arXiv subjects

Gary Gibbons

Publications and source records attributed to Gary Gibbons.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2020

A new energy upper bound for AdS black holes inspired by free field theory

We consider the toroidally compactified planar AdS-Schwarzschild solution to 4-dimensional gravity with negative cosmological constant. This has a flat torus conformal boundary metric. We show that if the spatial part of the boundary metric is deformed, keeping it static and the temperature and area fixed, then assuming a static bulk solution exists, its energy is less than that of the AdS-Schwarzschild solution. The proof is non-perturbative in the metric deformation. While we expect the same holds for the free energy for black hole solutions we are so far are not able to prove it. In the context of AdS-CFT this implies a 3-dimensional holographic CFT on a flat spatial torus whose bulk dual is AdS-Schwarzschild has a greater energy than if the spatial geometry is deformed in any way that preserves temperature and area. This work was inspired by previous results in free field theory, where scalars and fermions in 3-dimensions have been shown to energetically disfavour flat space.

hep-th↗

arXiv2015

Comparison theorems for causal diamonds

We formulate certain inequalities for the geometric quantities characterizing causal diamonds in curved and Minkowski spacetimes. These inequalities involve the red-shift factor which, as we show explicitly in the spherically symmetric case, is monotonic in the radial direction and it takes its maximal value at the centre. As a byproduct of our discussion we re-derive Bishop's inequality without assuming the positivity of the spatial Ricci tensor. We then generalize our considerations to arbitrary, static and not necessarily spherically symmetric, asymptotically flat spacetimes. In the case of spacetimes with a horizon our generalization involves the so-called {\it domain of dependence}. The respective volume, expressed in terms of the duration measured by a distant observer compared with the volume of the domain in Minkowski spacetime, exhibits behaviours which differ if $d=4$ or $d>4$. This peculiarity of four dimensions is due to the logarithmic subleading term in the asymptotic expansion of the metric near infinity. In terms of the invariant duration measured by a co-moving observer associated with the diamond we establish an inequality which is universal for all $d$. We suggest some possible applications of our results including the comparison theorems for entanglement entropy, causal set theory and fundamental limits on computation.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

What surface maximizes entanglement entropy?

For a given quantum field theory, provided the area of the entangling surface is fixed, what surface maximizes entanglement entropy? We analyze the answer to this question in four and higher dimensions. Surprisingly, in four dimensions the answer is related to a mathematical problem of finding surfaces which minimize the Willmore (bending) energy and eventually to the Willmore conjecture. We propose a generalization of the Willmore energy in higher dimensions and analyze its minimizers in a general class of topologies $S^m\times S^n$ and make certain observations and conjectures which may have some mathematical significance.

hep-th↗

arXiv2014

Inspecting Baby Skyrmions with Effective Metrics

In the present paper we investigate the causal structure of the baby Skyrme model using appropriate geometrical tools. We discuss several features of excitations propagating on top of background solutions and show that the evolution of high frequency waves is governed by a curved effective geometry. Examples are given for which the effective metric describes the interaction between waves and solitonic solutions such as kinks, antikinks and Hedgehogs. In particular, it is shown how violent processes involving the collisions of solitons and antisolitons may induce metrics which are not globaly hyperbolic. We argue that it might be illuminating to calculate the effective metric as a diagnostic test for pathological regimes in numerical simulations.

hep-th↗

arXiv2013

Generalised Eisenhart lift of the Toda chain

The Toda chain of nearest neighbour interacting particles on a line can be described both in terms of geodesic motion on a manifold with one extra dimension, the Eisenhart lift, or in terms of geodesic motion in a symmetric space with several extra dimensions. We examine the relationship between these two realisations and discover that the symmetric space is a generalised, multi-particle Eisenhart lift of the original problem, that reduces to the standard Eisenhart lift. Such generalised Eisenhart lift acts as an inverse Kaluza-Klein reduction, promoting coupling constants to momenta in higher dimension. In particular, isometries of the generalised lift metric correspond to energy preserving transformations that mix coordinates and coupling constants. A by-product of the analysis is that the lift of the Toda Lax pair can be used to construct higher rank Killing tensors for both the standard and generalised lift metrics.

