In a paper \cite{P} in 1973, R. Penrose made a physical argument that the total mass of a spacetime which contains black holes with event horizons of total area $A$ should be at least $\sqrt{A/16π}$. An important special case of this physical statement translates into a very beautiful mathematical inequality in Riemannian geometry known as the Riemannian Penrose inequality. One particularly geometric aspect of this problem is the fact that apparent horizons of black holes in this setting correspond to minimal surfaces in Riemannian 3-manifolds. The Riemannian Penrose inequality was first proved by G. Huisken and T. Ilmanen in 1997 for a single black hole \cite{HI} and then by the author in 1999 for any number of black holes \cite{Bray}. The two approaches use two different geometric flow techniques. The most general version of the Penrose inequality is still open. In this talk we will sketch the author's proof by flowing Riemannian manifolds inside the class of asymptotically flat 3-manifolds (asymptotic to $\real^3$ at infinity) which have nonnegative scalar curvature and contain minimal spheres. This new flow of metrics has very special properties and simulates an initial physical situation in which all of the matter falls into the black holes which merge into a single, spherically symmetric black hole given by the Schwarzschild metric. Since the Schwarzschild metric gives equality in the Penrose inequality and the flow decreases the total mass while preserving the area of the horizons of the black holes, the Penrose inequality follows. We will also discuss how these techniques can be generalized in higher dimensions.
In this work, we prove an optimal Penrose inequality for asymptotically locally hyperbolic manifolds which can be realized as graphs over Kottler space. Such inequality relies heavily on an optimal weighted Alexandrov-Fenchel inequality for the mean convex star shaped hypersurfaces in Kottler space.
We give, via elementary methods, explicit formulas for the ADM mass which allow us to conclude the positive mass theorem and Penrose inequality for a class of graphical manifolds which includes, for instance, that ones with flat normal bundle.
In the asymptotically locally hyperbolic setting it is possible to have metrics with scalar curvature at least -6 and negative mass when the genus of the conformal boundary at infinity is positive. Using inverse mean curvature flow, we prove a Penrose inequality for these negative mass metrics. The motivation comes from a previous result of P. Chruściel and W. Simon, which states that the Penrose inequality we prove implies a static uniqueness theorem for negative mass Kottler metrics.
In this paper we prove a rigidity result for the equality case of the Penrose inequality on $3$-dimensional asymptotically flat manifolds with nonnegative scalar curvature and corners. Our result also has deep connections with the equality cases of Theorem 1 in \cite{Miao2} and Theorem 1.1 in \cite{LM}.
In this article, we prove the Riemannian Penrose inequality for asymptotically flat manifolds with non-compact boundary whose asymptotic region is modelled on a half-space. Such spaces were initially considered by Almaraz, Barbosa and de Lima in 2014. In order to prove the inequality, we develop a new approximation scheme for the weak free boundary inverse mean curvature flow, introduced by Marquardt in 2012, and establish the monotonicity of a free boundary version of the Hawking mass. Our result also implies a non-optimal Penrose inequality for asymptotically flat support surfaces in $\mathb…
On an asymptotically flat manifold $M^n$ with nonnegative scalar curvature, with outer minimizing boundary $Σ$, we prove a Penrose-like inequality in dimensions $ n < 8$, under suitable assumptions on the mean curvature and the scalar curvature of $ Σ$.
In this paper, we use the inverse mean curvature flow to establish an optimal Minkowski type inquality, weighted Alexandrov-Fenchel inequality for the mean convex star shaped hypersurfaces in Reissner-Nordström-anti-deSitter manifold and Penrose type inequality for asymptotically locally hyperbolic manifolds in which can be realized as graphs over Reissner-Nordström-anti-deSitter manifold.
