arXiv subjects

Shahar Hod

Publications and source records attributed to Shahar Hod.

At least 181 records · Page 10Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

Analytic treatment of the network synchronization problem with time delays

Motivated by novel results in the theory of network synchronization, we analyze the effects of nonzero time delays in stochastic synchronization problems with linear couplings in an arbitrary network. We determine {\it analytically} the fundamental limit of synchronization efficiency in a noisy environment with uniform time delays. We show that the optimal efficiency of the network is achieved for $λτ={π^{3/2}\over{2\sqrtπ+4}}\approx0.738$, where $λ$ is the coupling strength (relaxation coefficient) and $τ$ is the characteristic time delay in the communication between pairs of nodes. Our analysis reveals the underlying mechanism responsible for the trade-off phenomena observed in recent numerical simulations of network synchronization problems.

nlin.CG↗

arXiv2010

Universal charge-mass relation: From black holes to atomic nuclei

The cosmic censorship hypothesis, introduced by Penrose forty years ago, is one of the corner stones of general relativity. This conjecture asserts that spacetime singularities that arise in gravitational collapse are always hidden inside of black holes. The elimination of a black-hole horizon is ruled out by this principle because that would expose naked singularities to distant observers. We test the consistency of this prediction in a gedanken experiment in which a charged object is swallowed by a charged black hole. We find that the validity of the cosmic censorship conjecture requires the existence of a charge-mass bound of the form $q\leqμ^{2/3}E^{-1/3}_c$, where $q$ and $μ$ are the charge and mass of the physical system respectively, and $E_c$ is the critical electric field for pair-production. Applying this bound to charged atomic nuclei, one finds an upper limit on the number $Z$ of protons in a nucleus of given mass number $A$: $Z\leq Z^*=α^{-1/3}A^{2/3}$, where $α=e^2/\hbar$ is the fine structure constant. We test the validity of this novel bound against the $(Z,A)$-relation of atomic nuclei as deduced from the Weizsäcker semi-empirical mass formula.

hep-th↗

arXiv2010

Relaxation dynamics of charged gravitational collapse

We study analytically the relaxation dynamics of charged test fields left outside a newly born charged black hole. In particular, we obtain a simple analytic expression for the fundamental quasinormal resonances of near-extremal Reissner-Nordström black holes. The formula is expressed in terms of the black-hole physical parameters: $ω=qΦ-i2πT_{BH}(n+{1 \over 2})$, where $T_{BH}$ and $Φ$ are the temperature and electric potential of the black hole, and $q$ is the charge of the field.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2009

Comment on "The extremal black hole bomb"

Recently, we have provided an analytical treatment of the phenomena known as the 'black-hole bomb' (arXiv:0910.0734). In particular, we have determined analytically the unstable growing resonances of a massive scalar field in the rotating Kerr black hole spacetime. It was later claimed by J. G. Rosa (arXiv:0912.1780) that the analytic procedure may fail for some values of the field's mass. This claim was based on the concern that some of the Gamma functions that are involved in the analysis may develop poles. In this comment we show by explicit calculations that the Gamma functions which are used are all well behaved near the peak of the black-hole resonances. This fact supports the validity of our previous analytical treatment. We further comment on the regime of validity of some of the approximations used by Rosa.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2009

Analytic treatment of the black-hole bomb

A bosonic field impinging on a rotating black hole can be amplified as it scatters off the hole, a phenomena known as superradiant scattering. If in addition the field has a non-zero rest mass then the mass term effectively works as a mirror, reflecting the scattered wave back towards the black hole. In this physical system, known as a black-hole bomb, the wave may bounce back and forth between the black hole and some turning point amplifying itself each time. Consequently, the massive field grows exponentially over time and is unstable. Former analytical estimations of the timescale associated with the instability were restricted to the regimes $Mμ>>1$ and $Mμ<<1$, where $M$ and $μ$ are the masses of the black hole and the field, respectively. In these two limits the growth rate of the field was found to be extremely weak. However, subsequent numerical investigations have indicated that the instability is actually greatest in the regime $Mμ=O(1)$, where the previous analytical approximations break down. Thus, a new analytical study of the instability timescale for the case $Mμ=O(1)$ is physically well motivated. In this Letter we study analytically for the first time the phenomena of superradiant instability (the black-hole bomb mechanism) in this physically interesting regime -- the regime of greatest instability. We find an instability growth rate of $τ^{-1}=ω_I=1.7\times 10^{-3}M^{-1}$ for the fastest growing mode. This instability is four orders of magnitude stronger than has been previously estimated.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2009

Black-hole quasinormal resonances: Wave analysis versus a geometric-optics approximation

