arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to S. P. Drake.
In this paper we show how the student can be led to an understanding of the connection between special relativity and general relativity by considering the time dilation effect of clocks placed on the surface of the Earth. This paper is written as a Socratic dialog between a lecturer Sam and a student Kim.
The formation of energetic rings of matter in a Kerr spacetime with an outward pointing acceleration field does not appear to have previously been noted as a relativistic effect. In this paper we show that such rings are a gravimagneto effect with no Newtonian analog, and that they do not occur in the static limit. The energy efficiency of these rings can, depending of the strength of the acceleration field, be much greater than that of Keplerian disks. The rings rotate in a direction opposite to that of compact star about which they form. The size and energy efficiency of the rings depend on the fundamental parameters of the spacetime as well as the strength the acceleration field.
In this paper we present a class of metrics to be considered as new possible sources for the Kerr metric. These new solutions are generated by applying the Newman-Janis algorithm (NJA) to any static spherically symmetric (SSS) ``seed'' metric. The continuity conditions for joining any two of these new metrics is presented. A specific analysis of the joining of interior solutions to the Kerr exterior is made. The boundary conditions used are those first developed by Dormois and Israel. We find that the NJA can be used to generate new physically allowable interior solutions. These new solutions can be matched smoothly to the Kerr metric. We present a general method for finding such solutions with oblate spheroidal boundary surfaces. Finally a trial solution is found and presented.