We derive loop quantum gravity corrections to the Raychaudhuri equation in the interior of a Schwarzschild black hole and near the classical singularity. We show that the resulting effective equation implies defocusing of geodesics due to the appearance of repulsive terms. This prevents the formation of conjugate points, renders the singularity theorems inapplicable, and leads to the resolution of the singularity for this spacetime.
I first recount Raychaudhuri's deep involvement with the singularity problem in general relativity. I then argue that precisely the same situation has arisen today in loop quantum cosmology as obtained when Raychaudhuri discovered his celebrated equation. We thus need a new analogue of the Raychaudhuri equation in quantum gravity.
The classical Raychaudhuri equation predicts the formation of conjugate points for a congruence of geodesics, in a finite proper time. This in conjunction with the Hawking-Penrose singularity theorems predicts the incompleteness of geodesics and thereby the singular nature of practically all spacetimes. We compute the generic corrections to the Raychaudhuri equation in the interior of a Schwarzschild black hole, arising from modifications to the algebra inspired by the generalized uncertainty principle (GUP) theories. Then we study four specific models of GUP, compute their effective dynamics …
Raychaudhuri equation is generalized in the parameterized absolute parallelism geometry. This version of absolute parallelism is more general than the conventional one. The generalization takes into account the suggested interaction between the quantum spin of the moving elementary particle and the torsion of the background gravitational field. The generalized Raychaudhuri equation obtained contains some extra terms, depending on the torsion of space-time, that would have some effects on the singularity theorems of general relativity. Under a certain condition, this equation could be reduced t…
We studied the Raychaudhuri equation in Kaluza-Klein space-time. We derived an additional term that is solely due to Kaluza-Klein's unification. This term affects the defocus of world lines near the singularity of charged higher-dimensional black holes. We illustrated it with a static higher-dimensional black hole generated by Einstein-Maxwell equations. It has been found that the term derived modifies the repulsive effect of kaluza Klein scalar on world lines. We proved some mathematical theorems which give an insight into the interior of the black holes.
In general description of the Raychaudhuri equation it is found that this first order non-linear differential equation can be written as a second order linear differential equation in the form of Harmonic Oscillator with varying frequency. Further, the integrability of the Raychaudhuri equation has been studied and also the expansion scalar is obtained in an explicit form. Subsequently, $f(R)$ gravity theory has been studied in the background of inhomogeneous FLRW spacetime with an aim to formulate the Raychaudhuri Equation. A congruence of time-like geodesics has been investigated using the R…
The Raychaudhuri equation and its consequences for chronality are studied in the context of Finsler spacetimes. It is proved that the notable singularity theorems of Lorentzian geometry extend to the Finslerian domain. Indeed, so do the theorems by Hawking, Penrose, Hawking and Penrose, Geroch, Gannon, Tipler, or Kriele, but also the Topological Censorship theorem and so on. It is argued that the notable results in causality theory connected to achronal sets, future sets, domains of dependence, limit curve theorems, length functional, Lorentzian distance, geodesic connectedness, extend to the …
Implications of the Raychaudhuri equation in focusing of geodesic congruences are studied in the framework of scalar--tensor theory of gravity. Specifically, we investigate the Brans--Dicke theory and Bekenstein's scalar field theory. In both of these theories, we deal with a static spherically symmetric distribution and a spatially homogeneous and isotropic cosmological model as specific examples. We find that it is possible to violate the convergence condition under reasonable physical assumptions. This leads to the possibility of avoiding a singularity.
The Raychaudhuri equations for the expansion, shear and vorticity are generalized in a spacetime with torsion for timelike as well as null congruences. These equations are purely geometrical like the original Raychaudhuri equations and could be reduced to them when there is no torsion. Using the Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble field equations the effective stress-energy tensor is derived. We also consider an Oppenheimer-Snyder model for the gravitational collapse of dust. It is shown that the null energy condition (NEC) is violated before the density of the collapsing dust reaches the Planck den…
We show that Raychaudhuri's recently proposed theorem on nonrotating universes cannot be used to rule out realistic singularity-free descriptions of the universe, as suggested by him in PRL 80, 654 (1998).
