arXiv subjects

Volker Perlick

Publications and source records attributed to Volker Perlick.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Aschenbach effect for spinning particles in Kerr spacetime

The orbital velocity profile of circular timelike geodesics in the equatorial plane of a Kerr black hole has a non-monotonic radial behavior, provided that the spin parameter $a$ of the black hole is bigger than a certain critical value $a_c \approx 0.9953 M$. Here the orbital velocity is measured with respect to the Locally Non-Rotating Frame (LNRF), and the non-monotonic behavior, which is known as the Aschenbach effect, occurs only for co-rotating orbits. Using the Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon equations for a massive spinning particle, we investigate the Aschenbach effect for test particles with spin. In addition to the black-hole spin, the absolute value of the particle's spin and its orientation (parallel or anti-parallel to the black-hole spin) also play an important role for the Aschenbach effect. We determine the critical value $a_c$ of the spin parameter of the Kerr black hole where the Aschenbach effect sets in as a function of the spin of the probe. We consider not only black holes ($a^2 \le M^2$) but also naked singularities ($a^2>M^2$). Whereas for spinless (geodesic) particles the orbital velocity is always monotonically decreasing if the motion is counter-rotating, we find that for spinning particles in counter-rotating motion with anti-parallel spin around a naked singularity the orbital velocity is increasing on a certain radius interval.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2019

On the Schrödinger spectrum of a hydrogen atom with electrostatic Bopp-Landé-Thomas-Podolsky interaction between electron and proton

The Schrödinger spectrum of a hydrogen atom, modelled as a two-body system consisting of a point electron and a point proton, interacting with a modification of Coulomb's law proposed, in the 1940s, by Bopp, Landé--Thomas, and Podolsky (BLTP). The BLTP theory hypothesizes the existence of an electromagnetic length scale of nature --- the Bopp length $\varkappa ^{-1}$ ---, to the effect that the electrostatic pair interaction deviates significantly from Coulomb's law only for distances much shorter than $\varkappa^{-1}$. Rigorous lower and upper bounds are constructed for the Schrödinger energy levels of the hydrogen atom, $E_{\ell,n}(\varkappa)$, for all $\ell\in\{0,1,2,...\}$ and $n >\ell$. The energy levels $E_{0,1}(\varkappa)$, $E_{0,2}(\varkappa)$, and $E_{1,2}(\varkappa)$ are also computed numerically and plotted versus $\varkappa^{-1}$. It is found that the BLTP theory predicts a non-relativistic correction to the splitting of the Lyman-$α$ line in addition to its well-known relativistic fine-structure splitting. Under the assumption, that this splitting doesn't go away in a relativistic calculation, it is argued that present-day precision measurements of the Lyman-$α$ line suggest that $\varkappa^{-1}$ must be smaller than $\approx 10^{-18}\,\mathrm{m}$. Finite proton size effects are found not to modify this conclusion. As a consequence, the electrostatic field energy of an elementary point charge, although finite in BLTP electrodynamics, is much larger than the empirical rest energy of an electron. If, as assumed in all `renormalized theories' of the electron, the empirical rest mass of a physical electron is the sum of its bare rest mass plus its electrostatic field energy ($/c^2$), then in BLTP electrodynamics the electron has to be assigned a negative bare rest mass.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2019

Redshift in Finsler spacetimes

We derive and discuss a general redshift formula in Finsler spacetimes. The condition for the existence of a redshift potential is worked out. The results are illustrated with two examples, one refering to a spherically symmetric and static Finsler spacetime and the other to a cosmological Finsler spacetime.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Effects of non-linear vacuum electrodynamics on the polarization plane of light

We consider the Pleba{ń}ski class of nonlinear theories of vacuum electrodynamics, i.e., Lagrangian theories that are Lorentz invariant and gauge invariant. Our main goal is to derive the transport law of the polarization plane in such a theory, on an unspecified general-relativistic spacetime and with an unspecified electromagnetic background field. To that end we start out from an approximate-plane-harmonic-wave ansatz that takes the generation of higher harmonics into account. By this ansatz, the electromagnetic field is written as an asymptotic series with respect to a parameter $α$, where the limit $α\to 0$ corresponds to sending the frequency to infinity. We demonstrate that by solving the generalized Maxwell equations to zeroth and first order with respect to $α$ one gets a unique transport law for the polarization plane along each light ray. We exemplify the general results with the Born-Infeld theory.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

