suggests that the validity of the cosmic censorship hypothesis transcends beyond general relativity to well motivated higher curvature gravity.
The Einstein equations, apart from being the classical field equations of General Relativity, are also the classical field equations of two other theories of gravity. As the experimental tests of General Relativity are done using the Einstein equations, we do not really know, if gravity is the curvature of a torsionless spacetime, or torsion of a curvatureless spacetime, or if it occurs due to the non-metricity of a curvatureless and torsionless spacetime. However, as the classical actions of all these theories differ from each other by boundary terms, and the Casimir effect is a boundary effe…
We extract the Weyl scalars $Ψ_0$ and $Ψ_4$ in the quasi-Kinnersley tetrad by finding initially the (gauge--, tetrad--, and background--independent) transverse quasi-Kinnersley frame. This step still leaves two undetermined degrees of freedom: the ratio $|Ψ_0|/|Ψ_4|$, and one of the phases (the product $|Ψ_0|\cdot |Ψ_4|$ and the {\em sum} of the phases are determined by the so-called BB radiation scalar). The residual symmetry ("spin/boost") can be removed by gauge fixing of spin coefficients in two steps: First, we break the boost symmetry by requiring that $ρ$ corresponds to a global constan…
Analogies between gravitation and electromagnetism have been known since the 1950s. Here, we examine a fairly general type D solution---the exact seven parameter solution of Plebański--Demiański (PD)---to demonstrate these analogies for a physically meaningful spacetime: The two quadratic curvature invariants $\bf{B}^2-\bf{E}^2$ and $\bf{E}\cdot\bf{B}$ are evaluated analytically. In the asymptotically flat case, the leading terms of $\bf{E}$ and $\bf{B}$ can be interpreted as gravitoelectric mass and gravitoelectric current of the PD solution, respectively, if there are no gravitomagnetic mono…
The replacement of the Poincaré-invariant Einstein special relativity by a de Sitter-invariant special relativity produces concomitant changes in all relativistic theories, including general relativity. A crucial change in the latter is that both the background de Sitter curvature and the gravitational dynamical curvature turns out to be included in a single curvature tensor. This means that the cosmological term no longer explicitly appears in Einstein equation, and is consequently not restricted to be constant. In this paper, the Newtonian limit of such theory is obtained, and the ensuing Ne…
The accurate modeling of gravitational radiation is a key issue for gravitational wave astronomy. As simulation codes reach higher accuracy, systematic errors inherent in current numerical relativity wave-extraction methods become evident, and may lead to a wrong astrophysical interpretation of the data. In this paper, we give a detailed description of the Cauchy-characteristic extraction technique applied to binary black hole inspiral and merger evolutions to obtain gravitational waveforms that are defined unambiguously, that is, at future null infinity. By this method we remove finite-radius…
We formulate holomorphic theory of gravity and study how the holomorphy symmetry alters the two most important singular solutions of general relativity: black holes and cosmology. We show that typical observers (freely) falling into a holomorphic black hole do not encounter a curvature singularity. Likewise, typical observers do not experience Big Bang singularity. Unlike Hermitian gravity \cite{MantzHermitianGravity}, Holomorphic gravity does not respect the reciprocity symmetry and thus it is mainly a toy model for a gravity theory formulated on complex space-times. Yet it is a model that de…
Recently, Choquet-Bruhat and York and Abrahams, Anderson, Choquet-Bruhat, and York (AACY) have cast the 3+1 evolution equations of general relativity in gauge-covariant and causal ``first-order symmetric hyperbolic form,'' thereby cleanly separating physical from gauge degrees of freedom in the Cauchy problem for general relativity. A key ingredient in their construction is a certain wave equation which governs the light-speed propagation of the extrinsic curvature tensor. Along a similar line, we construct a related wave equation which, as the key equation in a system, describes vacuum genera…
Deterministic nature of general relativity is ensured by the strong cosmic censorship conjecture, which asserts that spacetime cannot be extended beyond Cauchy horizon with square integrable connection. Although this conjecture holds true for asymptotically flat black hole spacetimes in general relativity, a potential violation of this conjecture occurs in charged asymptotically de Sitter spacetimes. Since it is expected that Einstein-Hilbert action will involve higher curvature corrections, in this article we have studied whether one can restore faith in the strong cosmic censorship when high…
We discuss the generalization of Doubly Special Relativity to a curved de Sitter background. The model has three observer-independent scales, the velocity of light $c$, the radius of curvature of the geometry $α$, and the Planck energy $κ$, and can be realized in a noncommutative position space. It is possible to construct a model exhibiting a duality for the interchange of positions and momenta together with the exchange of $α$ and $κ$.
We find new classes of exact solutions of the initial momentum constraint for vacuum Einstein's equations. Considered data are either invariant under a continuous symmetry or they are assumed to have the exterior curvature tensor of a simple form. In general the mean curvature $H$ is non-constant and $g$ is not conformally flat. In the generic case with the symmetry we obtain general solution in an explicit form. In other cases solutions are given up to quadrature. We also find a class of explicit solutions without symmetries which generalizes data induced by the Kerr metric or other metrics r…
We examine current numerical relativity computations of gravitational waves, which typically determine the asymptotic waves at infinity by extrapolation from finite (small) radii. Using simulations of a black hole binary with accurate wave extraction at $r=1000M$, we show that extrapolations from the near-zone are self-consistent in approximating measurements at this radius, although with a somewhat reduced accuracy. We verify that $ψ_4$ is the dominant asymptotic contribution to the gravitational energy (as required by the peeling theorem) but point out that gauge effects may complicate the i…
We give a justification for generalizing the notion of the energy momentum stress tensor in general relativity which results in the Jacobi curvature tensor being the embodiment of total energy momentum stress including gravity in general relativity.
