arXiv subjects

Abhay Ashtekar

Publications and source records attributed to Abhay Ashtekar.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

On the ambiguity in the notion of transverse traceless modes of gravitational waves

Somewhat surprisingly, in many of the widely used monographs and review articles the term Transverse-Traceless modes of linearized gravitational waves is used to denote two entirely different notions. These treatments generally begin with a decomposition of the metric perturbation that is local in the momentum space (and hence non-local in physical space), and denote the resulting transverse traceless modes by $h_{ab}^{\TT}$. However, while discussing gravitational waves emitted by an isolated system --typically in a later section-- the relevant modes are extracted using a `projection operator' that is local in physical space. These modes are also called transverse-traceless and again labeled $h_{ab}^{\TT}$, implying that this is just a reformulation of the previous notion. But the two notions are conceptually distinct and the difference persists even in the asymptotic region. We show that this confusion arises already in Maxwell theory that is often discussed as a prelude to the gravitational case. Finally, we discuss why the distinction has nonetheless remained largely unnoticed, and also point out that there are some important physical effects where only one of the notions gives the correct answer.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2017

On a basic conceptual confusion in gravitational radiation theory

In much of the literature on linearized gravitational waves two completely different notions are called transverse traceless modes and labelled $h_{ab}^{TT}$, often in different sections of the same reference, without realizing the underlying inconsistency. We compare and contrast the two notions and find that the difference persists even at leading asymptotic order near future null infinity $\mathit{I}^+$. We discuss why the distinction has nonetheless remained largely unnoticed, and also point out that there are some important physical effects where only one of the notions gives the correct answer.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2017

Implications of a positive cosmological constant for general relativity

Most of the literature on general relativity over the last century assumes that the cosmological constant $Λ$ is zero. However, by now independent observations have led to a consensus that the dynamics of the universe is best described by Einstein's equations with a small but positive $Λ$. Interestingly, this requires a drastic revision of conceptual frameworks commonly used in general relativity, \emph{no matter how small $Λ$ is.} We first explain why, and then summarize the current status of generalizations of these frameworks to include a positive $Λ$, focusing on gravitational waves.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2017

The Overview Chapter in Loop Quantum Gravity: The First 30 Years

This is the introductory Chapter in the monograph Loop Quantum Gravity: The First 30 Years, edited by the authors, that was just published in the series "100 Years of General Relativity. The 8 invited Chapters that follow provide fresh perspectives on the current status of the field from some of the younger and most active leaders who are currently shaping its development. The purpose of this Chapter is to provide a global overview by bridging the material covered in subsequent Chapters. The goal and scope of the monograph is described in the Preface which can be read by following the Front Matter link at the website listed below.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Phenomenology with fluctuating quantum geometries in loop quantum cosmology

The goal of this paper is to probe phenomenological implications of large fluctuations of quantum geometry in the Planck era, using cosmology of the early universe. For the background (Friedmann, Lemaître, Robertson, Walker) \emph{quantum} geometry, we allow `widely spread' states in which the \emph{relative} dispersions are as large as $168\%$ in the Planck regime. By introducing suitable methods to overcome the ensuing conceptual and computational issues, we calculate the power spectrum $P_{\mathcal{R}}(k)$ and the spectral index $n_s(k)$ of primordial curvature perturbations. These results generalize the previous work in loop quantum cosmology which focused on those states which were known to remain sharply peaked throughout the Planck regime. Surprisingly, even though the fluctuations we now consider are large, their presence does not add new features to the final $P_{\mathcal{R}}(k)$ and $n_s(k)$: Within observational error bars, their effect is degenerate with a different freedom in the theory, namely the number of \emph{pre-inflationary} e-folds $N_{{\rm B}\,\star}$ between the bounce and the onset of inflation. Therefore, with regard to observational consequences, one can simulate the freedom in the choice of states with large fluctuations in the Planck era using the simpler, sharply peaked states, simply by allowing for different values of $N_{{\rm B}\,\star}$.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Quantum Gravity in the Sky: Interplay between fundamental theory and observations

Observational missions have provided us with a reliable model of the evolution of the universe starting from the last scattering surface all the way to future infinity. Furthermore given a specific model of inflation, using quantum field theory on curved space-times this history can be pushed \emph{back in time} to the epoch when space-time curvature was some $10^{62}$ times that at the horizon of a solar mass black hole! However, to extend the history further back to the Planck regime requires input from quantum gravity. An important aspect of this input is the choice of the background quantum geometry and of the Heisenberg state of cosmological perturbations thereon, motivated by Planck scale physics. This paper introduces first steps in that direction. Specifically we propose two principles that link quantum geometry and Heisenberg uncertainties in the Planck epoch with late time physics and explore in detail the observational consequences of the initial conditions they select. We find that the predicted temperature-temperature (T-T) correlations for scalar modes are indistinguishable from standard inflation at small angular scales even though the initial conditions are now set in the deep Planck regime. However, \emph{there is a specific power suppression at large angular scales}. As a result, the predicted spectrum provides a better fit to the PLANCK mission data than standard inflation, where the initial conditions are set in the general relativity regime. Thus, our proposal brings out a deep interplay between the ultraviolet and the infrared. Finally, the proposal also leads to specific predictions for power suppression at large angular scales also for the (T-E and E-E) correlations involving electric polarization. The PLANCK team is expected to release this data in the coming year.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Initial conditions for cosmological perturbations