The shadow of a collapsing dark star

The shadow of a black hole is usually calculated, either analytically or numerically, on the assumption that the black hole is eternal, i.e., that it existed for all time. Here we ask the question of how this shadow comes about in the course of time when a black hole is formed by gravitational collapse. To that end we consider a star that is spherically symmetric, dark and non-transparent and we assume that it begins, at some instant of time, to collapse in free fall like a ball of dust. We analytically calculate the dependence on time of the angular radius of the shadow, first for a static observer who is watching the collapse from a certain distance and then for an observer who is falling towards the centre following the collapsing star.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Black hole shadow in an expanding universe with a cosmological constant

We analytically investigate the influence of a cosmic expansion on the shadow of the Schwarzschild black hole. We suppose that the expansion is driven by a cosmological constant only and use the Kottler (or Schwarzschild-deSitter) spacetime as a model for a Schwarzschild black hole embedded in a deSitter universe. We calculate the angular radius of the shadow for an observer who is comoving with the cosmic expansion. It is found that the angular radius of the shadow shrinks to a non-zero finite value if the comoving observer approaches infinity.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Finsler geometry as a model for relativistic gravity

We give an overview on the status and on the perspectives of Finsler gravity, beginning with a discussion of various motivations for considering a Finslerian modification of General Relativity. The subjects covered include Finslerian versions of Maxwell's equations, of the Klein-Gordon equation and of the Dirac equation, and several experimental tests of Finsler gravity.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2017

Sachs equations for light bundles in a cold plasma

We study the propagation of light bundles in non-empty spacetime, as most of the Universe is filled by baryonic matter in the form of a (dilute) plasma. Here we restrict to the case of a cold (i.e., pressureless) and non-magnetised plasma. Then the influence of the medium on the light rays is encoded in the spacetime dependent plasma frequency. Our result for a general spacetime generalises the Sachs equations to the case of a cold plasma Universe. We find that the reciprocity law (Etherington theorem), the relation that connects area distance with luminosity distance, is modified. Einstein's field equation is not used, i.e., our results apply independently of whether or not the plasma is self-gravitating. As an example, our findings are applied to a homogeneous plasma in a Robertson-Walker spacetime. We find small modifications of the cosmological redshift of frequencies and of the Hubble law.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2017

Bose-Einstein Condensates in Charged Black-Hole Spacetimes

We analyze Bose-Einstein condensates on three types of spherically symmetric and static charged black-hole spacetimes: The Reissner-Nordström spacetime, Hoffmann's Born-Infeld black-hole spacetime, and the regular Ayón-Beato-García spacetime. The Bose-Einstein condensate is modeled in terms of a massive scalar field that satisfies a Klein-Gordon equation with a self-interaction term. The scalar field is assumed to be uncharged and not self-gravitating. If the mass parameter of the scalar field is chosen sufficiently small, there are quasi-bound states of the scalar field that may be interpreted as dark matter clouds. We estimate the size and the total energy of such clouds around charged supermassive black holes and we investigate if their observable features can be used for discriminating between the different types of charged black holes.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2017

Definition of the relativistic geoid in terms of isochronometric surfaces

We present a definition of the geoid that is based on the formalism of general relativity without approximations; i.e. it allows for arbitrarily strong gravitational fields. For this reason, it applies not only to the Earth and other planets but also to compact objects such as neutron stars. We define the geoid as a level surface of a time-independent redshift potential. Such a redshift potential exists in any stationary spacetime. Therefore, our geoid is well defined for any rigidly rotating object with constant angular velocity and a fixed rotation axis that is not subject to external forces. Our definition is operational because the level surfaces of a redshift potential can be realized with the help of standard clocks, which may be connected by optical fibers. Therefore, these surfaces are also called isochronometric surfaces. We deliberately base our definition of a relativistic geoid on the use of clocks since we believe that clock geodesy offers the best methods for probing gravitational fields with highest precision in the future. However, we also point out that our definition of the geoid is mathematically equivalent to a definition in terms of an acceleration potential, i.e. that our geoid may also be viewed as a level surface orthogonal to plumb lines. Moreover, we demonstrate that our definition reduces to the known Newtonian and post-Newtonian notions in the appropriate limits. As an illustration, we determine the isochronometric surfaces for rotating observers in axisymmetric static and axisymmetric stationary solutions to Einstein's vacuum field equation, with the Schwarzschild metric, the Erez-Rosen metric, the q-metric and the Kerr metric as particular examples.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2017

