A vacuum type D initial data set is a vacuum initial data set of the Einstein field equations whose data development contains a region where the space-time is of Petrov type D. In this paper we give a {\em systematic} characterisation of a vacuum type D initial data set. By systematic we mean that the only quantities involved are those appearing in the vacuum constraints, namely the first fundamental form (Riemannian metric) and the second fundamental form. Our characterisation is a set of conditions consisting of the vacuum constraints and some additional differential equations for the first and second fundamental forms. These conditions can be regarded as a system of partial differential equations on a Riemannian manifold and the solutions of the system contain all possible {\em regular} vacuum type D initial data sets. As an application we particularise our conditions for the case of vacuum data whose data development is a subset of the Kerr solution. This has applications in the formulation of the non-linear stability problem of the Kerr black hole.
In this paper we continue earlier investigations of evolutionary formulations of the Einstein vacuum constraint equations originally introduced by Rácz. Motivated by the strong evidence from these works that the resulting vacuum initial data sets are generically not asymptotically flat we analyse the asymptotics of the solutions of a modified formulation by a combination of analytical and numerical techniques. We conclude that the vacuum initial data sets generated with this new formulation are generically asymptotically flat.
This is the second part of our result on a class of global characteristic problems for the Einstein vacuum equations with small initial data. In the previous work denoted by (I), our attention was focused on prescribing the initial data satisfying the costraints imposed by the characteristic problem. Here we show how the global existence result can be achieved. This part is heavily based on the global results of D.Christodoulou, S.Klainerman and S.Klainerman, F.Nicolo`.
We show how to prescribe the initial data of a characteristic problem satisfying the costraints, the smallness, the regularity and the asymptotic decay suitable to prove a global existence result. In this paper, the first of two, we show in detail the construction of the initial data and give a sketch of the existence result. This proof, which mimicks the analogous one for the non characteristic problem in [Kl-Ni], will be the content of a subsequent paper.
A hypersurface composed of two null sheets, or "light fronts", swept out by the two congruences of future null normal geodesics emerging from a spacelike 2-disk can serve as a Cauchy surface for a region of spacetime. Already in the 1960s free (unconstrained) initial data for vacuum general relativity were found for hypersurfaces of this type. Here the Poisson brackets of such free initial data are calculated from the Hilbert action. The brackets obtained can form the starting point for a constraint free canonical quantization of general relativity and may be relevant to holographic entropy bo…
In this article we show that one can construct initial data for the Einstein equations which satisfy the vacuum constraints. This initial data is defined on a manifold with topology $R^3$ with a regular center and is asymptotically flat. Further, this initial data will contain an annular region which is foliated by two-surfaces of topology $S^2$. These two-surfaces are future trapped in the language of Penrose. The Penrose singularity theorem guarantees that the vacuum spacetime which evolves from this initial data is future null incomplete.
We prove existence and uniqueness of maximal global hyperbolic developments of vacuum general relativistic initial data sets with initial data (g,K) in Sobolev spaces $H^s\oplus H^{s-1}$ with integer s > n/2 +1.
Using the Newman-Penrose formalism we study the characteristic initial value problem in vacuum General Relativity. We work in a gauge suggested by Stewart, and following the strategy taken in the work of Luk, demonstrate local existence of solutions in a neighbourhood of the set on which data are given. These data are given on intersecting null hypersurfaces. Existence near their intersection is achieved by combining the observation that the field equations are symmetric hyperbolic in this gauge with the results of Rendall. To obtain existence all the way along the null-hypersurfaces themselve…
The maximal globally hyperbolic development of non-Taub-NUT Bianchi IX vacuum initial data and of non-NUT Bianchi VIII vacuum initial data is C2 inextendible. Furthermore, a curvature invariant is unbounded in the incomplete directions of inextendible causal geodesics.
