arXiv subjects

Sunil D Maharaj

Publications and source records attributed to Sunil D Maharaj.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Temperature of free gravitational field: A geometrical perspective

In this paper, using a novel geometrical approach, we relate the concept of the thermodynamic temperature of the free gravitational field, to the non-affinity of real null geodesics in a Newman Penrose tetrad. This naturally links various temperature functions like Clifton, Ellis and Tavakol temperature, Hawking temperature, Unruh temperature etc., in their respective proper limits. Although our analysis is done within the realm of local rotational symmetry, we show that the result can be extended to other Petrov type D geometries, like the Kerr spacetime. We also obtain the geometrical and causal transport equations for this temperature function, in the form of a hyperbolic wave equation with a forcing term, sourced by Weyl curvature and matter. Finally, as a possible physical interpretation of the non-affinity, we relate the geometrical temperature with the gravitational red/blue shift of light rays travelling along null geodesics.

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arXiv2026

Scale-Invariant Bounce Cosmology in Weyl f(Q) Gravity with Quintom Signature

We investigate a bouncing cosmological model within the Weyl-type $f(Q)$ gravity framework, employing a power-law form of the non-metricity scalar $Q$. The model successfully resolves the initial singularity problem by demonstrating a nonsingular bounce, where the universe transitions from a contracting phase $ \dot{a}(t)<0 $ to an expanding phase ($ \dot{a}(t)>0 $) at the bouncing point $t \approx 0.$ Key features include the violation of the null energy condition (NEC) near the bounce and the crossing of the phantom divide line ($ω=-1$) by the equation of state (EoS) parameter, indicating quintom-like behavior. The model exhibits accelerated expansion post-bounce, suggesting an inflationary phase. Stability analysis via the adiabatic index reveals instability near the bouncing point, while energy conditions highlight the dominance of dark energy. Additionally, the study explores scalar fields, showing that quintessence-like kinetic energy becomes negative and phantom-like kinetic energy peaks positively near the bounce, aligning with dark energy dynamics. The Hubble parameter, deceleration parameter, and Hubble radius further validate the bouncing scenario, with the latter displaying symmetric behaviour around the bounce. These results underscore the viability of Weyl-type $f(Q)$ gravity as a framework for nonsingular bouncing cosmologies, offering insights into early universe dynamics and dark energy behaviour.

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arXiv2022

Testing Rotating Regular Metrics with EHT Results of Sgr A*

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observation unveiled the first image of supermassive black hole Sgr A* showing a shadow of diameter $θ_{sh}= 48.7 \pm 7\,μ$as with fractional deviation from the Schwarzschild black hole shadow diameter $δ= -0.08^{+0.09}_{-0.09}~\text{(VLTI)},-0.04^{+0.09}_{-0.10}~\text{(Keck)}$. The Sgr A* shadow size is within $~10\%$ of the Kerr predictions, providing us with another tool to investigate the nature of strong-field gravity. We use the Sgr A* shadow observables to constrain metrics of four independent and well-motivated, parametrically different from Kerr spacetime, rotating regular spacetimes, and the corresponding no-horizon spacetimes. We present constraints on the deviation parameter $g$ of rotating regular black holes. The shadow angular diameter $θ_{sh}$ within $1 σ$ region, places bounds on the parameters $a$ and $g$. Together with EHT bounds on $θ_{sh}$ and $δ$ of Sgr A*, our analysis concludes that the three rotating regular black holes, viz., Bardeen Hayward, and Simpson-Visser black holes, and corresponding no-horizon spacetimes agree with the EHT results of Sgr A*. Thus, these three rotating regular spacetimes and Kerr black holes are indiscernible in some parameter space, and one can not rule out the possibility of the former being strong candidates for astrophysical black holes.

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arXiv2021

Stability analysis of circular orbits around a charged BTZ black hole spacetime in a nonlinear electrodynamics model via Lyapunov exponents

We investigate the existence and stability of both the timelike and null circular orbits for a (2+1) dimensional charged BTZ black hole in Einstein-nonlinear Maxwell gravity with a negative cosmological constant. The stability analysis of orbits are performed to study the possibility of chaos in geodesic motion for a special case of black hole so-called conformally invariant Maxwell spacetime. The computations of both proper time Lyapunov exponent ($λ_{p}$) and coordinate time Lyapunov exponent ($λ_{c}$) are useful to determine the stability of these circular orbits. We observe the behavior of the ratio $(λ_{p}/λ_{c})$ as a function of radius of circular orbits for the timelike case in view of different values of charge parameter. However, for the null case, we calculate only the coordinate time Lyapunov exponent ($λ_{c}$) as there is no proper time for massless test particles. More specifically, we further analyze the behavior of the ratio of $λ_{Null}$ to angular frequency ($Ω_{c}$), so-called instability exponent as a function of charge ($q$) and parameter related to cosmological constant ($l$) for the particular values of other parameters.

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arXiv2018

Geometrical properties of trapped surfaces and apparent horizons

In this paper, we perform a detailed investigation on the various geometrical properties of trapped surfaces and the boundaries of trapped region in general relativity. This treatment extends earlier work on LRS II spacetimes to a general 4 dimensional spacetime manifold. Using a semi-tetrad covariant formalism, that provides a set of geometrical and matter variables, we transparently demonstrate the evolution of the trapped region and also extend Hawking's topology theorem to a wider class of spacetimes. In addition, we perform a stability analysis for the apparent horizons in this formalism, encompassing earlier works on this subject. As examples, we consider the stability of MOTS of the Schwarzschild geometry and Oppenheimer-Snyder collapse.

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arXiv1995

Expanding Spherically Symmetric Models without Shear

The integrability properties of the field equation $L_{xx} = F(x)L^2$ of a spherically symmetric shear--free fluid are investigated. A first integral, subject to an integrability condition on $F(x)$, is found, giving a new class of solutions which contains the solutions of Stephani (1983) and Srivastava (1987) as special cases. The integrability condition on $F(x)$ is reduced to a quadrature which is expressible in terms of elliptic integrals in general. There are three classes of solution and in general the solution of $L_{xx} = F(x)L^2$ can only be written in parametric form. The case for which $F=F(x)$ can be explicitly given corresponds to the solution of Stephani (1983). A Lie analysis of $L_{xx} = F(x) L^2$ is also performed. If a constant $α$ vanishes, then the solutions of Kustaanheimo and Qvist (1948) and of this paper are regained. For $α\neq 0$ we reduce the problem to a simpler, autonomous equation. The applicability of the Painlevé analysis is also briefly considered.

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