It has long been known that null unstable geodesics are related to the characteristic modes of black holes-- the so called quasinormal resonances. The basic idea is to interpret the free oscillations of a black hole in the eikonal limit in terms of null particles trapped at the unstable circular orbit and slowly leaking out. The real part of the complex quasinormal resonances is related to the angular velocity at the unstable null geodesic. The imaginary part of the resonances is related to the instability timescale (or the inverse Lyapunov exponent) of the orbit. While this geometric-optics description of the black-hole quasinormal resonances in terms of perturbed null {\it rays} is very appealing and intuitive, it is still highly important to verify the validity of this approach by directly analyzing the Teukolsky wave equation which governs the dynamics of perturbation {\it waves} in the black-hole spacetime. This is the main goal of the present paper. We first use the geometric-optics technique of perturbing a bundle of unstable null rays to calculate the resonances of near-extremal Kerr black holes in the eikonal approximation. We then directly solve the Teukolsky wave equation (supplemented by the appropriate physical boundary conditions) and show that the resultant quasinormal spectrum obtained directly from the wave analysis is in accord with the spectrum obtained from the geometric-optics approximation of perturbed null rays.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2009

From Thermodynamics to the Bound on Viscosity

We show that the generalized second law of thermodynamics may shed much light on the mysterious Kovtun-Son-Starinets (KSS) bound on the ratio of viscosity to entropy density. In particular, we obtain the lower bound $η/s +O(η^3/s^3)\geq 1/4π$. Furthermore, for conformal field theories we obtain a new fundamental bound on the value of the relaxation coefficient $τ_π$ of causal hydrodynamics, which has been the focus of much recent attention: $(τ_πT)^2\geq {{(\sqrt{3}-1)}/{2π^2}}$.

hep-th↗

arXiv2009

Gravitation, Thermodynamics, and the Bound on Viscosity

The anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory (AdS/CFT) correspondence implies that small perturbations of a black hole correspond to small deviations from thermodynamic equilibrium in a dual field theory. For gauge theories with an Einstein gravity dual, the AdS/CFT correspondence predicts a universal value for the ratio of the shear viscosity to the entropy density, $η/s=1/4π$. It was conjectured recently that all fluids conform to the lower bound $η/s \geq 1/4π$. This {\it conjectured} bound has been the focus of much recent attention. However, despite the flurry of research in this field we still lack a proof for the general validity of the bound. In this essay we show that this mysterious bound is actually a direct outcome of the interplay between gravity, quantum theory, and thermodynamics.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2009

How pure is the tail of gravitational collapse ?

Waves propagating in a curved spacetime develop tails. In particular, it is well established that the late-time dynamics of gravitational collapse is dominated by a power-law decaying tail of the form $Mt^{-(2l+3)}$, where $M$ is the black-hole mass. It should be emphasized, however, that in a typical evolution scenario there is a considerable time window in which the signal is no longer dominated by the black-hole quasinormal modes, but the leading order power-law tail has not yet taken over. Higher-order terms may have a considerable contribution to the signal at these intermediate times. It is therefore of interest to analyze these higher-order corrections to the leading-order power-law behavior. We show that the higher-order contamination terms die off at late times as $M^2t^{-4}\ln(t/M)$ for spherical perturbations, and as $M^2t^{-(2l+4)}\ln^2(t/M)$ for non-spherical $(l\neq0)$ perturbations. These results imply that the leading-order power-law tail becomes "pure" (namely, with less than 1% contamination) only at extremely late times of the order of $10^4M$.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2008

Slow relaxation of rapidly rotating black holes

We study analytically the relaxation phase of perturbed, rapidly rotating black holes. In particular, we derive a simple formula for the fundamental quasinormal resonances of near-extremal Kerr black holes. The formula is expressed in terms of the black-hole physical parameters: omega=m Omega-i2 pi T(n+1/2), where T and Omega are the temperature and angular velocity of the black hole, and m is the azimuthal harmonic index of a co-rotating equatorial mode. This formula implies that the relaxation period tau sim 1/Im(omega) of the black hole becomes extremely long as the extremal limit T to 0 is approached. The analytically derived formula is shown to agree with direct numerical computations of the black-hole resonances. We use our results to demonstrate analytically the fact that near-extremal Kerr black holes saturate the recently proposed universal relaxation bound.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2008

Quasinormal resonances of near-extremal Kerr-Newman black holes

We study analytically the fundamental resonances of near-extremal, slowly rotating Kerr-Newman black holes. We find a simple analytic expression for these black-hole quasinormal frequencies in terms of the black-hole physical parameters: omega=m Omega-2i pi T(l+1+n), where T and Omega are the temperature and angular velocity of the black hole. The mode parameters l and m are the spheroidal harmonic index and the azimuthal harmonic index of a co-rotating mode, respectively. This analytical formula is valid in the regime Im omega << Re omega <<1/M, where M is the black-hole mass.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2008