In the Friedmann equations, an infinite initial density is avoided only when the universe is spatially flat. With such equations being then valid when the scale factor $a=0$, the universe must also be in the state of vacuum when $a$ is infinitesimal. Matter creation thus largely comes from nonlinearity of the Friedmann equations at a finite $a$. For the correspondence between such an initial vacuum and the Friedmann universe, therefore, a vacuum density is suggested to be gravitationally significant only when it could also have a matter phase. The effective cosmological term is then due to suc…
In Class. Quantum Grav. 35 (2018) 155015 we have introduced the notion of "Multiple Killing Horizon" and analyzed some of its general properties. Multiple Killing Horizons are Killing horizons for two or more linearly independent Killing vectors simultaneously. In this paper we focus on the vacuum case, possibly with cosmological constant, and study the emergence of Multiple Killing Horizons in terms of characteristic initial value problems for two transversally intersecting null hypersurfaces. As a relevant outcome, a more general definition of Near Horizon Geometry is put forward. This new d…
Let (M, g) be an asymptotically flat static vacuum initial data set with non-empty compact boundary. We prove that (M, g) is isometric to a spacelike slice of a Schwarzschild spacetime under the mere assumption that the boundary of (M, g) has zero mean curvature, hence generalizing a classic result of Bunting and Masood-ul-Alam. In the case that the boundary has constant positive mean curvature and satisfies a stability condition, we derive an upper bound of the ADM mass of (M, g) in terms of the area and mean curvature of the boundary. Our discussion is motivated by Bartnik's quasi-local mass…
In this paper, we continue our investigations of Rácz's parabolic-hyperbolic formulation of the Einstein vacuum constraints. Our previous studies of the asymptotically flat setting provided strong evidence for unstable asymptotics which we were able to resolve by introducing a certain modification of Rácz's parabolic-hyperbolic formulation. The primary focus of the present paper here is the asymptotically hyperboloidal setting. We provide evidence through a mixture of numerical and analytical methods that the asymptotics of the solutions of Rácz's parabolic-hyperbolic formulation is stable, an…
This is the second in a series of articles on the numerical solution of Friedrich's conformal field equations for Einstein's theory of gravity. We will discuss in this paper the numerical methods used to solve the system of evolution equations obtained from the conformal field equations. In particular we discuss in detail the choice of gauge source functions and the treatment of the boundaries. Of particular importance is the process of ``radiation extraction'' which can be performed in a straightforward way in the present formalism.
We construct non-trivial vacuum space-times with a global Scri. The construction proceeds by proving extension results across compact boundaries for initial data sets, adapting the gluing arguments of Corvino and Schoen. Another application of the extension results is existence of initial data which are exactly Schwarzschild both near infinity and near each of the connected component of the apparent horizon.
Motivated by recent studies of the one-bubble inflationary universe scenario that predicts a low density, negative curvature universe, we investigate the Euclidean vacuum mode functions of a scalar field in a spatially open chart of de Sitter space which is foliated by hyperbolic time slices. When we consider the possibility of an open inflationary universe, we are faced with the problem of the initial condition for the quantum fluctuations of the inflaton field, because the inflationary era should not last too long to lose every information of the initial condition. In the one-bubble scenario…
An initial data characterization for vacuum $pp$-wave spacetimes in dimension four is constructed. This is a vacuum initial data set plus some extra conditions guaranteeing that the data development is a subset of a vacuum $pp$-wave. Some of the extra conditions only depend on the same quantities used to construct the vacuum initial data, namely the first and the second fundamental forms while others are related to a conformal Killing initial data characterization (CKID).
This is the first in a series of articles on the numerical solution of Friedrich's conformal field equations for Einstein's theory of gravity. We will discuss in this paper why one should be interested in applying the conformal method to physical problems and why there is good hope that this might even be a good idea from the numerical point of view. We describe in detail the derivation of the conformal field equations in the spinor formalism which we use for the implementation of the equations, and present all the equations as a reference for future work. Finally, we discuss the implications …
In this paper we investigate the parabolic-hyperbolic formulation of the vacuum constraint equations introduced by R{á}cz with a view to constructing multiple black hole initial data sets without spin. In order to respect the natural properties of this configuration, we foliate the spatial domain with 2-spheres. It is then a consequence of these equations that they must be solved as an initial value problem evolving outwards towards spacelike infinity. Choosing the free data and the "strong field boundary conditions" for these equations in a way which mimics asymptotically flat and asymptotica…
An earlier construction by the authors of sequences of globally regular, asymptotically flat initial data for the Einstein vacuum equations containing trapped surfaces for large values of the parameter is extended, from the time symmetric case considered previously, to the case of maximal slices. The resulting theorem shows rigorously that there exists a large class of initial configurations for non-time symmetric pure gravitational waves satisfying the assumptions of the Penrose singularity theorem and so must have a singularity to the future.
