arXiv subjects

Gabor Kunstatter

Publications and source records attributed to Gabor Kunstatter.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Smooth and sharp creation of a pointlike source for a $(3+1)$-dimensional quantum field

We analyse the smooth and sharp creation of a pointlike source for a quantised massless scalar field in $(3+1)$-dimensional Minkowski spacetime, as a model for the breakdown of correlations that has been proposed to occur at the horizon of an evaporating black hole. The creation is implemented by a time-dependent self-adjointness parameter at the excised spatial origin. In a smooth creation, the renormalised energy density $\langle T_{00} \rangle$ is well defined away from the source, but it is unbounded both above and below: the outgoing pulse contains an infinite negative energy, while a cloud of infinite positive energy lingers near the fully-formed source. In the sharp creation limit, $\langle T_{00} \rangle$ diverges everywhere in the timelike future of the creation event, and so does the response of an Unruh-DeWitt detector that operates in the timelike future of the creation event. The source creation is significantly more singular than the corresponding process in $1+1$ dimensions, analysed previously, and it may be sufficiently singular to break quantum correlations as proposed in a black hole spacetime.

hep-th↗

arXiv2016

Polymer Quantization of a Self-Gravitating Thin Shell

We study the quantum mechanics of self-gravitating thin shell collapse by solving the polymerized Wheeler-DeWitt equation. We obtain the energy spectrum and solve the time dependent equation using numerics. In contradistinction to the continuum theory, we are able to consistently quantize the theory for super-Planckian black holes, and find two choices of boundary conditions which conserve energy and probability, as opposed to one in the continuum theory. Another feature unique to the polymer theory is the existence of negative energy stationary states that disappear from the spectrum as the polymer scale goes to zero. In both theories the probability density is positive semi-definite only for the space of positive energy stationary states. Dynamically, we find that an initial Gaussian probability density develops regions of negative probability as the wavepacket approaches $R=0$ and bounces. This implies that the bouncing state is a sum of both positive and negative eigenstates.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

The central role of symmetry in physics

Spacetime and internal symmetries can be used to severely restrict the form of the equations for the fundamental laws of physics. The success of this approach in the context of general relativity and particle physics motivates the conjecture that symmetries may help us to one day uncover the ultimate theory that provides a unique, unified description of all observed physical phenomena. We examine some of the strengths and weaknesses of this conjecture.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Black Hole Formation in AdS Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet Gravity

AdS spacetime has been shown numerically to be unstable against a large class of arbitrarily small perturbations. In arXiv:1410.1869, the authors presented a preliminary study of the effects on stability of changing the local dynamics by adding a Gauss-Bonnet term to the Einstein action. Here we provide further details as well as new results with improved numerical methods. In particular, we elucidate new structure in Choptuik scaling plots. We also provide evidence of chaotic behavior at the transition between immediate horizon formation and horizon formation after the matter pulse reflects from the AdS conformal boundary. Finally, we present data suggesting the formation of naked singularities in spacetimes with ADM mass below the algebraic bound for black hole formation.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

New 2D dilaton gravity for nonsingular black holes

We construct a two-dimensional action that is an extension of spherically symmetric Einstein-Lanczos-Lovelock gravity. The action contains arbitrary functions of the areal radius and the norm squared of its gradient, but the field equations are second order and obey Birkhoff's theorem. In complete analogy with spherically symmetric Einstein-Lanczos-Lovelock gravity, the field equations admit the generalized Misner-Sharp mass as the first integral that determines the form of the vacuum solution. The arbitrary functions in the action allow for vacuum solutions that describe a larger class of interesting nonsingular black-hole spacetimes than previously available.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Designer black holes from new 2D gravity

We present a family of extensions of spherically symmetric Einstein-Lanczos-Lovelock gravity. The field equations are second order and obey a generalized Birkhoff's theorem. The Hamiltonian constraint can be written in terms of a generalized Misner-Sharp mass function that determines the form of the vacuum solution. The action can be designed to yield interesting non-singular black-hole spacetimes as the unique vacuum solutions, including the Hayward black hole as well as a completely new one. The new theories therefore provide a consistent starting point for studying the formation and evaporation of non-singular black holes as a possible resolution to the black hole information loss conundrum.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Two Dimensional Gravity as a modified Yang-Mills Theory