math-ph↗

arXiv2011

Optical Metrics and Projective Equivalence

Trajectories of light rays in a static spacetime are described by unparametrised geodesics of the Riemannian optical metric associated with the Lorentzian spacetime metric. We investigate the uniqueness of this structure and demonstrate that two different observers, moving relative to one another, who both see the universe as static may determine the geometry of the light rays differently. More specifically, we classify Lorentzian metrics admitting more than one hyper--surface orthogonal time--like Killing vector and analyze the projective equivalence of the resulting optical metrics. These metrics are shown to be projectively equivalent up to diffeomorphism if the static Killing vectors generate a group $SL(2, \R)$, but not projectively equivalent in general. We also consider the cosmological $C$--metrics in Einstein--Maxwell theory and demonstrate that optical metrics corresponding to different values of the cosmological constant are projectively equivalent.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2009

Repulsons in the Myers-Perry Family

In this paper, we show that curvature-regular asymptotically flat solitons with negative mass are contained in the Myers-Perry family of odd spacetime dimensions. These solitons do not have a horizon, but instead a conical singularity of quasi-regular nature surrounded by naked CTCs. This quasi-regular singularity can be made regular for a set of discrete values of angular momentum, at least for the Myers-Perry solutions with UG(N) symmetry. Although the time coordinate is required to have a periodicity at infinity and the spatial infinity becomes a lens space S^{D-2}/Z_n, the corresponding spacetime is simply connected, and the CTCs cannot be eliminated by taking a covering spacetime.

hep-th↗

arXiv2008

Cosmic Jerk, Snap and Beyond

We clarify the procedure for expressing the Friedmann equation in terms of directly measurable cosmological scalars constructed out of higher derivatives of the scale factor. We carry out this procedure for pure dust, Chaplygin gas and generalised Chaplygin gas energy-momentum tensors. In each case it leads to a constraint on the scalars thus giving rise to a test of General Relativity. We also discuss a formulation of the Friedmann equation as unparametrised geodesic motion and its connection with the Lagrangian treatment of perfect fluids coupled to gravity.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2007

Fermions on Colliding Branes

We study the behaviour of five-dimensional fermions localized on branes, which we describe by domain walls, when two parallel branes collide in a five-dimensional Minkowski background spacetime. We find that most fermions are localized on both branes as a whole even after collision. However, how much fermions are localized on which brane depends sensitively on the incident velocity and the coupling constants unless the fermions exist on both branes.

hep-th↗

arXiv2006

On the Multiple Deaths of Whitehead's Theory of Gravity

Whitehead's 1922 theory of gravitation continues to attract the attention of philosophers, despite evidence presented in 1971 that it violates experiment. We demonstrate that the theory strongly fails five quite different experimental tests, and conclude that, notwithstanding its meritorious philosophical underpinnings, Whitehead's theory is truly dead.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2006

Nonlinear perturbations of the Kaluza-Klein monopole

We consider the nonlinear stability of the Kaluza-Klein monopole viewed as the static solution of the five dimensional vacuum Einstein equations. Using both numerical and analytical methods we give evidence that the Kaluza-Klein monopole is asymptotically stable within the cohomogeneity-two biaxial Bianchi IX ansatz recently introduced in \cite{bcs}. We also show that for sufficiently large perturbations the Kaluza-Klein monopole loses stability and collapses to a Kaluza-Klein black hole. The relevance of our results for the stability of BPS states in M/String theory is briefly discussed.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2002

Polyhedral Scattering of Fundamental Monopoles

The dynamics of n slowly moving fundamental monopoles in the SU(n+1) BPS Yang-Mills-Higgs theory can be approximated by geodesic motion on the 4n-dimensional hyperkahler Lee-Weinberg-Yi manifold. In this paper we apply a variational method to construct some scaling geodesics on this manifold. These geodesics describe the scattering of n monopoles which lie on the vertices of a bouncing polyhedron; the polyhedron contracts from infinity to a point, representing the spherically symmetric n-monopole, and then expands back out to infinity. For different monopole masses the solutions generalize to form bouncing nested polyhedra. The relevance of these results to the dynamics of well separated SU(2) monopoles is also discussed.