Return of the quantum cosmic censor

The influential theorems of Hawking and Penrose demonstrate that spacetime singularities are ubiquitous features of general relativity, Einstein's theory of gravity. The utility of classical general relativity in describing gravitational phenomena is maintained by the cosmic censorship principle. This conjecture, whose validity is still one of the most important open questions in general relativity, asserts that the undesirable spacetime singularities are always hidden inside of black holes. In this Letter we reanalyze extreme situations which have been considered as counterexamples to the cosmic censorship hypothesis. In particular, we consider the absorption of fermion particles by a spinning black hole. Ignoring quantum effects may lead one to conclude that an incident fermion wave may over spin the black hole, thereby exposing its inner singularity to distant observers. However, we show that when quantum effects are properly taken into account, the integrity of the black-hole event horizon is irrefutable. This observation suggests that the cosmic censorship principle is intrinsically a quantum phenomena.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2008

Weak Cosmic Censorship: As Strong as Ever

Spacetime singularities that arise in gravitational collapse are always hidden inside of black holes. This is the essence of the weak cosmic censorship conjecture. The hypothesis, put forward by Penrose 40 years ago, is still one of the most important open questions in general relativity. In this Letter, we reanalyze extreme situations which have been considered as counterexamples to the weak cosmic censorship conjecture. In particular, we consider the absorption of scalar particles with large angular momentum by a black hole. Ignoring back reaction effects may lead one to conclude that the incident wave may overspin the black hole, thereby exposing its inner singularity to distant observers. However, we show that when back reaction effects are properly taken into account, the stability of the black-hole event horizon is irrefutable. We therefore conclude that cosmic censorship is actually respected in this type of gedanken experiments.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2008

Lifetime of unstable hairy black holes

During the last two decades solutions of black holes with various types of "hair" have been discovered. Remarkably, it has been established that many of these hairy black holes are unstable-- under small perturbations the hair may collapse. While the static sector of theories admitting hair is well explored by now, our picture of the dynamical process of hair-shedding is still incomplete. In this Letter we provide an important ingredient of the nonlinear dynamics of hair collapse: we derive a universal lower bound on the lifetime of hairy black holes. It is also shown that the amount of hair outside of a black-hole horizon should be fundamentally bounded.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2007

Bounds on the mass-to-radius ratio for non-compact field configurations

It is well known that a spherically symmetric compact star whose energy density decreases monotonically possesses an upper bound on its mass-to-radius ratio, $2M/R\leq 8/9$. However, field configurations typically will not be compact. Here we investigate non-compact static configurations whose matter fields have a slow global spatial decay, bounded by a power law behavior. These matter distributions have no sharp boundaries. We derive an upper bound on the fundamental ratio max_r{2m(r)/r} which is valid throughout the bulk. In its simplest form, the bound implies that in any region of spacetime in which the radial pressure increases, or alternatively decreases not faster than some power law $r^{-(c+4)}$, one has $2m(r)/r \leq (2+2c)/(3+2c)$. [For $c \leq 0$ the bound degenerates to $2m(r)/r \leq 2/3$.] In its general version, the bound is expressed in terms of two physical parameters: the spatial decaying rate of the matter fields, and the highest occurring ratio of the trace of the pressure tensor to the local energy density.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2007

Einstein-Yang-Mills Solitons: The Role of Gravity

The canonical Bartnik-McKinnon solitons are regular solutions of the coupled Einstein-Yang-Mills system in which gravity may balance the repulsive nature of the Yang-Mills field. We examine the role played by gravity in balancing the system and determine its strength. In particular, we obtain an analytic lower bound on the fundamental mass-to-radius ratio, max{2m(r)/r}>2/3, which is a necessary condition for the existence of globally regular Einstein-Yang-Mills solitons. Our analytical results are in accord with numerical calculations.

hep-th↗

arXiv2007

A note on the quantization of a multi-horizon black hole

We consider the quasinormal spectrum of a charged scalar field in the (charged) Reissner-Nordstrom spacetime, which has two horizons. The spectrum is characterized by two distinct families of asymptotic resonances. We suggest and demonstrate the according to Bohr's correspondence principle and in agreement with the Bekenstein-Mukhanov quantization scheme, one of these resonances corresponds to a fundamental change of Delta A=4hbar ln2 in the surface area of the black-hole outer horizon. The second asymptotic resonance is associated with a fundamental change of Delta Atot=4hbar ln3 in the total area of the black hole (in the sum of the surface areas of the inner and outer horizons), in accordance with a suggestion of Makela and Repo.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2007

Analytic Study of Rotating Black-Hole Quasinormal Modes

A Bohr-Sommerfeld equation is derived for the highly-damped quasinormal mode frequencies omega(n>>1) of rotating black holes. It may be written as 2\int_C(p_r+ip_0)dr=(n+1/2)h, where p_r is the canonical momentum conjugate to the radial coordinate r along null geodesics of energy hbar*omega and angular momentum hbar*m, p_0=O(omega^0), and the contour C connects two complex turning points of p_r. The solutions are omega(n) = - m*omega_0 - i(phi + n*delta), where {omega_0,delta}>0 are functions of the black-hole parameters alone. Some physical implications are discussed.

gr-qc↗