We study a deSitter/Anti-deSitter/Poincare Yang-Mills theory of gravity in d-space-time dimensions in an attempt to retain the best features of both general relativity and Yang-Mills theory: quadratic curvature, dimensionless coupling and background independence. We derive the equations of motion for Lie algebra valued scalars and show that in the geometric optics limit they traverse geodesics with respect to the Lorentzian geometry determined by the frame fields. Mixing between components appears to next to leading order in the WKB approximation. We then restrict to two space-time dimensions for simplicity, in which case the theory reduces to the well known Katanaev-Volovich model. We complete the Hamiltonian analysis of the vacuum theory and use it to prove a generalized Birkhoff theorem. There are two classes of solutions: with torsion and without torsion. The former are parametrized by two constants of motion, have event horizons for certain ranges of the parameters and a curvature singularity. The latter yield a unique solution, up to diffeomorphisms, that describes a space constant curvature .

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Stability of AdS in Einstein Gauss Bonnet Gravity

Recently it has been argued that in Einstein gravity Anti-de Sitter spacetime is unstable against the formation of black holes for a large class of arbitrarily small perturbations. We examine the effects of including a Gauss-Bonnet term. In five dimensions, spherically symmetric Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity has two key features: Choptuik scaling exhibits a radius gap, and the mass function goes to a finite value as the horizon radius vanishes. These suggest that black holes will not form dynamically if the total mass/energy content of the spacetime is too small, thereby restoring the stability of AdS spacetime in this context. We support this claim with numerical simulations and uncover a rich structure in horizon radii and formation times as a function of perturbation amplitude.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

Modelling the Evaporation of Non-singular Black Holes

We present a model for studying the formation and evaporation of non-singular (quantum corrected) black holes. The model is based on a generalized form of the dimensionally reduced, spherically symmetric Einstein--Hilbert action and includes a suitably generalized Polyakov action to provide a mechanism for radiation back-reaction. The equations of motion describing self-gravitating scalar field collapse are derived in local form both in null co--ordinates and in Painleve--Gullstrand (flat slice) co--ordinates. They provide the starting point for numerical studies of complete spacetimes containing dynamical horizons that bound a compact trapped region. Such spacetimes have been proposed in the past as solutions to the information loss problem because they possess neither an event horizon nor a singularity. Since the equations of motion in our model are derived from a diffeomorphism invariant action they preserve the constraint algebra and the resulting energy momentum tensor is manifestly conserved.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2014

Throat quantization of the Schwarzschild-Tangherlini(-AdS) Black Hole

Adopting the throat quantization pioneered by Louko and Mäkelä, we derive the mass and area spectra for the Schwarzschild-Tangherlini black hole and its anti-de~Sitter (AdS) generalization in arbitrary dimensions. We obtain exact spectra in three special cases: the three-dimensional BTZ black hole, toroidal black holes in any dimension, and five-dimensional Schwarzshild-Tangherlini(-AdS) black holes. For the remaining cases the spectra are obtained for large mass using the WKB approximation. For asymptotically flat black holes, the area/entropy has an equally spaced spectrum, as expected from previous work. In the asymptotically AdS case on the other hand, it is the mass spectrum that is equally spaced. Our exact results for the BTZ black hole with Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions are consistent with the spacing of the spectra of the corresponding operators in the dual CFT.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2013

Hamiltonian dynamics of Lovelock black holes with spherical symmetry

We consider spherically symmetric black holes in generic Lovelock gravity. Using geometrodynamical variables we do a complete Hamiltonian analysis, including derivation of the super-Hamiltonian and super-momentum constraints and verification of suitable boundary conditions for asymptotically flat black holes. Our analysis leads to a remarkably simple fully reduced Hamiltonian for the vacuum gravitational sector that provides the starting point for the quantization of Lovelock block holes. Finally, we derive the completely reduced equations of motion for the collapse of a spherically symmetric charged, self-gravitating complex scalar field in generalized flat slice (Painlevé-Gullstrand) coordinates.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2012

Boundary conditions in quantum mechanics on the discretized half-line

We investigate nonrelativistic quantum mechanics on the discretized half-line, constructing a one-parameter family of Hamiltonians that are analogous to the Robin family of boundary conditions in continuum half-line quantum mechanics. For classically singular Hamiltonians, the construction provides a singularity avoidance mechanism that has qualitative similarities with singularity avoidance encountered in loop quantum gravity. Applications include the free particle, the attractive Coulomb potential, the scale invariant potential and a black hole described in terms of the Einstein-Rosen wormhole throat. The spectrum is analyzed by analytic and numerical techniques. In the continuum limit, the full Robin family of boundary conditions can be recovered via a suitable fine-tuning but the Dirichlet-type boundary condition emerges as generic.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2012