Penrose proposed that the big bang singularity should be constrained by requiring that the Weyl curvature vanishes there. The idea behind this past hypothesis is attractive because it constrains the initial conditions for the universe in geometric terms and is not confined to a specific early universe paradigm. However, the precise statement of Penrose's hypothesis is tied to classical space-times and furthermore restricts only the gravitational degrees of freedom. These are encapsulated only in the tensor modes of the commonly used cosmological perturbation theory. Drawing inspiration from the underlying idea, we propose a quantum generalization of Penrose's hypothesis using the Planck regime in place of the big bang, and simultaneously incorporating tensor as well as scalar modes. Initial conditions selected by this generalization constrain the universe to be as homogeneous and isotropic in the Planck regime \emph{as permitted by the Heisenberg uncertainty relations}.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Symmetry Reduced Loop Quantum Gravity: A Bird's Eye View

This is a brief overview of the current status of symmetry reduced models in Loop Quantum Gravity (LQG), focussing on the very early universe. Over the last 3 years or so the subject has matured sufficiently to make direct contact with observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). In particular, thanks to an unforeseen interplay between the ultraviolet features of quantum geometry and the infrared properties of quantum fields representing cosmological perturbations, \emph{Planck scale effects} of LQG can leave imprints on CMB \emph{at the largest angular scales}. In addition to a summary of these results, the article also contains a critical discussion of the symmetry reduction procedure used in discussions of quantum cosmology (and quantum black holes).

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Gravitational waves from isolated systems: Surprising consequences of a positive cosmological constant

There is a deep tension between the well-developed theory of gravitational waves from isolated systems and the presence of a positive cosmological constant $Λ$, however tiny. In particular, even the post-Newtonian quadrupole formula, derived by Einstein in 1918, has not been generalized to include a positive $Λ$. We first explain the principal difficulties and then show that it is possible to overcome them in the weak field limit. These results also provide concrete hints for constructing the $Λ>0$ generalization of the Bondi-Sachs framework for full, non-linear general relativity.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Asymptotics with a positive cosmological constant: III. The quadrupole formula

Almost a century ago, Einstein used a weak field approximation around Minkowski space-time to calculate the energy carried away by gravitational waves emitted by a time changing mass-quadrupole. However, by now there is strong observational evidence for a positive cosmological constant, $Λ$. To incorporate this fact, Einstein's celebrated derivation is generalized by replacing Minkowski space-time with de Sitter space-time. The investigation is motivated by the fact that, because of the significant differences between the asymptotic structures of Minkowski and de Sitter space-times, many of the standard techniques, including the standard $1/r$ expansions, can not be used for $Λ>0$. Furthermore since, e.g., the energy carried by gravitational waves is always positive in Minkowski space-time but can be arbitrarily negative in de Sitter space-time \emph{irrespective of how small $Λ$ is}, the limit $Λ\to 0$ can fail to be continuous. Therefore, a priori it is not clear that a small $Λ$ would introduce only negligible corrections to Einstein's formula. We show that, while even a tiny cosmological constant does introduce qualitatively new features, in the end, corrections to Einstein's formula are negligible for astrophysical sources currently under consideration by gravitational wave observatories.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Generalized effective description of loop quantum cosmology

The effective description of loop quantum cosmology (LQC) has proved to be a convenient platform to study phenomenological implications of the quantum bounce that resolves the classical big-bang singularity. Originally, this description was derived using Gaussian quantum states with small dispersions. In this paper we present a generalization to incorporate states with large dispersions. Specifically, we derive the \emph{generalized} effective Friedmann and Raychaudhuri equations and propose a generalized effective Hamiltonian which are being used in an ongoing study of the phenomenological consequences of a broad class of quantum geometries. We also discuss an interesting interplay between the physics of states with larger dispersions in standard LQC, and of sharply peaked states in (hypothetical) LQC theories with larger area gap.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Loop quantum cosmology: From pre-inflationary dynamics to observations

The Planck collaboration has provided us rich information about the early universe, and a host of new observational missions will soon shed further light on the `anomalies' that appear to exist on the largest angular scales. From a quantum gravity perspective, it is natural to inquire if one can trace back the origin of such puzzling features to Planck scale physics. Loop quantum cosmology provides a promising avenue to explore this issue because of its natural resolution of the big bang singularity. Thanks to advances over the last decade, the theory has matured sufficiently to allow concrete calculations of the phenomenological consequences of its pre-inflationary dynamics. In this article we summarize the current status of the ensuing two-way dialog between quantum gravity and observations.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Asymptotics with a positive cosmological constant: II. Linear fields on de Sitter space-time