The geodesic deviation equation, describing the relative accelerations of nearby particles, and the Raychaudhury equation, giving the evolution of the kinematical quantities associated with deformations (expansion, shear and rotation) are considered in the framework of modified theories of gravity with an arbitrary curvature-matter coupling, by taking into account the effects of the extra force. As a physical application of the geodesic deviation equation the modifications of the tidal forces due to the supplementary curvature-matter coupling are obtained in the weak field approximation. The t…
The effects on Raychaudhuri's equation of an intrinsically-discrete or particle nature of spacetime are investigated. This is done through the consideration of null congruences emerging from, or converging to, a generic point of spacetime, i.e. in geometric circumstances somehow prototypical of singularity issues. We do this from an effective point of view, that is through a (continuous) description of spacetime modified to embody the existence of an intrinsic discreteness on the small scale, this adding to previous results for non-null congruences. Various expressions for the effective rate o…
A recent attempt to arrive at a quantum version of Raychaudhuri's equation is looked at critically. It is shown that the method, and even the idea, has some inherent problems. The issues are pointed out here. We have also shown that it is possible to salvage the method in some limited domain of applicability. Although no generality can be claimed, a quantum version of the equation should be useful in the context of ascertaining the existence of a singularity in the quantum regime. The equation presented in the present work holds for arbitrary $n + 1$ dimensions. An important feature of the Ham…
We compute quantum corrections to the Raychaudhuri equation, by replacing classical geodesics with quantal (Bohmian) trajectories, and show that they prevent focusing of geodesics, and the formation of conjugate points. We discuss implications for the Hawking-Penrose singularity theorems, and for curvature singularities.
A theorem stated by Raychaudhuri which claims that the only physical non-singular cosmological models are comprised in the Ruiz-Senovilla family is shown to be incorrect. An explicit counterexample is provided and the failure of the argument leading to the theorem is explicitly pointed out.
The Raychaudhuri equation has seen extensive use in general relativity, most notably in the development of various singularity theorems. In this rather technical article we shall generalize the Raychaudhuri equation in several ways. First an improved version of the standard timelike Raychaudhuri equation is developed, where several key terms are lumped together as a divergence. This already has a number of interesting applications, both within the ADM formalism and elsewhere. Second, a spacelike version of the Raychaudhuri equation is briefly discussed. Third, a version of the Raychaudhuri equ…
A conjecture stated by Raychaudhuri which claims that the only physical perfect fluid non-rotating non-singular cosmological models are comprised in the Ruiz-Senovilla and Fernandez-Jambrina families is shown to be incorrect. An explicit counterexample is provided and the failure of the argument leading to the result is explicitly pointed out.
A 5-dimensional gravity theory, motivated by the brane world picture, with factorisable metric and with Kaluza scalar $G_{55}(r)$, is shown to give rise to a positive contribution to the Raychaudhuri equation. This inhibits the focusing of geodesics and possibly cause non-focusing of the geodesics. This feature is translated into the situation in which the universe has an infinite age and hence no beginning avoiding the big bang singularity.
In General Relativity, gravity is universally attractive, a feature embodied by the Raychaudhuri equation which requires that the expansion of a congruence of geodesics is always non-increasing, as long as matter obeys the strong or weak energy conditions. This behavior of geodesics is an important ingredient in general proofs of singularity theorems, which show that many spacetimes are singular in the sense of being geodesically incomplete and suggest that General Relativity is itself incomplete. It is possible that alternative theories of gravity, which reduce to General Relativity in some l…
The original singularity theorems of Penrose and Hawking were proved for matter obeying the Null Energy Condition or Strong Energy Condition respectively. Various authors have proved versions of these results under weakened hypotheses, by considering the Riccati inequality obtained from Raychaudhuri's equation. Here, we give a different derivation that avoids the Raychaudhuri equation but instead makes use of index form methods. We show how our results improve over existing methods and how they can be applied to hypotheses inspired by Quantum Energy Inequalities. In this last case, we make qua…
We extend the scope of the Raychaudhuri-Komar singularity theorem of General Relativity to affine theories of gravity with and without torsion. We first generalize the existing focusing theorems using time-like and null congruences of curves which are hypersurface orthogonal, showing how the presence of torsion affects the formation of focal points in Lorentzian manifolds. Considering the energy conservation on a given affine gravity theory, we prove new singularity theorems for accelerated curves in the cases of Lorentzian manifolds containing perfect fluids or scalar field matter sources.