Throughout the literature on the charged Riemannian Penrose inequality, it is generally assumed that there is no charged matter present; that is, the electric field is divergence-free. The aim of this article is to clarify when the charged Riemannian Penrose inequality holds in the presence of charged matter, and when it does not. First we revisit Jang's proof of the charged Riemannian Penrose inequality to show that under suitable conditions on the charged matter, this argument still carries though. In particular, a charged Riemannian Penrose inequality is obtained from this argument when cha…
The null Penrose inequality, i.e. the Penrose inequality in terms of the Bondi energy, is studied by introducing a funtional on surfaces and studying its properties along a null hypersurface $Ω$ extending to past null infinity. We prove a general Penrose-type inequality which involves the limit at infinity of the Hawking energy along a specific class of geodesic foliations called Geodesic Asymptotic Bondi (GAB), which are shown to always exist. Whenever, this foliation approaches large spheres, this inequality becomes the null Penrose inequality and we recover the results of Ludvigsen-Vickers …
The positive mass theorem is one of the fundamental results in general relativity. It states that, assuming the dominant energy condition, the total mass of an asymptotically flat spacetime is non-negative. The Penrose inequality provides a lower bound on mass by the area of the black hole and is closely related to the cosmic censorship conjecture in general relativity. In [14], Lu and Miao proved a quasi-local Penrose inequality for the quasi-local energy with reference in the Schwarzschild manifold. In this article, we prove a quasi-local Penrose inequality for the quasi-local energy with re…
We show that the Brill-Lindquist initial data provides a counterexample to a Riemannian Penrose inequality with charge conjectured by G. Gibbons. The observation illustrates a sub-additive characteristic of the area radii for the individual connected components of an outermost horizon as a lower bound of the ADM mass.
Motivated by the rigidity case in the localized Riemannian Penrose inequality, we show that suitable singular metrics attaining the optimal value in the Riemannian Penrose inequality is necessarily smooth in properly specified coordinates. If applied to hypersurfaces enclosing the horizon in a spatial Schwarzschild manifold, the result gives the rigidity of isometric hypersurfaces with the same mean curvature.
We propose a geometric inequality for two-dimensional spacelike surfaces in the Schwarzschild spacetime. This inequality implies the Penrose inequality for collapsing dust shells in general relativity, as proposed by Penrose and Gibbons. We prove that the inequality holds in several important cases.
The Riemannian Penrose inequality (RPI) bounds from below the ADM mass of asymptotically flat manifolds of nonnegative scalar curvature in terms of the total area of all outermost compact minimal surfaces. The general form of the RPI is currently known for manifolds of dimension up to seven. In the present work, we prove a Penrose-like inequality that is valid in all dimensions, for conformally flat manifolds. Our inequality treats the area contributions of the minimal surfaces in a more favorable way than the RPI, at the expense of using the smaller Euclidean area (rather than the intrinsic a…
Building on previous works of H. L. Bray, of P. Miao, and of S. Almaraz, E. Barbosa, and L. L. de Lima, we develop a doubling procedure for asymptotically flat half-spaces $(M,g)$ with horizon boundary $Σ\subset M$ and mass $m\in\mathbb{R}$. If $3\leq \dim(M)\leq 7$, $(M,g)$ has non-negative scalar curvature, and the boundary $\partial M$ is mean-convex, we obtain the Riemannian Penrose-type inequality $$ m\geq\left(\frac{1}{2}\right)^{\frac{n}{n-1}}\,\left(\frac{|Σ|}{ω_{n-1}}\right)^{\frac{n-2}{n-1}} $$ as a corollary. Moreover, in the case where $\partial M$ is not totally geodesic, we show …
We prove a sharp Alexandrov-Fenchel-type inequality for star-shaped, strictly mean convex hypersurfaces in hyperbolic $n$-space, $n\geq 3$. The argument uses two new monotone quantities along the inverse mean curvature flow. As an application we establish, in any dimension, an optimal Penrose inequality for asymptotically hyperbolic graphs carrying a minimal horizon, with the equality occurring if and only if the graph is an anti-de Sitter-Schwarzschild solution. This sharpens previous results by Dahl-Gicquaud-Sakovich and settles, for this class of initial data sets, the conjectured Penrose i…
We use the inverse mean curvature flow to prove a sharp Alexandrov-Fenchel-type inequality for a class of hypersurfaces in certain locally hyperbolic manifolds. As an application we derive an optimal Penrose inequality for asymptotically locally hyperbolic graphs in any dimension $n\geq 3$. When the horizon has the topology of a compact surface of genus at least one, this provides an affirmative answer, for this class of initial data sets, to a question posed by Gibbons, Chruściel and Simon on the validity of a Penrose-type inequality for black hole solutions carrying a higher genus horizon.