In the first part of this paper we consider expanding vacuum cosmological spacetimes with a free $T^N$-action. Among them, we give evidence that Gowdy spacetimes have AVTD (asymptotically velocity term dominated) behavior for their initial geometry, in any dimension. We then give sufficient conditions to reach a similar conclusion about a $T^2$-invariant four dimensional nonGowdy spacetime. In the second part of the paper we consider vacuum cosmological spacetimes with crushing singularities. We introduce a monotonic quantity to characterize Kasner spacetimes. Assuming scale-invariant curvatur…
We discuss the issue of radiation extraction in asymptotically flat space-times within the framework of conformal methods for numerical relativity. Our aim is to show that there exists a well defined and accurate extraction procedure which mimics the physical measurement process. It operates entirely intrisically within $\scri^+$ so that there is no further approximation necessary apart from the basic assumption that the arena be an asymptotically flat space-time. We define the notion of a detector at infinity by idealising local observers in Minkowski space. A detailed discussion is presented…
We illustrate the fact that the class of vacuum type D spacetimes which are $\mathcal{I}$-\emph{non-degenerate} are invariantly classified by their scalar polynomial curvature invariants.
In this note we prove a theorem on non-vacuum initial data for general relativity. The result presents a ``rigidity phenomenon'' for the extrinsic curvature, caused by the non-positive scalar curvature. More precisely, we state that in the case of asymptotically flat non-vacuum initial data if the metric has everywhere non-positive scalar curvature then the extrinsic curvature cannot be compactly supported.
We present a new asymptotically-flat time-machine model made solely of vacuum and dust. The spacetime evolves from a regular spacelike initial hypersurface S and subsequently develops closed timelike curves. The initial hypersurface S is asymptotically flat and topologically trivial. The chronology violation occurs in a compact manner; namely the first closed causal curves form at the boundary of the future domain of dependence of a compact region in S (the core). This central core is empty, and so is the external asymptotically flat region. The intermediate region surrounding the core (the en…
For any vacuum initial data set, we define a local, non-negative scalar quantity which vanishes at every point of the data hypersurface if and only if the data are {\em Kerr initial} data. Our scalar quantity only depends on the quantities used to construct the vacuum initial data set which are the Riemannian metric defined on the initial data hypersurface and a symmetric tensor which plays the role of the second fundamental form of the embedded initial data hypersurface. The dependency is {\em algorithmic} in the sense that given the initial data one can compute the scalar quantity by algebra…
We take a step towards characterising stationary data for the vacuum Einstein equations, by finding a necessary condition on initial data for which the evolution is a solution of the vacuum equations admitting a Killing vector, which is time-like at least in some region of the Cauchy development.
Bondi's approach to the construction of a coordinate system is used with a different choice of gauge, in accordance with which the radial coordinate r is an affine parameter, to cast the metric tensor into a form suitable for use with the Newman-Penrose null tetrad formalism. The choice of tetrad has the result that the equations and all the functions that appear in them are real-valued. A group classification of the Sachs equations in this gauge leads to a unique expression for the first of the five independent elements $Ψ_0$ of the Weyl spinor, and to the corresponding exact solutions for tw…
Depending on the type and arrangement of metastable vacua in the theory, initial conditions in a de Sitter vacuum with arbitrarily large entropy can be compatible with the observed arrow of time, if the causal patch or related measures are used to regulate divergences. An important condition, however, is that the initial vacuum cannot produce observers from rare fluctuations (Boltzmann brains). Here we consider more general initial conditions where multiple vacua have nonzero initial probability. We examine whether the prediction of an arrow of time is destroyed by a small initial admixture of…
In the framework of Inflationary theory, the assumption that the quantum state of the perturbations is a non-vacuum state leads to a difficulty: non-vacuum initial states imply, in general, a large energy density of inflaton field quanta, not of a cosmological term type, that could prevent the inflationary phase. In this short note, we discuss in detail why this is so, keeping an eye on possible non-Gaussian features due to considering generic non-vacuum initial states.
We analyze type I vacuum solutions admitting an isometry whose Killing 2--form is aligned with a principal bivector of the Weyl tensor, and we show that these solutions belong to a family of type I metrics which admit a group $G_3$ of isometries. We give a classification of this family and we study the Bianchi type for each class. The classes compatible with an aligned Killing 2--form are also determined. The Szekeres-Brans theorem is extended to non vacuum spacetimes with vanishing Cotton tensor.