Light propagation in a plasma on Kerr spacetime: Separation of the Hamilton-Jacobi equation and calculation of the shadow

We consider light propagation in a non-magnetized pressureless plasma around a Kerr black hole. We find the necessary and sufficient condition the plasma electron density has to satisfy to guarantee that the Hamilton-Jacobi equation for the light rays is separable, i.e., that a generalized Carter constant exists. For all cases where this condition is satisfied we determine the photon region, i.e., the region in the spacetime where spherical light rays exist. A spherical light ray is a light ray that stays on a sphere $r = \mathrm{constant}$ (in Boyer-Lindquist coordinates). Based on these results, we calculate the shadow of a Kerr black hole under the influence of a plasma that satisfies the separability condition. More precisely, we derive an analytical formula for the boundary curve of the shadow on the sky of an observer that is located anywhere in the domain of outer communication. Several examples are worked out.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Strong lensing by fermionic dark matter in galaxies

It has been shown that a self-gravitating system of massive keV fermions in thermodynamic equilibrium correctly describes the dark matter (DM) distribution in galactic halos and predicts a denser quantum core towards the center of the configuration. Such a quantum core, for a fermion mass in the range of $50$ keV $\lesssim m c^2 \lesssim 345$ keV, can be an alternative interpretation of the central compact object in Sgr A*. We present in this work the gravitational lensing properties of this novel DM model in Milky Way-like spiral galaxies. We describe the lensing effects of the pure DM component both on halo scales, where we compare them to the effects of the Navarro-Frenk-White and the Non-Singular Isothermal Sphere DM models, and near the galaxy center, where we compare them with the effects of a Schwarzschild BH. For the particle mass leading to the most compact DM core, $m c^2\approx 10^{2}$ keV, we draw the following conclusions. At distances $r\gtrsim 20$ pc from the center of the lens the effect of the central object on the lensing properties is negligible. However, we show that measurements of the deflection angle produced by the DM distribution in the outer region at a few kpc, together with rotation curve data, could help to discriminate between different DM models. We show that at distances $\sim 10^{-4}$ pc strong lensing effects, such as multiple images and Einstein rings, may occur. Large differences in the deflection angle produced by a DM central core and a central BH appear at distances $r\lesssim 10^{-6}$ pc; in this regime the weak-field formalism is no longer applicable and the exact general-relativistic formula has to be used. We find that quantum DM cores do not show a photon sphere what implies that they do not cast a shadow. Similar conclusions apply to the other DM distributions for other fermion masses in the above specified range and for other galaxy types.

astro-ph.GA↗

arXiv2016

Circular motion in NUT space-time

We consider circular motion in the NUT (Newman-Unti-Tamburino) space-time. Among other things, we determine the location of circular time-like geodesic orbits, in particular of the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) and of the marginally bound circular orbit. Moreover, we discuss the von Zeipel cylinders with respect to the stationary observers and with respect to the Zero Angular Momentum Observers (ZAMOs). We also investigate the relation of von Zeipel cylinders to inertial forces, in particular in the ultra-relativistic limit. Finally, we generalise the construction of thick accretion tori ("Polish doughnuts") which are well known on the Schwarzschild or Kerr background to the case of the NUT metric. We argue that, in principle, a NUT source could be distinguished from a Schwarzschild or Kerr source by observing the features of circular matter flows in its neighbourhood.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

On causality in nonlinear vacuum electrodynamics of the Plebański class

We investigate the Plebański class of electrodynamical theories, i.e., theories of nonlinear vacuum electrodynamics that derive from a Lorentz-invariant Lagrangian (or Hamiltonian). In any such theory the light rays are the lightlike geodesics of two optical metrics that depend on the electromagnetic background field. A set of necessary and sufficient conditions is found whose fulfillment secures that the optical metrics are causal in the sense that the light rays are lightlike or timelike with respect to the underlying space-time metric. Thereupon we derive conditions on the Lagrangian, or the Hamiltonian, of the theory such that the causality conditions are satisfied for all background fields. (The allowed values of the field strength tensor are those for which the excitation tensor is finite and real.) The general results are illustrated with several examples.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Influence of a plasma on the shadow of a spherically symmetric black hole