In this paper, we analyze the classical geometric flow as a dynamical system. We obtain an action for this system, such that its equation of motion is the Raychaudhuri equation. This action will be used to quantize this system. As the Raychaudhuri equation is the basis for deriving the singularity theorems, we will be able to understand the effects such a quantization will have on the classical singularity theorems. Thus, quantizing the geometric flow, we can demonstrate that a quantum space-time is complete (non-singular). This is because the existence of a conjugate point is a necessary cond…
We address the validity of the formalism and results presented in [ S. Das, Phys. Rev. {\bf D89} 084068 (2014)] with regard to quantum Raychaudhuri equation. The author obtained the so called quantum Raychaudhuri equation by replacing classical geodesics with quantal trajectories arising from Bhommian mechanics. The resulting modified equation was used to draw some conclusions about the inevitability of focussing and the formation of conjugate points and therefore singularity. We show that the whole procedure is full of problematic points, on both physical relevancy and mathematical correctnes…
One of the important and famous topics in general theory of relativity and gravitation is the problem of geodesic deviation and its related singularity theorems. An interesting subject is the investigation of these concepts when quantum effects are considered. Since, the definition of trajectory is not possible in the framework of standard quantum mechanics (SQM), we investigate the problem of geodesic equation and its related topics in the framework of Bohmian quantum mechanics in which the definition of trajectory is possible. We do this in a fixed background and we do not consider the back-…
We shall investigate the properties of a congruence of geodesics in the framework of Palatini f(R) theories. We shall evaluate the modified geodesic deviation equation and the Raychaudhuri's equation and show that f(R) Palatini theories do not necessarily lead to attractive forces. Also we shall study energy condition for f(R) Palatini gravity via a perturbative analysis of the Raychaudhuri's equation.
Einstein's genius and penetrating physical intuition led to the general theory of relativity, which incorporates gravity into the geometry of spacetime. However, the theory of general relativity leads to perspectives which go far beyond the vision of its creator. Many of these insights came to light only after Einstein's death in 1955. These developments were due to a new breed of relativists, like Penrose, Hawking and Geroch, who approached the subject with a higher degree of mathematical sophistication than earlier workers. Some of these insights were made possible because of work by Amal Ku…
The Raychaudhuri equation for a geodesic congruence in the presence of a zero-point length has been investigated. This is directly related to the small-scale structure of spacetime and possibly captures some quantum gravity effects. The existence of such a minimum distance between spacetime events modifies the associated metric structure and hence the expansion as well as its rate of change deviates from standard expectations. This holds true for any kind of geodesic congruences, including time-like and null geodesics. Interestingly, this construction works with generic spacetime geometry with…
A star of mass greater than a critical mass is believed to undergo gravitational collapse to form a singularity, owing to Hawking-Penrose singularity theorem which is based on the Raychaudhuri equation in the absence of torsion. We argue that the spin-aspect of matter can lead to the evasion of singularity, caused by its mass-aspect, via torsion in asymptotically safe gravity.
In this paper, we study Raychaudhuri's equation in the background of $R + βR^2$ gravity with a phenomenological matter ($ρ\propto a(t)^{-n}$). We conclude that even though the Strong Energy Condition (S.E.C.) for Einstein's gravity, which guarantees singularity, is $n\geq 2$ for $ρ\propto a(t)^{-n}$, a perturbative analysis of Raychaudhuri's equation in the background of $R + βR^2$ gravity reveals that the big bang singularity may not be guaranteed for $n > 4$. We derive the following Strong Energy Conditions for $R + βR^2$ ($β\not= 0$): 1) For $k<0$ FRW metric, S.E.C. is ($0\leq n\leq 4$) i.e…
We investigate how the Raychaudhuri equation behaves in the $k$-essence geometry. As far as we are concerned, both the early and current epochs of the universe are relevant to the $k$-essence theory. Here, we have studied the $k$-essence geometry using the Dirac-Born-Infeld (DBI) variety of non-standard action. The corresponding $k$-essence emergent spacetime is not conformally equivalent to the usual gravitational metric. We assume that the background gravitational metric is of the Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) type in this case. We have found that both the conditional singular a…