Recently, a novel phenomenon is observed for vacuum decay to proceed via classically allowed dynamical evolution from initial configurations of false vacuum fluctuations. With the help of some occasionally developed large fluctuations in time derivative of a homogeneous scalar field that is initially sitting at the false vacuum, the flyover vacuum decay is proposed if the initial Gaussian profile of field velocity contains a spatial region where the field velocity is large enough to flyover the potential barrier. In this paper, we point out that, even if the initial profile of field velocity i…
Using the implicit function theorem, we prove existence of solutions of the so-called conformally covariant split system on compact 3-dimensional Riemannian manifolds. They give rise to non-Constant Mean Curvature (non-CMC) vacuum initial data for the Einstein equations. We investigate the conformally covariant split system defined on compact manifolds with or without boundaries. In the former case, the boundary corresponds to an apparent horizon in the constructed initial data. The case with a cosmological constant is then considered separately. Finally, to demonstrate the applicability of th…
A maximally reduced system of equations corresponding to the twisting type N Einstein metrics is given. When the cosmological constant $λ\to 0$ they reduce to the standard equations for the vacuum twisting type N's. All the metrics which are conformally equivalent to the twisting type N metrics and which admit 3-dimensional conformal group of symmetries are presented. In the Feferman class of metrics an example is given of a twisting type N metric which satisfies Bach's equations but is not Einstein.
We are investigating if the Jeans instability criteria mandading a low entropy,low temperature initial pre inflation state configuration can be recociled with thermal conditions of temperature at or above ten to the 12 power Kelvin, or higher,when cosmic inflation physics takes over. We justify this by pointing to the Akshenkar, Pawlowski, and Singh (2006) article about a prior universe being modeled via their quantum bounce which states that this prior universe geometrically can be modeled via a discretized Wheeler - De Witt equation. This allows a way of getting around the fact that conventi…
Using extensions of the Newman-Penrose and Geroch-Held-Penrose formalisms to five dimensions, we invariantly classify all Petrov type $D$ vacuum solutions for which the Riemann tensor is isotropic in a plane orthogonal to a pair of Weyl alligned null directions
All possible evolution scenarios of a thin vacuum shell surrounding the spherically symmetric de Sitter space have been determined and the corresponding global geometries have been constructed. Such configurations can appear at the final stage of the cosmological phase transition, when isolated regions (islands) of the old vacuum remain. The islands of the old vacuum are absorbed by the new vacuum, expand unlimitedly, or form black holes and wormholes depending on the sizes of the islands as well as on the density and velocity of the shells surrounding the islands.
We show that it is possible to perturb arbitrary vacuum asymptotically flat spacetimes to new ones having exactly the same energy and linear momentum, but with center of mass and angular momentum equal to any preassigned values measured with respect to a fixed affine frame at infinity. This is in contrast to the axisymmetric situation where a bound on the angular momentum by the mass has been shown to hold for black hole solutions. Our construction involves changing the solution at the linear level in a shell near infinity, and perturbing to impose the vacuum constraint equations. The procedur…
We construct a class of time-symmetric initial data sets for the Einstein vacuum equation modeling elementary configurations of multiple ``almost isolated" systems. Each such initial data set consists of a collection of several localized sources of gravitational radiation, and lies in a family of data sets which is closed under scaling out the distances between the systems by arbitrarily large amounts. This class contains data sets which are not asymptotically flat, but to which nonetheless a finite ADM mass can be ascribed. The construction proceeds by a gluing scheme using the Brill--Lindqui…
We discuss two different realizations of a ``deflationary'' scenario of the early universe which imply a smooth transition from an initial de Sitter stage to a subsequent radiation-dominated FLRW period. Thermodynamically, this transition is a non-equilibrium process which may also be interpreted as the decay of an initial cosmic vacuum into relativistic matter.
