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Mu-Tao Wang

Publications and source records attributed to Mu-Tao Wang.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
arXiv2016

Quasi-local energy with respect to de Sitter/anti-de Sitter reference

This article considers the quasi-local conserved quantities with respect to a reference spacetime with a cosmological constant. We follow the approach developed by the authors in [25,26,7] and define the quasi-local energy as differences of surface Hamiltonians. The ground state for the gravitational energy is taken to be a reference configuration in the de Sitter (dS) or Anti-de Sitter (AdS) spacetime. This defines the quasi-local energy with respect to the reference spacetime and generalizes our previous definition with respect to the Minkowski spacetime. Through an optimal isometric embedding into the reference spacetime, the Killing fields of the reference spacetime are transplanted back to the surface in the physical spacetime to complete the definitions of quasi-local conserved quantities. We also compute how the corresponding total conserved quantities evolve under the Einstein equation with a cosmological constant.

math.DG↗
arXiv2016

The rest mass of an asymptotically Anti-de Sitter spacetime

We study the space of Killing fields on the four dimensional AdS spacetime $AdS^{3,1}$. Two subsets $\mathcal{S}$ and $\mathcal{O}$ are identified: $\mathcal{S}$ (the spinor Killing fields) is constructed from imaginary Killing spinors, and $\mathcal{O}$ (the observer Killing fields) consists of all hypersurface orthogonal, future timelike unit Killing fields. When the cosmology constant vanishes, or in the Minkowski spacetime case, these two subsets have the same convex hull in the space of Killing fields. In presence of the cosmology constant, the convex hull of $ \mathcal{O}$ is properly contained in that of $\mathcal{S}$. This leads to two different notions of energy for an asymptotically AdS spacetime, the spinor energy and the observer energy. In [10], Chruściel, Maerten and Tod proved the positivity of the spinor energy and derived important consequences among the related conserved quantities. We show that the positivity of the observer energy follows from the positivity of the spinor energy. A new notion called the "rest mass" of an asymptotically AdS spacetime is then defined by minimizing the observer energy, and is shown to be evaluated in terms of the adjoint representation of the Lie algebra of Killing fields. It is proved that the rest mass has the desirable rigidity property that characterizes the AdS spacetime.

math.DG↗
arXiv2015

Four lectures on quasi-local mass

This note is based on a series of four lectures the author gave at University of Montpellier, September 28-30, 2015. He started with the notion of mass in general relativity, gave a brief review of some known constructions of quasi-local mass, and then discussed the new quasi-local energy and quasi-local mass which Shing-Tung Yau and the author introduced in 2009. At the end, the proof of the positivity of quasi-local energy was sketched and a stability theorem of critical points of quasi-local energy by Po-Ning Chen, Shing-Tung Yau, and the author was discussed.

math-ph↗
arXiv2015

Evaluating small sphere limit of the Wang-Yau quasi-local energy

In this article, we study the small sphere limit of the Wang-Yau quasi-local energy defined in [18,19]. Given a point $p$ in a spacetime $N$, we consider a canonical family of surfaces approaching $p$ along its future null cone and evaluate the limit of the Wang-Yau quasi-local energy. The evaluation relies on solving an "optimal embedding equation" whose solutions represent critical points of the quasi-local energy. For a spacetime with matter fields, the scenario is similar to that of the large sphere limit found in [7]. Namely, there is a natural solution which is a local minimum, and the limit of its quasi-local energy recovers the stress-energy tensor at $p$. For a vacuum spacetime, the quasi-local energy vanishes to higher order and the solution of the optimal embedding equation is more complicated. Nevertheless, we are able to show that there exists a solution which is a local minimum and that the limit of its quasi-local energy is related to the Bel-Robinson tensor. Together with earlier work [7], this completes the consistency verification of the Wang-Yau quasi-local energy with all classical limits.

math.DG↗
arXiv2014

Curvature Decay Estimates of Graphical Mean Curvature Flow in Higher Codimensions