In this paper, we review modified $f(R)$ theories of gravity in Palatini formalism. In this framework, , we use the Raychaudhuri's equation along with the requirement that the gravity is attractive, which holds for any geometrical theory of gravity to discuss the energy conditions. Then, to derive these conditions, we obtain an expression for effective pressure and energy density by considering FLRW metric. Energy conditions derived in Palatini version of $f(R)$ Gravity differ from those derived in GR. We will see that the WEC (weak energy condition) derived in Palatini formalism has exactly t…
Infinite Derivative Gravity is able to resolve the Big Bang curvature singularity present in general relativity by using a simplifying ansatz. We show that it can also avoid the Hawking- Penrose singularity, by allowing defocusing of null rays through the Raychaudhuri equation. This occurs not only in the minimal case where we ignore the matter contribution, but also in the case where matter plays a key role. We investigate the conditions for defocusing for the general case where this ansatz applies and also for more specific metrics, including a general Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) metric…
In General Relativity without a cosmological constant a non-positive contribution from the space-time geometry to Raychaudhuri equation is found provided that particular energy conditions are assumed and regardless the considered solution of the Einstein's equations. This fact is usually interpreted as a manifestation of the attractive character of gravity. Nevertheless, a positive contribution to Raychaudhuri equation from space-time geometry should occur since this is the case in an accelerated expanding Robertson-Walker model for congruences followed by fundamental observers. Modified gravi…
We review, as well as provide some new results regarding the study of the structure of spacetime and the singularity in the interior of the Schwarzschild black hole in both loop quantum gravity and generalized uncertainty principle approaches, using congruences and their associated expansion scalar and the Raychaudhuri equation. We reaffirm previous results that in loop quantum gravity, in all three major schemes of polymer quantization, the expansion scalar, Raychaudhuri equation and the Kretschmann scalar remain finite everywhere in the interior. In the context of the eneralized uncertainty …
We are interested in formulating a viscous model of the universe based on The Bianchi Type IV algebra. We first begin by considering a congruence of fluid lines in spacetime, upon which, analyzing their propagation behaviour, we derive the famous Raychaudhuri equation, but, in the context of viscous fluids. We will then go through in great detail the topological and algebraic structure of a Bianchi Type IV algebra, by which we will derive the corresponding structure and constraint equations. From this, we will look at The Einstein field equations in the context of orthonormal frames, and deriv…
The problem of obtaining canonical Hamiltonian structures from the equations of motion, without any knowledge of the action, is studied in the context of the spatially flat Friedmann-Robertson-Walker models. Modifications to Raychaudhuri equation are implemented independently as quadratic and cubic terms of energy density without introducing additional degrees of freedom. Depending on their sign, modifications make gravity repulsive above a curvature scale for matter satisfying strong energy condition, or more attractive than in the classical theory. Canonical structure of the modified theorie…
We examine in detail the cosmology based on quantal (Bohmian) trajectories as suggested in a recent study arXiv:1404.3093[gr-qc]. We disagree with the conclusions regarding predicting the value of the cosmological constant $Λ$ and evading the big bang singularity. Furthermore, we show that the approach of using a quantum corrected Raychaudhuri equation (QRE), as suggested in arXiv:1404.3093[gr-qc], is unsatisfactory, because, essentially, it uses the Raychaudhuri equation, which is a kinematical equation, in order to predict dynamics. In addition, even within this inconsistent framework, the a…
We show that the second accelerating expansion of the universe appears smoothly from the decelerating universe remarkably after the initial inflation in the two-dimensional soluble semi-classical dilaton gravity along with the modified Poisson brackets of noncommutativity between the relevant fields. However, the ordinary solution coming from the equations of motion following the conventional Poisson algebra describes permanent accelerating universe without any phase change. In this modified model, it turns out that the phase transition is related to the noncommutative Poisson algebra.
Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, UCAS（杭州高等研究院，国科大）；Hunan Normal University（湖南师范大学）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学）；Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院理论物理研究所）
We study finite-time future singularities in $\mathcal{F}(R,G)$-gravity, where $R$ and $G$ are the Ricci scalar and the Gauss-Bonnet invariant, respectively. In particular, we reconstruct the $F(G)$-gravity and $\mathcal{F}(R,G)$-gravity models realizing the finite-time future singularities. We discuss a possible way to cure the finite-time future singularities in $\mathcal{F}(R,G)$-gravity by taking into account higher-order curvature corrections or effects of viscous fluids.
