Dmitri Vassiliev

EXISTENCE THEOREMS FOR TRAPPED MODES

A two-dimensional acoustic waveguide of infinite extent described by two parallel lines contains an obstruction of fairly general shape which is symmetric about the centreline of the waveguide. It is proved that there exists at least one mode of oscillation, antisymmetric about the centreline, that corresponds to a local oscillation at a particular frequency, in the absence of excitation, which decays with distance down the waveguide away from the obstruction. Mathematically, this trapped mode is related to an eigenvalue of the Laplace operator in the waveguide. The proof makes use of an extension of the idea of the Rayleight quotient to characterize the lowest eigenvalue of a differential operator on an infinite domain.

An example of a two-term asymptotics for the “counting function” of a fractal drum

In this paper we study the spectrum of the Dirichlet Laplacian in a bounded domain Ω ⊂ R n with fractal boundary ∂Ω. We construct an open set Q for which we can effectively compute the second term of the asymptotics of the «counting function» N(λ, Q), the number of eigenvalues less than λ. In this example, contrary to the M. V. Berry conjecture, the second asymptotic term is proportional to a periodic function of Inλ, not to a constant. We also establish some properties of the ζ-function of this problem. We obtain asymptotic inequalities for more general domains and in particular for a connected open set O derived from Q. Analogous periodic functions still appear in our inequalities. These results have been announced in [FV]

Pseudoinstantons in metric-affine field theory

In abstract Yang–Mills theory the standard instanton construction relies on the Hodge star having real eigenvalues which makes it inapplicable in the Lorentzian case. We show that for the affine connection an instanton-type construction can be carried out in the Lorentzian setting. The Lorentzian analogue of an instanton is a spacetime whose connection is metric compatible and Riemann curvature irreducible (“pseudoinstanton”). We suggest a metric-affine action which is a natural generalization of the Yang–Mills action and for which pseudoinstantons are stationary points. We show that a spacetime with a Ricci flat Levi-Civita connection is a pseudoinstanton, so the vacuum Einstein equation is a special case of our theory. We also find another pseudoinstanton which is a wave of torsion in Minkowski space. Analysis of the latter solution indicates the possibility of using it as a model for the neutrino.

Torsion waves in metric-affine field theory

The approach of metric-affine field theory is to define spacetime as a real oriented 4-manifold equipped with a metric and an affine connection. The 10 independent components of the metric tensor and the 64 connection coefficients are the unknowns of the theory. We write the Yang-Mills action for the affine connection and vary it both with respect to the metric and the connection. We find a family of spacetimes which are stationary points. These spacetimes are waves of torsion in Minkowski space. We then find a special subfamily of spacetimes with zero Ricci curvature; the latter condition is the Einstein equation describing the absence of sources of gravitation. A detailed examination of this special subfamily suggests the possibility of using it to model the neutrino. Our model naturally contains only two distinct types of particles which may be identified with left-handed neutrinos and right-handed antineutrinos.

pp-waves with torsion and metric-affine gravity

A classical pp-wave is a four-dimensional Lorentzian spacetime which admits a nonvanishing parallel spinor field; here the connection is assumed to be Levi-Civita. We generalize this definition to metric compatible spacetimes with torsion and describe basic properties of such spacetimes. We use our generalized pp-waves for constructing new explicit vacuum solutions of quadratic metric-affine gravity.

Teleparallel model for the neutrino

The main result of the paper is a new representation for the Weyl Lagrangian (massless Dirac Lagrangian). As the dynamical variable we use the coframe, i.e. an orthonormal tetrad of covector fields. We write down a simple Lagrangian--wedge product of axial torsion with a lightlike element of the coframe--and show that variation of the resulting action with respect to the coframe produces the Weyl equation. The advantage of our approach is that it does not require the use of spinors, Pauli matrices, or covariant differentiation. The only geometric concepts we use are those of a metric, differential form, wedge product, and exterior derivative. Our result assigns a variational meaning to the tetrad representation of the Weyl equation suggested by Griffiths and Newing.

The stationary Weyl equation and Cosserat elasticity

The paper deals with the Weyl equation which is the massless Dirac equation. We study the Weyl equation in the stationary setting, i.e. when the spinor field oscillates harmonically in time. We suggest a new geometric interpretation of the stationary Weyl equation. We think of our three-dimensional space as an elastic continuum and assume that material points of this continuum can experience no displacements, only rotations. This framework is a special case of the Cosserat theory of elasticity. The rotations of material points of the space continuum are described mathematically by attaching to each geometric point an orthonormal basis which gives a field of orthonormal bases called the coframe. As the dynamical variables (unknowns) of our theory, we choose the coframe and a density. We choose a particular potential energy which is conformally invariant and then incorporate time into our action in the standard Newtonian way, by subtracting kinetic energy. The main result of our paper is the theorem stating that in the stationary setting our model is equivalent to a pair of Weyl equations.

Spectral theoretic characterization of the massless Dirac operator

We consider an elliptic self-adjoint first order differential operator acting on pairs (2-columns) of complex-valued half-densities over a connected compact 3-dimensional manifold without boundary. The principal symbol of our operator is assumed to be trace-free. We study the spectral function which is the sum of squares of Euclidean norms of eigenfunctions evaluated at a given point of the manifold, with summation carried out over all eigenvalues between zero and a positive �. We derive an explicit two-term asymptotic formula for the spectral function as � ! +1, expressing the second asymptotic coefficient via the trace of the subprincipal symbol and the geometric objects encoded within the principal symbol — metric, torsion of the teleparallel connection and topological charge. We then address the question: is our operator a massless Dirac operator on half-densities? We prove that it is a massless Dirac operator on halfdensities if and only if the following two conditions are satisfied at every point of the manifold: a) the subprincipal symbol is proportional to the identity matrix and b) the second asymptotic coefficient of the spectral function is zero.

Weyl's Lagrangian in teleparallel form

The Weyl Lagrangian is the massless Dirac Lagrangian. The dynamical variable in the Weyl Lagrangian is a spinor field. We provide a mathematically equivalent representation in terms of a different dynamical variable — the coframe (an orthonormal tetrad of covector fields). We show that when written in terms of this dynamical variable, the Weyl Lagrangian becomes remarkably simple: it is the wedge product of axial torsion of the teleparallel connection with a teleparallel lightlike element of the coframe. We also examine the issues of U(1)-invariance and conformal invariance. Examination of the latter motivates us to introduce a positive scalar field (equivalent to a density) as an additional dynamical variable; this makes conformal invariance self-evident.

Dirac Equation as a Special Case of Cosserat Elasticity

We suggest an alternative mathematical model for the electron in which the dynamical variables are a coframe (field of orthonormal bases) and a density. The electron mass and external electromagnetic field are incorporated into our model by means of a Kaluza-Klein extension. Our Lagrangian density is proportional to axial torsion squared. The advantage of our approach is that it does not require the use of spinors, Pauli matrices or covariant differentiation. The only geometric concepts we use are those of a metric, differential form, wedge product and exterior derivative. We prove that in the special case with no dependence on the third spatial coordinate our model is equivalent to the Dirac equation. The crucial element of the proof is the observation that our Lagrangian admits a factorisation.