We analytically calculate the influence of a plasma on the shadow of a black hole (or of another compact object). We restrict to spherically symmetric and static situations, where the shadow is circular. The plasma is assumed to be non-magnetized and pressure-less. We derive the general formulas for a spherically symmetric plasma density on an unspecified spherically symmetric and static spacetime. The formalism applies not only to black holes but also, e.g., to wormholes. As examples for the underlying spacetime model, we consider the Schwarzschild spacetime and the Ellis wormhole. In particular, we treat the case that the plasma is in radial free fall from infinity onto a Schwarzschild black hole. The perspectives of actually observing the influence of a plasma on the shadows of supermassive black holes are discussed.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

On the self-force in Bopp-Podolsky electrodynamics

In the classical vacuum Maxwell-Lorentz theory the self-force of a charged point particle is infinite. This makes classical mass renormalization necessary and, in the special relativistic domain, leads to the Abraham-Lorentz-Dirac equation of motion possessing unphysical run-away and pre-acceleration solutions. In this paper we investigate whether the higher-order modification of classical vacuum electrodynamics suggested by Bopp, Lande, Thomas and Podolsky in the 1940s, can provide a solution to this problem. Since the theory is linear, Green-function techniques enable one to write the field of a charged point particle on Minkowski spacetime as an integral over the particle's history. By introducing the notion of timelike worldlines that are "bounded away from the backward light-cone" we are able to prescribe criteria for the convergence of such integrals. We also exhibit a timelike worldline yielding singular fields on a lightlike hyperplane in spacetime. In this case the field is mildly singular at the event where the particle crosses the hyperplane. Even in the case when the Bopp-Podolsky field is bounded, it exhibits a directional discontinuity as one approaches the point particle. We describe a procedure for assigning a value to the field on the particle worldline which enables one to define a finite Lorentz self-force. This is explicitly derived leading to an integro-differential equation for the motion of the particle in an external electromagnetic field. We conclude that any worldline solutions to this equation belonging to the categories discussed in the paper have continuous 4-velocities.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

On geodesic deviation in Schwarzschild spacetime

For metrology, geodesy and gravimetry in space, satellite based instruments and measurement techniques are used and the orbits of the satellites as well as possible deviations between nearby ones are of central interest. The measurement of this deviation itself gives insight into the underlying structure of the spacetime geometry, which is curved and therefore described by the theory of general relativity (GR). In the context of GR, the deviation of nearby geodesics can be described by the Jacobi equation that is a result of linearizing the geodesic equation around a known reference geodesic with respect to the deviation vector and the relative velocity. We review the derivation of this Jacobi equation and restrict ourselves to the simple case of the spacetime outside a spherically symmetric mass distribution and circular reference geodesics to find solutions by projecting the Jacobi equation on a parallel propagated tetrad as done by Fuchs. Using his results, we construct solutions of the Jacobi equation for different physical initial scenarios inspired by satellite gravimetry missions and give a set of parameter together with their precise impact on satellite orbit deviation. We further consider the Newtonian analog and construct the full solution, that exhibits a similar structure, within this theory.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2015

Testing non-linear vacuum electrodynamics with Michelson interferometry

We discuss the theoretical foundations for testing non-linear vacuum electrodynamics with Michelson interferometry. Apart from some non-degeneracy conditions to be imposed, our discussion applies to all non-linear electrodynamical theories of the Plebański class, i.e., to all Lagrangians that depend only on the two Lorentz-invariant scalars quadratic in the field strength. The main idea of the experiment proposed here is to use the fact that, according to non-linear electrodynamics, the phase velocity of light should depend on the strength and on the direction of an electromagnetic background field. There are two possible experimental set-ups for testing this prediction with Michelson interferometry. The first possibility is to apply a strong electromagnetic field to the beam in one arm of the interferometer and to compare the situation where the field is switched on with the situation where it is switched off. The second possibility is to place the whole interferometer in a strong electromagnetic field and to rotate it. If an electromagnetic field is placed in one arm, the interferometer could have the size of a gravitational wave detector, i.e., an arm-length of several hundred meters. If the whole interferometer is placed in an electromagnetic field, one would have to do the experiment with a table-top interferometer. [...] We specify the general results to some particular theories of the Plebański class; in particular, we give numerical estimates for Born, Born-Infeld and Heisenberg-Euler theories.

gr-qc↗