We derive pointwise curvature estimates for graphical mean curvature flows in higher codimensions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first such estimates without assuming smallness of first derivatives of the defining map. An immediate application is a convergence theorem of the mean curvature flow of the graph of an area decreasing map between flat Riemann surfaces.

math.DG↗
arXiv2014

Rigidity and minimizing properties of quasi-local mass

In this article, we survey recent developments in defining the quasi-local mass in general relativity. We discuss various approaches and the properties and applications of the different definitions. Among the expected properties, we focus on the rigidity property: for a surface in the Minkowski spacetime, one expects that the mass should vanish. We describe the Wang-Yau quasi-local mass whose definition is motivated by this rigidity property and by the Hamilton-Jacobi analysis of the Einstein-Hilbert action. In addition, we survey recent results on the minimizing property the Wang-Yau quasi-local mass.

math.DG↗
arXiv2014

On the validity of the definition of angular momentum in general relativity

We exam the validity of the definition of the ADM angular momentum without the parity assumption. Explicit examples of asymptotically flat hypersurfaces in the Minkowski spacetime with zero ADM energy-momentum vector and finite non-zero angular momentum vector are presented. We also discuss the Beig-Ó Murchadha-Regge-Teitelboim center of mass and study analogous examples in the Schwarzschild spacetime.

math.DG↗
arXiv2014

Conserved Quantities of harmonic asymptotic initial data sets

In the first half of this article, we survey the new quasi-local and total angular momentum and center of mass defined in [9] and summarize the important properties of these definitions. To compute these conserved quantities involves solving a nonlinear PDE system (the optimal isometric embedding equation), which is rather difficult in general. We found a large family of initial data sets on which such a calculation can be carried out effectively. These are initial data sets of harmonic asymptotics, first proposed by Corvino and Schoen to solve the full vacuum constraint equation. In the second half of this article, the new total angular momentum and center of mass for these initial data sets are computed explicitly.

math.DG↗
arXiv2014

Conserved quantities on asymptotically hyperbolic initial data sets

In this article, we consider the limit of quasi-local conserved quantities [31,9] at the infinity of an asymptotically hyperbolic initial data set in general relativity. These give notions of total energy-momentum, angular momentum, and center of mass. Our assumption on the asymptotics is less stringent than any previous ones to validate a Bondi-type mass loss formula. The Lorentz group acts on the asymptotic infinity through the exchange of foliations by coordinate spheres. For foliations aligning with the total energy-momentum vector, we prove that the limits of quasi-local center of mass and angular momentum are finite, and evaluate the limits in terms of the expansion coefficients of the metric and the second fundamental form.

math.DG↗
arXiv2014

Rigidity of time-flat surfaces in the Minkowski spacetime

A time-flat condition on spacelike 2-surfaces in spacetime is considered here. This condition is analogous to constant torsion condition for curves in three dimensional space and has been studied in [2, 4, 5, 12, 13]. In particular, any 2-surface in a static slice of a static spacetime is time-flat. In this article, we address the question in the title and prove several local and global rigidity theorems for such surfaces in the Minkowski spacetime.

math.DG↗
arXiv2014

A Minkowski inequality for hypersurfaces in the Anti-deSitter-Schwarzschild manifold

We prove a sharp inequality for hypersurfaces in the n-dimensional Anti-deSitter-Schwarzschild manifold for general n greater or equal to 3. This inequality generalizes the classical Minkowski inequality for surfaces in the three dimensional Euclidean space, and has a natural interpretation in terms of the Penrose inequality for collapsing null shells of dust. The proof relies on a new monotonicity formula for inverse mean curvature flow, and uses a geometric inequality established by the first author in [3].

math.DG↗
arXiv2014

Constructing soliton solutions of geometric flows by separation of variables

This note surveys and compares results on the separation of variables construction for soliton solutions of curvature equations including the Kähler-Ricci flow and the Lagrangian mean curvature flow. In the last section, we propose some new generalizations in the Lagrangian mean curvature flow case.