A particular, yet relevant, particular case of the Penrose inequality involves null shells propagating in the Minkowski spacetime. Despite previous claims in the literature, the validity of this inequality remains open. In this paper we rewrite this inequality in terms of the geometry of the surface obtained by intersecting the past null cone of the original surface S with a constant time hyperplane and the "time height" function of S over this hyperplane. We also specialize to the case when S lies in the past null cone of a point and show the validity of the corresponding inequality in any di…
We construct a time-symmetric asymptotically flat initial data set to the Einstein-Maxwell Equations which satisfies the inequality: m - 1/2(R + Q^2/R) < 0, where m is the total mass, R=sqrt(A/4) is the area radius of the outermost horizon and Q is the total charge. This yields a counter-example to a natural extension of the Penrose Inequality to charged black holes.
The Penrose inequality gives a lower bound for the total mass of a spacetime in terms of the area of suitable surfaces that represent black holes. Its validity is supported by the cosmic censorship conjecture and therefore its proof (or disproof) is an important problem in relation with gravitational collapse. The Penrose inequality is a very challenging problem in mathematical relativity and it has received continuous attention since its formulation by Penrose in the early seventies. Important breakthroughs have been made in the last decade or so, with the complete resolution of the so-called…
In recent work, the notion of Double Convexity for a foliation of a conical null hypersurface was introduced to give a proof, if satisfied, of the Null Penrose Inequality. Double Convexity constrains the geometry of a Marginally Outer Trapped Surface (MOTS), called a quasi-round MOTS. In the first part of this paper, for a class of strictly stable Weakly Isolated Horizons, we show the existence of a unique foliation by quasi-round MOTS. In the second part, we show that any subsequent space-time perturbation continues to admit a quasi-round MOTS. Finally, for perturbations of the quasi-round MO…
We study the stability of the Positive Mass Theorem (PMT) and the Riemannian Penrose Inequality (RPI) in the case where a region of an asymptotically flat manifold $M^3$ can be foliated by a smooth solution of Inverse Mean Curvature Flow (IMCF) which is uniformly controlled. We consider a sequence of regions of asymptotically flat manifolds $U_T^i\subset M_i^3$, foliated by a smooth solution to IMCF which is uniformly controlled, and if $\partial U_T^i = Σ_0^i \cup Σ_T^i$ and $m_H(Σ_T^i) \rightarrow 0$ then $U_T^i$ converges to a flat annulus with respect to $L^2$ metric convergence. If instea…
We prove the equality case of the Penrose inequality in all dimensions for asymptotically flat hypersurfaces. It was recently proven by G. Lam that the Penrose inequality holds for asymptotically flat graphical hypersurfaces in Euclidean space with non-negative scalar curvature and with a minimal boundary. Our main theorem states that if the equality holds, then the hypersurface is a Schwarzschild solution. As part of our proof, we show that asymptotically flat graphical hypersurfaces with a minimal boundary and non-negative scalar curvature must be mean convex, using the argument that we deve…
The Positive Mass Theorem states that a complete asymptotically flat manifold of nonnegative scalar curvature has nonnegative mass. The Riemannian Penrose inequality provides a sharp lower bound for the mass when black holes are present. More precisely, this lower bound is given in terms of the area of an outermost minimal surface, and equality is achieved only for Schwarzschild metrics. The Riemannian Penrose inequality was first proved in three dimensions in 1997 by G. Huisken and T. Ilmanen for the case of a single black hole. In 1999, H. Bray extended this result to the general case of mul…
In 1973, R. Penrose presented an argument that the total mass of a space-time which contains black holes with event horizons of total area $A$ should be at least $\sqrt{A/16π}$. An important special case of this physical statement translates into a very beautiful mathematical inequality in Riemannian geometry known as the Riemannian Penrose inequality. This inequality was first established by G. Huisken and T. Ilmanen in 1997 for a single black hole and then by one of the authors (H.B.) in 1999 for any number of black holes. The two approaches use two different geometric flow techniques and ar…
The conformal flow of metrics [2] has been used to successfully establish a special case of the Penrose inequality, which yields a lower bound for the total mass of a spacetime in terms of horizon area. Here we show how to adapt the conformal flow of metrics, so that it may be applied to the Penrose inequality for general initial data sets of the Einstein equations. The Penrose conjecture without the assumption of time symmetry is then reduced to solving a system of PDE with desirable properties.
