General Relativity And Quantum Cosmology

By treating black hole as the macroscopic stable state on the free energy landscape, we propose that the stochastic dynamics of the black hole phase transition can be effectively described by the Langevin equation or equivalently by the Fokker-Planck equation in phase space. We demonstrate the turnover of the kinetics for the charged anti-de Sitter black hole phase transition, which shows that the mean first passage time is linear with the friction in the high damping regime and inversely proportional to the friction in the low damping regime. The fluctuations in the kinetics are shown to be large/small in the high/low damping regime and the switching behavior from the small fluctuations to the large fluctuations takes place at the kinetic turnover point. Because the friction is a reflection of the microscopic degrees of freedom acting on the order parameter of the black hole, the turnover and the corresponding fluctuations of the phase transition kinetics can be used to probe the black hole microstructure.

We investigate the near horizon geometry of the simplest representative of the class of axisymmetric space-times: the Kerr Vaidya metrics. Kerr Vaidya metrics can be derived from the Vaidya metric by the complex coordinate transformation suggested by Newman and Janis. We show that the energy momentum tensor belongs to type 3 in the Segre Hawking Ellis classification but has a special form with all Lorentz invariant eigenvalues belonging to zero. We find a location of the apparent horizon for quasi-stationary Kerr Vaidya black holes. The energy-momentum tensor of the Kerr Vaidya geometries violates the null energy condition. We show that energy density, pressure, and flux for an infalling observer are diverging in the outgoing Kerr Vaidya metric. This firewall leads to the violation of a specific quantum energy inequality.

We consider the Hamiltonian renormalisation group flow of discretised one-dimensional physical theories. In particular, we investigate the influence the choice of different embedding maps has on the RG flow and the resulting continuum limit, and show in which sense they are, and in which sense they are not equivalent as physical theories. We are furthermore elucidating the interplay of the RG flow and the algebras operators satisfy, both on the discrete and the continuum. Further, we propose preferred renormalisation prescriptions for operator algebras guaranteeing to arrive at preferred algebraic relations in the continuum, if suitable extension properties are assumed. Finally, we introduce a weaker form of distributional equivalence, and show how unitarily inequivalent continuum limits, which arise due to a choice of different embedding maps, can still be weakly equivalent in that sense.

A gauge-invariant treatment of the monopole- ( l=0 ) and dipole ( l=1 ) modes in linear perturbations of the Schwarzschild background spacetime is proposed. Through this gauge-invariant treatment, we derived the solutions to the linearized Einstein equation for these modes with a generic matter field. In the vacuum case, these solutions include the Kerr parameter perturbations in the l=1 odd modes and the additional mass parameter perturbations of the Schwarzschild mass in the l=0 even modes. The linearized version of Birkhoff's theorem is also confirmed in a gauge-invariant manner. In this sense, our proposal is reasonable.

We find a new exact ? -vacuum solution in pure Gauss-Bonnet gravity with NUT charge in six dimension with horizon having product topology S (2) ? S (2) . We also discuss its horizon and singularity structure, and consequently arrive at a parameter window for its physical viability. It should be noted that all NUT black hole solutions in higher dimensions have product, instead of spherical, topology. We prove, in general, that it is because of the radial symmetry of the NUT spacetime; i.e. in higher dimensions NUT spacetime cannot maintain radial symmetry unless horizon has S (2) or its product topology. On the way we also prove a general result for spherical symmetry that when null energy condition is satisfied, one has then only to solve a first order equation to get a vacuum or ? -vacuum solution.

Gravitational waves in the sensitivity band of ground-based detectors can be emitted by a number of astrophysical sources, including not only binary coalescences, but also individual spinning neutron stars. The most promising signals from such sources, although not yet detected, are long-lasting, quasi-monochromatic Continuous Waves (CWs). The PyFstat package provides tools to perform a range of CW data-analysis tasks. It revolves around the F-statistic, a matched-filter detection statistic for CW signals that has been one of the standard methods for LIGO-Virgo CW searches for two decades. PyFstat is built on top of established routines in LALSuite but through its more modern Python interface it enables a flexible approach to designing new search strategies. Hence, it serves a dual function of (i) making LALSuite CW functionality more easily accessible through a Python interface, thus facilitating the new user experience and, for developers, the exploratory implementation of novel methods; and (ii) providing a set of production-ready search classes for use cases not yet covered by LALSuite itself, most notably for MCMC-based followup of promising candidates from wide-parameter-space searches.

The authors previously introduced a diffeomorphism-invariant definition of a homogeneous and isotropic sector of loop quantum gravity, along with a program to embed loop quantum cosmology into it. The present paper works out that program in detail for the simpler, but still physically non-trivial, case where the target of the embedding is the homogeneous, but not isotropic, Bianchi I model. The diffeomorphism-invariant conditions imposing homogeneity and isotropy in the full theory reduce to conditions imposing isotropy on an already homogeneous Bianchi I spacetime. The reduced conditions are invariant under the residual diffeomorphisms still allowed after gauge fixing the Bianchi I model. We show that there is a unique embedding of the quantum isotropic model into the homogeneous quantum Bianchi I model that (a) is covariant with respect to the actions of such residual diffeomorphisms, and (b) intertwines both the (signed) volume operator and at least one directional Hubble rate. That embedding also intertwines all other operators of interest in the respective loop quantum cosmological models, including their Hamiltonian constraints. It thus establishes a precise equivalence between dynamics in the isotropic sector of the Bianchi I model and the quantized isotropic model, and not just their kinematics. We also discuss the adjoint relationship between the embedding map defined here and a projection map previously defined by Ashtekar and Wilson-Ewing. Finally, we highlight certain features that simplify this reduced embedding problem, but which may not have direct analogues in the embedding of homogeneous and isotropic loop quantum cosmology into the full theory of general relativity.

In this work we derive general quantum phenomenological equations of gravitational dynamics and analyse its features. The derivation uses the formalism developed in thermodynamics of spacetime and introduces low energy quantum gravity modifications to it. Quantum gravity effects are considered via modification of Bekenstein entropy by an extra logarithmic term in the area. This modification is predicted by several approaches to quantum gravity, including loop quantum gravity, string theory, AdS/CFT correspondence and generalised uncertainty principle phenomenology, giving our result a general character. The derived equations generalise classical equations of motion of unimodular gravity, instead of the ones of general relativity, and they contain at most second derivatives of the metric. We provide two independent derivations of the equations based on thermodynamics of local causal diamonds. First one uses Jacobson's maximal vacuum entanglement hypothesis, the second one Clausius entropy flux. Furthermore, we consider questions of diffeomorphism and local Lorentz invariance of the resulting dynamics and discuss its application to a simple cosmological model, finding a resolution of the classical singularity.

We find the quantum power emitted and distribution in 3+1 -dimensions of relativistic acceleration radiation using a single perfectly reflecting mirror via Lorentz invariance demonstrating close analogies to point charge radiation in classical electrodynamics.

We present a short review of possible applications of the Wheeler-De Witt equation to cosmological models based on the low-energy string effective action, and characterised by an initial regime of asymptotically flat, low energy, weak coupling evolution. Considering in particular a class of duality-related (but classically disconnected) background solutions, we shall discuss the possibility of quantum transitions between the phases of pre-big bang and post-big bang evolution. We will show that it is possible, in such a context, to represent the birth of our Universe as a quantum process of tunneling or "anti-tunneling" from an initial state asymptotically approaching the string perturbative vacuum.