math.DG↗
arXiv2014

Quasilocal angular momentum and center of mass in general relativity

For a spacelike 2-surface in spacetime, we propose a new definition of quasi-local angular momentum and quasi-local center of mass, as an element in the dual space of the Lie algebra of the Lorentz group. Together with previous defined quasi-local energy-momentum, this completes the definition of conserved quantities in general relativity at the quasi-local level. We justify this definition by showing the consistency with the theory of special relativity and expectations on an axially symmetric spacetime. The limits at spatial infinity provide new definitions for total conserved quantities of an isolated system, which do not depend on any asymptotically flat coordinate system or asymptotic Killing field. The new proposal is free of ambiguities found in existing definitions and presents the first definition that precisely describes the dynamics of the Einstein equation.

math.DG↗
arXiv2014

Conserved quantities in general relativity: from the quasi-local level to spatial infinity

We define quasi-local conserved quantities in general relativity by using the optimal isometric embedding in [26] to transplant Killing fields in the Minkowski spacetime back to the 2-surface of interest in a physical spacetime. To each optimal isometric embedding, a dual element of the Lie algebra of the Lorentz group is assigned. Quasi-local angular momentum and quasi-local center of mass correspond to pairing this element with rotation Killing fields and boost Killing fields, respectively. They obey classical transformation laws under the action of the Poincaré group. We further justify these definitions by considering their limits as the total angular momentum and the total center of mass of an isolated system. These expressions were derived from the Hamilton-Jacobi analysis of gravitation action and thus satisfy conservation laws. As a result, we obtained an invariant total angular momentum theorem in the Kerr spacetime. For a vacuum asymptotically flat initial data set of order $1$, it is shown that the limits are always finite without any extra assumptions. We also study these total conserved quantities on a family of asymptotically flat initial data sets evolving by the vacuum Einstein evolution equation. It is shown that the total angular momentum is conserved under the evolution. For the total center of mass, the classical dynamical formula relating the center of mass, energy, and linear momentum is recovered, in the nonlinear context of initial data sets evolving by the vacuum Einstein evolution equation. The definition of quasi-local angular momentum provides an answer to the second problem in classical general relativity on Penrose's list [18].

math.DG↗
arXiv2013

A Gibbons-Penrose inequality for surfaces in Schwarzschild spacetime

We propose a geometric inequality for two-dimensional spacelike surfaces in the Schwarzschild spacetime. This inequality implies the Penrose inequality for collapsing dust shells in general relativity, as proposed by Penrose and Gibbons. We prove that the inequality holds in several important cases.

math-ph↗
arXiv2013

Minimizing properties of critical points of quasi-local energy

In relativity, the energy of a moving particle depends on the observer, and the rest mass is the minimal energy seen among all observers. The Wang-Yau quasi-local mass for a surface in spacetime introduced in [7] and [8] is defined by minimizing quasi-local energy associated with admissible isometric embeddings of the surface into the Minkowski space. A critical point of the quasi-local energy is an isometric embedding satisfying the Euler-Lagrange equation. In this article, we prove results regarding both local and global minimizing properties of critical points of the Wang-Yau quasi-local energy. In particular, under a condition on the mean curvature vector we show a critical point minimizes the quasi-local energy locally. The same condition also implies that the critical point is globally minimizing among all axially symmetric embedding provided the image of the associated isometric embedding lies in a totally geodesic Euclidean 3-space.

math.DG↗
arXiv2012

Quasilocal mass and surface Hamiltonian in spacetime

We discuss the concepts of energy and mass in relativity. On a finitely extended spatial region, they lead to the notion of quasilocal energy/mass for the boundary 2-surface in spacetime. A new definition was found in [27] that satisfies the positivity, rigidity, and asymptotics properties. The definition makes use of the surface Hamiltonian term which arises from Hamilton-Jacobi analysis of the gravitation action. The reference surface Hamiltonian is associated with an isometric embedding of the 2-surface into the Minkowski space. We discuss this new definition of mass as well as the reference sur- face Hamiltonian. Most of the discussion is based on joint work with PoNing Chen and Shing-Tung Yau.

gr-qc↗