In this note we prove a global rigidity result for asymptotically flat, scalar flat Euclidean hypersurfaces with a minimal horizon lying in a hyperplane, under a natural ellipticity condition. As a consequence we obtain, in the context of the Riemannian Penrose conjecture, a local rigidity result for the family of exterior Schwarzschild solutions (viewed as graphs in Euclidean space).
In arXiv:0905.2622v1 and arXiv:0910.4785v1, Bray and Khuri outlined an approach to prove the Penrose inequality for general initial data sets of the Einstein equations. In this paper we extend this approach so that it may be applied to a charged version of the Penrose inequality. Moreover, assuming that the initial data is time symmetric, we prove the rigidity statement in the case of equality for the charged Penrose inequality, a result which seems to be absent from the literature. A new quasi-local mass, tailored to charged initial data sets is also introduced, and used in the proof.
In this paper we investigate the extension of the charged Riemannian Penrose inequality to the case where charges are present outside the horizon. We prove a positive result when the charge densities are compactly supported, and present a counterexample when the charges extend to infinity. We also discuss additional extensions to other matter models.
The Riemannian Penrose inequality is a remarkable geometric inequality between the ADM mass of an asymptotically flat manifold with non-negative scalar curvature and the area of its outermost minimal surface. A version of the Riemannian Penrose inequality has also been established for the Einstein-Maxwell equations, where the lower bound on the mass also depends on the electric charge. In the context of quasi-local mass, one is interested in determining if, and for which quasi-local mass definitions, a quasi-local version of these inequalities also holds. It is known that the Brown-York quasi-…
We reinterpret the proof of the Riemannian Penrose inequality by H. Bray. The modified argument turns out to have a nice feature so that the flow of Riemannian metrics appearing Bray's proof gives a Lorentzian metric of a spacetime. We also discuss a possible extension of our approach to charged black holes.
We prove the existence of asymptotically hyperbolic solutions to the vacuum Einstein constraint equations with a marginally outer trapped boundary of positive mean curvature, using the constant mean curvature conformal method. As an application of this result, we verify the Penrose inequality for certain perturbations of Schwarzschild Anti-de Sitter black hole initial data.
For an admissible class of smooth compact initial data sets with boundary, we prove a comparison theorem between the Wang/Liu-Yau quasi-local mass of the boundary and the Hawking mass of strictly minimizing hulls in the Jang graphs of the domain. Using this, we prove a quasi-local Penrose inequality that involves these quasi-local masses of the boundary and the area of an outermost marginally outer trapped surface (MOTS) in the domain or the area of minimizing minimal surface within the Jang graphs. Moreover, we obtain sufficient conditions for the (non)existence of a MOTS within a domain, in …
In this thesis we describe how minimal surface techniques can be used to prove the Penrose inequality in general relativity for two classes of 3-manifolds. We also describe how a new volume comparison theorem involving scalar curvature for 3-manifolds follows from these same techniques.