hep-th↗

arXiv2002

Tachyon Condensates, Carrollian Contraction of Lorentz Group, and Fundamental Strings

We study the rolling tachyon condensate in the presence of a gauge field. The generic vacuum admits both a rolling tachyon, \dot{T}, and a uniform electric field, \vec{E}, which together affect the effective metric governing the fluctuations of open string modes. If one suppresses the gauge field altogether, the light-cone collapses completely. This is the Carrollian limit, with vanishing speed of light and no possible propagation of signals. In the presence of a gauge field, however, the lightcone is squeezed to the shape of a fan, allowing propagation of signals along the direction of \pm \vec{E} at speed |E|=<1. This shows that there are perturbative degrees of freedom propagating along electric flux lines. Such causal behavior appears to be a very general feature of tachyon effective Lagrangian with runway potentials. We speculate on how this may be connected to appearance of fundamental strings.

hep-th↗

arXiv2002

Central Configurations in Three Dimensions

We consider the equilibria of point particles under the action of two body central forces in which there are both repulsive and attractive interactions, often known as central configurations, with diverse applications in physics, in particular as homothetic time-dependent solutions to Newton's equations of motion and as stationary states in the One Component Plasma model. Concentrating mainly on the case of an inverse square law balanced by a linear force, we compute numerically equilibria and their statistical properties. When all the masses (or charges) of the particles are equal, for small numbers of points they are regular convex deltahedra, which on increasing the number of points give way to a multi-shell structure. In the limit of a large number of points we argue using an analytic model that they form a homogeneous spherical distribution of points, whose spatial distribution appears, from our preliminary investigation, to be similar to that of a Bernal hard-sphere liquid.

hep-th↗

arXiv2002

Gravitational instability in higher dimensions

We explore a classical instability of spacetimes of dimension $D>4$. Firstly, we consider static solutions: generalised black holes and brane world metrics. The dangerous mode is a tensor mode on an Einstein base manifold of dimension $D-2$. A criterion for instability is found for the generalised Schwarzschild, AdS-Schwarzschild and topological black hole spacetimes in terms of the Lichnerowicz spectrum on the base manifold. Secondly, we consider perturbations in time-dependent solutions: Generalised dS and AdS. Thirdly we show that, subject to the usual limitations of a linear analysis, any Ricci flat spacetime may be stabilised by embedding into a higher dimensional spacetime with cosmological constant. We apply our results to pure AdS black strings. Finally, we study the stability of higher dimensional ``bubbles of nothing''.

hep-th↗

arXiv2000

Brane World Sum Rules

A set of consistency conditions is derived from Einstein equations for brane world scenarios with a spatially periodic internal space. In particular, the sum of the total tension of the flat branes and the non-negative integral of the gradient energy of the bulk scalars must vanish. This constraint allows us to make a simple consistency check of several models. We show that the two-brane Randall-Sundrum model satisfies this constraint, but it does not allow a generalization with smooth branes (domain walls), independently of the issue of supersymmetry. The Goldberger-Wise model of brane stabilization has to include the backreaction on the metric and the fine tuning of the cosmological constant to satisfy the constraints. We check that this is achieved in the DeWolfe-Freedman-Gubser-Karch scenario. Our constraints are automatically satisfied in supersymmetric brane world models.

hep-th↗

arXiv2000

String Fluid from Unstable D-branes

We consider Sen's effective action for unstable D-branes, and study its classical dynamics exactly. In the true vacuum, the Hamiltonian dynamics remains well-defined despite a vanishing action, and is that of massive relativistic string fluid of freely moving electric flux lines. The energy(tension) density equals the flux density in the local co-moving frame. Furthermore, a finite dual Lagrangian exists and is related to the Nielsen-Olesen field theory of ``dual'' strings, supplemented by a crucial constraint. We conclude with discussion on the endpoint of tachyon condensation.

hep-th↗

arXiv1996

The tale of two centres

We study motion in the field of two fixed centres described by a family of Einstein-dilaton-Maxwell theories. Transitions between regular and chaotic motion are observed as the dilaton coupling is varied.

gr-qc↗