arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to N. O. Santos.
A procedure to find static axially symmetric solutions to the Einstein field equations is presented. We obtained two general solutions and five particular solutions, which depend on the existence conditions for circular and $z$ direction motion. Our endeavour consists making a thoroughrowly analysis of all the possible geodesics solutions stemming from this spacetime.
We consider stationary rotating cylindrically symmetric dust spacetimes. We first show that the Maitra spacetime is the unique non-rigidly (non null shear scalar) rotating solution with a regular axis and that is the most general one of the field equations. We are also able to demonstrate what Maitra's paper does not show, where the solution is merely stated without any demonstration. Then we find that the non-rigidly rotating spacetimes, not necessarily regular, can be matched, across timelike cylindrical hypersurfaces, to a one-parameter family of stationary vacuum exteriors given by the Weyl class but not to the Lewis class, generalizing a result by Bonnor and Steidman. Among other properties, it is shown that the amount of rotating dust packed inside a cylinder is bigger if it is rigidly rotating than non-rigidly rotating. Finally, we show that in the non-rigidly rotating cases the fluid necessarily has vorticity and the spacetimes are not silent, where the magnetic part of the Weyl tensor is non-zero.
We present a brief review of exact solutions of cylindrical symmetric fields in General Relativity produced by different perfect fluid sources. These sources are assumed static, stationary, translating and collapsing. Properties of these fields are discussed and some important open questions are called the attention for future research.
Five-dimensional spacetimes of two orbifold 3-branes are studied, by assuming that {\em the two 3-branes are spatially homogeneous, isotropic, and independent of time}, following the so-called "bulk-based" approach. The most general form of the metric is obtained, and the corresponding field equations are divided into three groups, one is valid on each of the two 3-branes, and the third is valid in the bulk. The Einstein tensor on the 3-branes is expressed in terms of the discontinuities of the first-order derivatives of the metric coefficients. Thus, once the metric is known in the bulk, the distribution of the Einstein tensor on the two 3-branes is uniquely determined. As applications, we consider two different cases, one is in which the bulk is locally $AdS_{5}$, and the other is where it is vacuum. In some cases, it is shown that the universe is first decelerating and then accelerating. The global structure of the bulk as well as the 3-branes is also studied, and found that in some cases the solutions may represent the collision of two orbifold 3-branes. The applications of the formulas to the studies of the cyclic universe and the cosmological constant problem are also pointed out.
In the main article [CQG 38 (2021) 055003], a new "canonical" form for the Lewis metrics of the Weyl class has been obtained, depending only on three parameters -- Komar mass and angular momentum per unit length, plus the angle deficit -- corresponding to a coordinate system fixed to the "distant stars" and an everywhere timelike Killing vector field. Such form evinces the local but non-global static character of the spacetime, and striking parallelisms with the electromagnetic analogue. We discuss here its generality, main physical features and important limits (the Levi-Civita static cylinder, and spinning cosmic strings). We contrast it on geometric and physical grounds with the Kerr spacetime -- as an example of a metric which is locally non-static.
The Lewis solutions describe the exterior gravitational field produced by infinitely long rotating cylinders, and are useful models for global gravitational effects. When the metric parameters are real (Weyl class), the exterior metrics of rotating and static cylinders are locally indistinguishable, but known to globally differ. The significance of this difference, both in terms of physical effects (gravitomagnetism) and of the mathematical invariants that detect the rotation, remain open problems in the literature. In this work we show that, by a rigid coordinate rotation, the Weyl class metric can be put into a "canonical" form where the Killing vector field $\partial_{t}$ is time-like everywhere, and which depends explicitly only on three parameters with a clear physical significance: the Komar mass and angular momentum per unit length, plus the angle deficit. This new form of the metric reveals that the two settings differ only at the level of the gravitomagnetic vector potential which, for a rotating cylinder, cannot be eliminated by any global coordinate transformation. It manifests itself in the Sagnac and gravitomagnetic clock effects. The situation is seen to mirror the electromagnetic field of a rotating charged cylinder, which likewise differs from the static case only in the vector potential, responsible for the Aharonov-Bohm effect, formally analogous to the Sagnac effect. The geometrical distinction between the two solutions is also discussed, and the notions of local and global staticity revisited. The matching in canonical form to the van Stockum interior cylinder is also addressed.
With the arrival of the era of gravitational wave astronomy, the strong gravitational field regime will be explored soon in various aspects. In this article, we provide a general review over cylindrical systems in Einstein's theory of general relativity. In particular, we first review the general properties, both local and global, of several important solutions of Einstein's field equations, including the Levi-Civita and Lewis solutions and their extensions to include the cosmological constant and matter fields, and pay particular attention to properties that represent the generic features of the theory, such as the formation of the observed extragalactic jets and gravitational Faraday rotation. We also review studies of cylindrical wormholes, gravitational collapse and Hoop conjecture, and polarizations of gravitational waves. In addition, by rigorously defining cylindrically symmetric spacetimes, we clarify various (incorrect) claims existing in the literature, regarding to the generality of such spacetimes.
Starting from the stationary cylindrically symmetric solution, but with the coordinates $z$ and $ϕ$ interchanged, and supposing that it could describe the vacuum spacetime of a translating cylinder, we investigate its physical and geometrical properties. This hypothesis is not entirely new since it has already been considered in a previous paper describing a translating source. We show that this metric is geometrically related to the vacuum field produced by a stationary rotating cylindrical source{, known as Lewis solution. However, we find new physical properties, different from those of the Lewis vacuum solution. Moreover, we show that no translating cylindrical dust solution can exist in General Relativity.