We establish a Penrose-Like Inequality for general (not necessarily time symmetric) initial data sets of the Einstein equations which satisfy the dominant energy condition. More precisely, it is shown that the ADM energy is bounded below by an expression which is proportional to the square root of the area of the outermost future (or past) apparent horizon.
In this paper, we consider conformal metrics on a unit 4-disc with an asymptotically hyperbolic end and possible isolated conic singularities. We define a mass term of the AH end. If the $σ_{2}$ curvature has lower bound $σ_{2}\geq\frac{3}{2}$, we prove a Penrose type inequality relating the mass and contributions from singularities. We also classify sharp cases, which is the standard hyperbolic 4-space $\mathbb{H}^{4}$ when no singularity occurs. It is worth noting that our curvature condition implies non-positive energy density.
We introduce a generalized version of the Jang equation, designed for the general case of the Penrose Inequality in the setting of an asymptotically flat space-like hypersurface of a spacetime satisfying the dominat energy condition. The appropriate existence and regularity results are established in the special case of spherically symmetric Cauchy data, and are applied to give a new proof of the general Penrose Inequality for these data sets. When appropriately coupled with an inverse mean curvature flow, analogous existence and regularity results for the associated system of equations in the…
The Penrose inequality in Minkowski is a geometric inequality relating the total outer null expansion and the area of closed, connected and spacelike codimension-two surfaces S in the Minkowski spacetime, subject to an additional convexity assumption. In a recent paper, Brendle and Wang find a sufficient condition for the validity of this Penrose inequality in terms of the geometry of the orthogonal projection of S onto a constant time hyperplane. In this work, we study the geometry of hypersurfaces in n-dimensional euclidean space which are normal graphs over other surfaces and relate the int…
We establish a Penrose-like inequality for general (not necessarily time-symmetric) initial data sets of the Einstein-Maxwell equations, which satisfy the dominant energy condition. More precisely, it is shown that the ADM energy is bounded below by an expression which is proportional to the sum of the square root of the area of the outermost future (or past) apparent horizon and the square of the total charge. The proportionality constants depend on the solution to a linear elliptic equation which incorporates the charge. In addition, a corrected version of the Penrose-like inequality in [13]…
We present a proof of the Riemannian Penrose inequality with charge in the context of asymptotically flat initial data sets for the Einstein-Maxwell equations, having possibly multiple black holes with no charged matter outside the horizon, and satisfying the relevant dominant energy condition. The proof is based on a generalization of Hubert Bray's conformal flow of metrics adapted to this setting.
We present a proof of the Riemannian Penrose inequality with charge $r\leq m + \sqrt{m^2-q^2}$, where $A=4πr^2$ is the area of the outermost apparent horizon with possibly multiple connected components, $m$ is the total ADM mass, and $q$ the total charge of a strongly asymptotically flat initial data set for the Einstein-Maxwell equations, satisfying the charged dominant energy condition, with no charged matter outside the horizon.
This article is the sequel to our previous paper [LS] dealing with the near-equality case of the Positive Mass Theorem. We study the near-equality case of the Penrose Inequality for the class of complete asymptotically flat rotationally symmetric Riemannian manifolds with nonnegative scalar curvature whose boundaries are outermost minimal hypersurfaces. Specifically, we prove that if the Penrose Inequality is sufficiently close to being an equality on one of these manifolds, then it must be close to a Schwarzschild space with an appended cylinder, in the sense of Lipschitz Distance. Since the …
A lower bound for the ADM mass is established in terms of angular momentum, charge, and horizon area in the context of maximal, axisymmetric initial data for the Einstein-Maxwell equations which satisfy the weak energy condition. If, on the horizon, the given data agree to a certain extent with the associated model Kerr-Newman data, then the inequality reduces to the conjectured Penrose inequality with angular momentum and charge. In addition, a rigidity statement is also proven whereby equality is achieved if and only if the data set arises from the canonical slice of a Kerr-Newman spacetime.