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N. Pelavas

Publications and source records attributed to N. Pelavas.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2018

CCNV Space-Times as Potential Supergravity Solutions

It is of interest to study supergravity solutions preserving a non-minimal fraction of supersymmetries. A necessary condition for supersymmetry to be preserved is that the spacetime admits a Killing spinor and hence a null or timelike Killing vector field. Any spacetime admitting a covariantly constant null vector field ($CCNV$) belongs to the Kundt class of metrics, and more importantly admits a null Killing vector field. We investigate the existence of additional non-spacelike isometries in the class of higher-dimensional $CCNV$ Kundt metrics in order to produce potential solutions that preserve some supersymmetries.

math.DG↗
arXiv2009

Kundt Spacetimes

Kundt spacetimes are of great importance in general relativity in 4 dimensions and have a number of topical applications in higher dimensions in the context of string theory. The degenerate Kundt spacetimes have many special and unique mathematical properties, including their invariant curvature structure and their holonomy structure. We provide a rigorous geometrical kinematical definition of the general Kundt spacetime in 4 dimensions; essentially a Kundt spacetime is defined as one admitting a null vector that is geodesic, expansion-free, shear-free and twist-free. A Kundt spacetime is said to be degenerate if the preferred kinematic and curvature null frames are all aligned. The degenerate Kundt spacetimes are the only spacetimes in 4 dimensions that are not $\mathcal{I}$-non-degenerate, so that they are not determined by their scalar polynomial curvature invariants. We first discuss the non-aligned Kundt spacetimes, and then turn our attention to the degenerate Kundt spacetimes. The degenerate Kundt spacetimes are classified algebraically by the Riemann tensor and its covariant derivatives in the aligned kinematic frame; as an example, we classify Riemann type D degenerate Kundt spacetimes in which $\nabla(Riem),\nabla^{(2)}(Riem)$ are also of type D. We discuss other local characteristics of the degenerate Kundt spacetimes. Finally, we discuss degenerate Kundt spacetimes in higher dimensions.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2007

On curvature homogeneous 4D Lorentzian manifolds

We prove that a four-dimensional Lorentzian manifold that is curvature homogeneous of order 3, or $\CH_3$ for short, is necessarily locally homogeneous. We also exhibit and classify four-dimensional Lorentzian, $\CH_2$ manifolds that are not homogeneous.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2007

Vanishing Scalar Invariant Spacetimes in Supergravity

We show that the higher-dimensional vanishing scalar invariant (VSI) spacetimes with fluxes and dilaton are solutions of type IIB supergravity, and we argue that they are exact solutions in string theory. We also discuss the supersymmetry properties of VSI spacetimes.

hep-th↗
arXiv2007

Averaging in Spherically Symmetric Cosmology

In the macroscopic gravity approach to the averaging problem in cosmology, the Einstein field equations on cosmological scales are modified by appropriate gravitational correlation terms. We study the averaging problem within the class of spherically symmetric cosmological models. That is, we shall take the microscopic equations and effect the averaging procedure to determine the precise form of the correlation tensor in this case. In particular, by working in volume preserving coordinates, we calculate the form of the correlation tensor under some reasonable assumptions on the form for the inhomogeneous gravitational field and matter distribution. We find that the correlation tensor in a FLRW background must be of the form of a spatial curvature. Inhomogeneities and spatial averaging, through this spatial curvature correction term, can have a very significant dynamical effect on the dynamics of the Universe and cosmological observations; in particular, we discuss whether spatial averaging might lead to a more conservative explanation of the observed acceleration of the Universe (without the introduction of exotic dark matter fields). We also find that the correlation tensor for a non-FLRW background can be interpreted as the sum of a spatial curvature and an anisotropic fluid. This may lead to interesting effects of averaging on astrophysical scales. We also discuss the results of averaging an inhomogeneous Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi solution as well as calculations of linear perturbations (that is, the back-reaction) in an FLRW background, which support the main conclusions of the analysis.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2006

Higher dimensional VSI spacetimes

We present the explicit metric forms for higher dimensional vanishing scalar invariant (VSI) Lorentzian spacetimes. We note that all of the VSI spacetimes belong to the higher dimensional Kundt class. We determine all of the VSI spacetimes which admit a covariantly constant null vector, and we note that in general in higher dimensions these spacetimes are of Ricci type III and Weyl type III. The Ricci type N subclass is related to the chiral null models and includes the relativistic gyratons and the higher dimensional pp-wave spacetimes. The spacetimes under investigation are of particular interest since they are solutions of supergravity or superstring theory.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2006

Averaging Spherically Symmetric Spacetimes in General Relativity

We discuss the averaging problem in general relativity, using the form of the macroscopic gravity equations in the case of spherical symmetry in volume preserving coordinates. In particular, we calculate the form of the correlation tensor under some reasonable assumptions on the form for the inhomogeneous gravitational field and matter distribution. On cosmological scales, the correlation tensor in a Friedmann-Lema\^ıtre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) background is found to be of the form of a spatial curvature. On astrophysical scales the correlation tensor can be interpreted as the sum of a spatial curvature and an anisotropic fluid. We briefly discuss the physical implications of these results.

astro-ph↗
arXiv2005

Cosmological Solutions in Macroscopic Gravity

In the macroscopic gravity approach to the averaging problem in cosmology, the Einstein field equations on cosmological scales are modified by appropriate gravitational correlation terms. We present exact cosmological solutions to the equations of macroscopic gravity for a spatially homogeneous and isotropic macroscopic space-time and find that the correlation tensor is of the form of a spatial curvature term. We briefly discuss the physical consequences of these results.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2005

Classification of Higher Dimensional Spacetimes

We algebraically classify some higher dimensional spacetimes, including a number of vacuum solutions of the Einstein field equations which can represent higher dimensional black holes. We discuss some consequences of this work.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2005

VSI_i spacetimes and the epsilon-property

We investigate Lorentzian spacetimes where all zeroth and first order curvature invariants vanish and discuss how this class differs from the one where all curvature invariants vanish (VSI). We show that for VSI spacetimes all components of the Riemann tensor and its derivatives up to some fixed order can be made arbitrarily small. We discuss this in more detail by way of examples.

gr-qc↗
arXiv2003

Generalizations of pp-wave spacetimes in higher dimensions

We shall investigate $D$-dimensional Lorentzian spacetimes in which all of the scalar invariants constructed from the Riemann tensor and its covariant derivatives are zero. These spacetimes are higher-dimensional generalizations of $D$-dimensional pp-wave spacetimes, which have been of interest recently in the context of string theory in curved backgrounds in higher dimensions.

gr-qc↗