We investigate a class of cylindrically symmetric inhomogeneous $Λ$-dust spacetimes which have a regular axis and some zero expansion component. For $Λ\ne 0$, we obtain new exact solutions to the Einstein equations and show that they are unique, within that class. For $Λ=0$, we recover the Senovilla-Vera metric and show that it can be locally matched to an Einstein-Rosen type of exterior. Finally, we explore some consequences of the matching, such as trapped surface formation and gravitational radiation in the exterior.
In the framework of a model based on the gravitational field of the Kerr black hole, we turn to investigate the kinematic behavior of extragalactic jets. We analytically calculate the observable velocities and accelerations along any geodesic. Then, by numerical calculations, we apply our results to a geodesic, typical of the M87 jet, and probe our results by confrontation to recent observations. A transition from non-relativistic to ultrarelativistic speeds at subparsec scale is highlighted. This transition comes sooner and more abruptly than in models based on magnetic paradigm, which indicates that we need a weaker magnetic field to explain observed synchrotron radiation. We attribute the ejection phenomenon to the repulsive effect of the gravitomagnetic Kerr field.
Studying particle motion in the gravitational field of a black hole from the perspective of different observers is important for separating the coordinate artifacts from the physical phenomena. In this paper, we show that a freely falling test particle exhibits gravitational repulsion by a black hole as seen by an asymptotic observer, whereas nothing of the kind happens as recorded by a freely falling observer or by an observer located at a finite distance from the event horizon. This analysis is carried out for a general Reissner-Nordström, an extremal Reissner-Nordström, and a Schwarzschild black hole. We are lead to conclude that the origin of these bizarre results lies in the fact that the quantities measured by the different observers are neither Lorentz scalars nor gauge invariant.
General Relativity has had tremendous successes on both theoretical and experimental fronts for over a century by now. However, the theory contents are far from being exhausted. Only very recently, with gravitational wave detection from colliding black holes, have we started probing gravity behavior in the strongly non-linear regime. Even today, black hole studies keep revealing more and more paradoxes and bizarre results. In this paper, inspired by David Hilbert's startling observation, we show that, contrary to the conventional wisdom, a freely falling test particle feels gravitational repulsion by a black hole as seen by an asymptotic observer. We dig deeper into this relativistic gravity surprising behavior and offer some explanations.
We analyse the geodesics' dynamics in cylindrically symmetric vacuum spacetimes with Lambda>0 and compare it to the Lambda=0 and Lambda<0 cases. When Lambda>0 there are two singularities in the metric which brings new qualitative features to the dynamics. We find that Lambda=0 planar timelike confined geodesics are unstable against the introduction of a sufficiently large Lambda, in the sense that the bounded orbits become unbounded. In turn, any non-planar radially bounded geodesics are stable for any positive Lambda. We construct global non-singular static vacuum spacetimes in cylindrical symmetry with Lambda>0 by matching the Linet-Tian metric with two appropriate sources.
We present here the general expressions for the acceleration of massive test particles along the symmetry axis of the Kerr metric, and then study the main properties of this acceleration in different regions of the spacetime. In particular, we show that there exists a region near the black hole in which the gravitational field is repulsive. We provide possible physical interpretations about the role of this effect in terms of the different conserved parameters. The studies of these geodesics are important not only to understand better the structure of the Kerr spacetime but also to its use as a possible mechanism for the production of extragalactic jets. Our results are obtained with the help of expressing the geodesics of the Kerr spacetime in terms of the Weyl coordinates.
Particle collisions in black hole ergoregions may result in extremely high center of mass energies that could probe new physics if escape to infinity were possible. Here we show that some geodesics at high inclinations to the equatorial plane may be unbound. Hence a finite flux of annihilation debris is able to escape, especially in the case of near-extremal Kerr black holes and if the Penrose process plays a role. For a class of Penrose processes, we show that the Wald inequalities are satisfied, allowing the Penrose process to have a key role in high energy ejection. Hence the possibility of observing new physics effects from a black hole accelerator at unprecedentedly high particle collision energies remains a tantalizing, if futuristic, experimental vision.
We investigate the geodesics' kinematics and dynamics in the Linet-Tian metric with Lambda<0 and compare with the results for the Levi-Civita metric, when Lambda=0. This is used to derive new stability results about the geodesics' dynamics in static vacuum cylindrically symmetric spacetimes with respect to the introduction of Lambda<0. In particular, we find that increasing |Lambda| always increases the minimum and maximum radial distances to the axis of any spatially confined planar null geodesic. Furthermore, we show that, in some cases, the inclusion of any Lambda<0 breaks the geodesics' orbit confinement of the Lambda=0 metric, for both planar and non-planar null geodesics, which are therefore unstable. Using the full system of geodesics' equations, we provide numerical examples which illustrate our results.
Assuming that the spin $a$ of the black hole, presumably located at the core of the active galactic nuclei Messier 87 (M87), takes the value which maximises the ergospheric volume of the Kerr spacetime, we find results compatible with the recent observations obtained by high resolution interferometry on the origin of the jet, which would be located inside the innermost stable circular orbit diameter. Moreover, we find a flow of unbound geodesics issued from the ergoregion able to frame the best fits at large scale recently obtained for describing the observed profile of the relativistic jet launched from this central engine.
We investigate the matching, across cylindrical surfaces, of static cylindrically symmetric conformally flat spacetimes with a cosmological constant $Λ$, satisfying regularity conditions at the axis, to an exterior Linet-Tian spacetime. We prove that for $Λ\leq 0$ such matching is impossible. On the other hand, we show through simple examples that the matching is possible for $Λ>0$. We suggest a physical argument that might explain these results.