Geometrodynamics of spherically symmetric Lovelock gravity

We derive the Hamiltonian for spherically symmetric Lovelock gravity using the geometrodynamics approach pioneered by Kuchař in the context of four-dimensional general relativity. When written in terms of the areal radius, the generalized Misner-Sharp mass and their conjugate momenta, the generic Lovelock action and Hamiltonian take on precisely the same simple forms as in general relativity. This result supports the interpretation of Lovelock gravity as the natural higher-dimensional extension of general relativity. It also provides an important first step towards the study of the quantum mechanics, Hamiltonian thermodynamics and formation of generic Lovelock black holes.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2012

Quantum Mechanics of the Interior of Radiating 2-D Black Holes

We study the homogeneous sector of the RST model describing the gravitational dynamics, including back-reaction, of radiating 2-d black holes. We find the exact solutions both in conformal gauge and in time-parametrized form, isolate the black hole sector of the classical phase space and quantize the near singularity dynamics in conformal gauge. We show that different choices of measure and different self-adjoint extensions can lead to inequivalent quantum theories, all of which resolve the singularity. For a specific range of extension parameters, the Hamiltonian spectrum admits bound states that correspond physically to stable remnants. Finally, we argue that our work provides a good starting point for quantization of the full homogeneous theory using both reduced and Dirac quantization.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2011

Dynamical Surface Gravity in Spherically Symmetric Black Hole Formation

We study dynamical surface gravity in a general spherically symmetric setting using Painlevé-Gullstrand (PG) coordinates. Our analysis includes several definitions that have been proposed in the past as well as two new definitions adapted to PG coordinates. Various properties are considered, including general covariance, value at extremality, locality and static limit. We illustrate with specific examples of "dirty" black holes that even for spacetimes possessing a global timelike Killing vector, local definitions of surface gravity can differ substantially from "non-local" ones that require an asymptotic normalization condition. Finally, we present numerical calculations of dynamical surface gravity for black hole formation via spherically symmetric scalar field collapse. Our results highlight the differences between the various definitions in a dynamical setting and provide further insight into the distinction between local and non-local definitions of surface gravity.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2011

Higher Dimensional Choptuik Scaling in Painleve Gullstrand Coordinates

We investigate Choptuik scaling in the spherically symmetric collapse of a massless scalar field in higher dimensions using Painleve-Gullstrand (P-G) coordinates. Our analysis confirms the presence in higher dimensions of the cusps in the periodic scaling relationship recently observed in four dimensional collapse. In addition, we address the issue of the asymptotic behaviour of the critical exponent as the number of spacetime dimensions gets large. Our results are consistent with earlier work suggesting that the critical exponent monotonically approaches 1/2 in this limit.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2011

Highly Damped Quasinormal Modes and the Small Scale Structure of Quantum Corrected Black Hole Exteriors

Quasinormal modes provide valuable information about the structure of spacetime outside a black hole. There is also a conjectured relationship between the highly damped quasinormal modes and the semi-classical spectrum of the horizon area/entropy. In this paper, we show that for spacetimes characterized by more than one scale, the "infinitely damped" modes in principle probe the structure of spacetime outside the horizon at the shortest length scales. We demonstrate this with the calculation of the highly damped quasinormal modes of the non-singular, single horizon, quantum corrected black hole derived in [14].

gr-qc↗

arXiv2011

Gravitational collapse of K-essence Matter in Painlevé-Gullstrand coordinates

We conduct numerical simulations in Painlevé-Gullstrand coordinates of a variety of K-essence-type scalar fields under spherically symmetric gravitational collapse. We write down generic conditions on the K-essence lagrangian that can be used to determine whether superluminality and Cauchy breakdown are possible. Consistent with these conditions, for specific choices of K-essence-type fields we verify the presence of superluminality during collapse, while for other type we do not. We also demonstrate that certain choices of K-essence scalar fields present issues under gravitational collapse in Painlevé-Gullstrand coordinates, such as a breakdown of the Cauchy problem.

gr-qc↗