We compute the primordial trispectrum for curvature perturbations produced during cosmic inflation in models with standard kinetic terms, when the initial quantum state is not necessarily the vacuum state. The presence of initial perturbations enhances the trispectrum amplitude for configuration in which one of the momenta, say $k_3$, is much smaller than the others, $k_3 \ll k_{1,2,4}$. For those squeezed configurations the trispectrum acquires the so-called local form, with a scale dependent amplitude that can get values of order $ ε({k_1}/{k_3})^2$. This amplitude can be larger than the pre…
In the context of inflation, non-vacuum initial states for cosmological perturbations that possess a built in scale are studied. It is demonstrated that this assumption leads to a falsifiable class of models. The question of whether they lead to conflicts with the available observations is addressed. For this purpose, the power spectrum of the Bardeen potential operator is calculated and compared with the CMBR anisotropies measurements and the redshift surveys of galaxies and clusters of galaxies. Generic predictions of the model are: a high first acoustic peak, the presence of a bump in the m…
We show the existence of complete, asymptotically flat Cauchy initial data for the vacuum Einstein field equations, free of trapped surfaces, whose future development must admit a trapped surface. Moreover, the datum is exactly a constant time slice in Minkowski space-time inside and exactly a constant time slice in Kerr space-time outside. The proof makes use of the full strength of Christodoulou's work on the dynamical formation of black holes and Corvino-Schoen's work on the constructions of initial data set.
In the presence of a short-distance cutoff, the choice of a vacuum state in an inflating, non-de Sitter universe is unavoidably ambiguous. The ambiguity is related to the time at which initial conditions for the mode functions are specified and to the way the expansion of the universe affects those initial conditions. In this paper we study the imprint of these uncertainties on the predictions of inflation. We parametrize the most general set of possible vacuum initial conditions by two phenomenological variables. We find that the generated power spectrum receives oscillatory corrections whose…
The Cauchy problem of the vacuum Einstein's equations aims to find a semi-metric $g_{αβ}$ of a spacetime with vanishing Ricci curvature $R_{α,β}$ and prescribed initial data. Under the harmonic gauge condition, the equations $R_{α,β}=0$ are transferred into a system of quasi-linear wave equations which are called the reduced Einstein equations. The initial data for Einstein's equations are a proper Riemannian metric $h_{ab}$ and a second fundamental form $K_{ab}$. A necessary condition for the reduced Einstein equation to satisfy the vacuum equations is that the initial data satisfy Einstein c…
In this paper, we proved the mass angular momentum inequality\cite{D1}\cite{ChrusLiWe}\cite{SZ} for axisymmetric, asymptotically flat, vacuum constraint data sets with small trace. Given an initial data set with small trace, we construct a boost evolution spacetime of the Einstein vacuum equations as \cite{ChOM}. Then a perturbation method is used to solve the maximal surface equation in the spacetime under certain growing condition at infinity. When the initial data set is axisymmetric, we get an axisymmetric maximal graph with the same ADM mass and angular momentum as the given data. The ine…
We theoretically and observationally investigate different choices of initial conditions for the primordial mode function that are imposed during an epoch preceding inflation. By deriving predictions for the observables resulting from several alternate quantum vacuum prescriptions we show some choices of vacua are theoretically observationally distinguishable from others. Comparing these predictions to the Planck 2018 observations via a Bayesian analysis shows no significant evidence to favour any of the quantum vacuum prescriptions over the others. In addition we consider frozen initial condi…
In this paper, we explore the nucleation of vacuum bubbles in the Brans-Dicke type theory of gravity. In the Euclidean signature, we evaluate the fields at the vacuum bubbles as solutions of the Euler-Lagrange equations of motion as well as the bubble nucleation probabilities by integrating the Euclidean action. We illustrate three possible ways to obtain vacuum bubbles: true vacuum bubbles for ω>-3/2, false vacuum bubbles for ω<-3/2, and false vacuum bubbles for ω>-3/2 when the vacuum energy of the false vacuum in the potential of the Einstein frame is less than that of the true vacuum. After…
We investigate the transformation of initial conditions for primordial curvature perturbations under two types of transformations of the associated action: simultaneous redefinition of time and the field to be quantised, and the addition of surface terms. The latter encompasses all canonical transformations, whilst the time- and field-redefinition is a distinct, non-canonical transformation since the initial and destination systems use different times. Actions related to each other via such transformations yield identical equations of motion and preserve the commutator structure. They further …
For a vacuum initial data set of the Einstein field equations it is possible to carry out a conformal rescaling or conformal compactification of the data giving rise to an initial data set for the Friedrich vacuum conformal equations. When will the data development with respect to the conformal equations of this set be a conformal extension of a type D solution? In this work we provide a set of necessary and sufficient conditions on a set of initial data for the conformal equations that guarantees that the data development of the conformal equations has a subset that is conformal to a vacuum t…