Linearized gravitational waves in de Sitter space-time are analyzed in detail to obtain guidance for constructing the theory of gravitational radiation in presence of a positive cosmological constant in full, nonlinear general relativity. Specifically: i) In the exact theory, the intrinsic geometry of $\scri$ is often assumed to be conformally flat in order to reduce the asymptotic symmetry group from $\Diff$ to the de Sitter group. Our {results show explicitly} that this condition is physically unreasonable; ii) We obtain expressions of energy-momentum and angular momentum fluxes carried by gravitational waves in terms of fields defined at $\scrip$; iii) We argue that, although energy of linearized gravitational waves can be arbitrarily negative in general, gravitational waves emitted by physically reasonable sources carry positive energy; and, finally iv) We demonstrate that the flux formulas reduce to the familiar ones in Minkowski space-time in spite of the fact that the limit $Λ\to 0$ is discontinuous (since, in particular, $\scri$ changes its space-like character to null in the limit).

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Unitarity and ultraviolet regularity in cosmology

Quantum field theory in curved space-times is a well developed area in mathematical physics which has had important phenomenological applications to the very early universe. However, it is not commonly appreciated that on time dependent space-times ---including the simplest cosmological models--- dynamics of quantum fields is not unitary in the standard sense. This issue is first explained with an explicit example and it is then shown that a generalized notion of unitarity does hold. The generalized notion allows one to correctly pass to the Schrödinger picture starting from the Heisenberg picture used in the textbook treatments. Finally, we indicate how these considerations can be extended from simple cosmological models to general globally hyperbolic space-times

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Viewpoint: Simplicity of Black Holes

The Editors of \emph{Viewpoint} requested a brief report on Norman Gürlebeck's recent results \cite{1} concerning black holes in astrophysical environments. The first draft I wrote assumed knowledge of general relativity at the level of a graduate-level course. But it was significantly simplified to make the final version \cite{viewpoint} accessible to undergraduates who are not familiar with general relativity. This submission to arXiv contains the first version that is likely to be more helpful to beginning researchers who are interested in black holes.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Geometry and Physics of Null Infinity

In asymptotically Minkowski space-times, one finds a surprisingly rich interplay between geometry and physics in both the classical and quantum regimes. On the mathematical side it involves null geometry, infinite dimensional groups, symplectic geometry on the space of gravitational connections and geometric quantization via Kähler structures. On the physical side, null infinity provides a natural home to study gravitational radiation and its structure leads to several interesting effects such as an infinite dimensional enlargement of the Poincaré group, geometrical expressions of energy and momentum carried by gravitational waves, emergence of non-trivial `vacuum configurations' and an unforeseen interplay between infrared properties of the quantum gravitational field and the enlargement of the asymptotic symmetry group. The goal of this article is to present a succinct summary of this subtle and beautiful interplay.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Preferred instantaneous vacuum for linear scalar fields in cosmological space-times

We discuss the problem of defining a preferred vacuum state at a given time for a quantized scalar field in Friedmann, Lemaître, Robertson Walker (FLRW) space-time. Among the infinitely many homogeneous, isotropic vacua available in the theory, we show that there exists at most one for which every Fourier mode makes vanishing contribution to the adiabatically renormalized energy-momentum tensor at any given instant. For massive fields such a state exists in the most commonly used backgrounds in cosmology, and provides a natural candidate for the ground state at that instant of time. The extension to the massless and the conformally coupled case are also discussed.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2014

Asymptotics with a positive cosmological constant: I. Basic framework

The asymptotic structure of the gravitational field of isolated systems has been analyzed in great detail in the case when the cosmological constant $Λ$ is zero. The resulting framework lies at the foundation of research in diverse areas in gravitational science. Examples include: i) positive energy theorems in geometric analysis; ii) the coordinate invariant characterization of gravitational waves in full, non-linear general relativity; iii) computations of the energy-momentum emission in gravitational collapse and binary mergers in numerical relativity and relativistic astrophysics; and iv) constructions of asymptotic Hilbert spaces to calculate $S$-matrices and analyze the issue of information loss in the quantum evaporation of black holes. However, by now observations have established that $Λ$ is positive in our universe. In this paper we show that, unfortunately, the standard framework does not extend from the $Λ=0$ case to the $Λ>0$ case in a physically useful manner. In particular, we do not have positive energy theorems, nor an invariant notion of gravitational waves in the non-linear regime, nor asymptotic Hilbert spaces in dynamical situations of semi-classical gravity. A suitable framework to address these conceptual issues of direct physical importance is developed in subsequent papers.

gr-qc↗