Lorentzian Solutions Research Articles

Unimodular Plebański gravity

We present new action principles for unimodular gravity, defined in the chiral Plebański formulation based on (complex) two-forms and a complex SO(3) connection. In these theories, just as in their analogues in the metric formulation, the cosmological constant does not take a prescribed value but is an integration constant whose value can differ between different (classical) solutions. We discuss some subtleties when identifying Lorentzian solutions in the generally complex theory, and show how these theories can be reduced to a ‘pure connection’ form similar to Krasnov’s pure connection formalism for general relativity.

Quantum cosmology of pure connection general relativity

We study homogeneous cosmological models in formulations of general relativity with cosmological constant based on a (complexified) connection rather than a spacetime metric, in particular in a first order theory obtained by integrating out the self-dual two-forms in the chiral Plebański formulation. Classical dynamics for the Bianchi IX model are studied in the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalism, where we emphasise the reality conditions needed to obtain real Lorentzian solutions. The solutions to these reality conditions fall into different branches, which in turn lead to different real Hamiltonian theories, only one of which is the usual Lorentzian Bianchi IX model. We also show the simpler case of the flat Bianchi I model, for which both the reality conditions and dynamical equations simplify considerably. We discuss the relation of a real Euclidean version of the same theory to this complex theory. Finally, we study the quantum theory of homogeneous and isotropic models, for which the pure connection action for general relativity reduces to a pure boundary term and the path integral is evaluated immediately, reproducing known results in quantum cosmology. An intriguing aspect of these theories is that the signature of the effective spacetime metric, and hence the interpretation of the cosmological constant, are intrinsically ambiguous.

Contact metric three manifolds and Lorentzian geometry with torsion in six-dimensional supergravity

We introduce the notion of εη-Einstein ε-contact metric three-manifold, which includes as particular cases η-Einstein Riemannian and Lorentzian (para) contact metric three-manifolds, but which in addition allows for the Reeb vector field to be null. We prove that the product of an εη-Einstein Lorentzian ε-contact metric three-manifold with an εη-Einstein Riemannian contact metric three-manifold carries a bi-parametric family of Ricci-flat Lorentzian metric-compatible connections with isotropic, totally skew-symmetric, closed and co-closed torsion, which in turn yields a bi-parametric family of solutions of six-dimensional minimal supergravity coupled to a tensor multiplet. This result allows for the systematic construction of families of Lorentzian solutions of six-dimensional supergravity from pairs of εη-Einstein contact metric three-manifolds. We classify all left-invariant εη-Einstein structures on simply connected Lie groups, paying special attention to the case in which the Reeb vector field is null. In particular, we show that the Sasaki and K-contact notions extend to ε-contact structures with null Reeb vector field but are however not equivalent conditions, in contrast to the situation occurring when the Reeb vector field is not light-like. Furthermore, we pose the Cauchy initial-value problem of an ε-contact εη-Einstein structure, briefly studying the associated constraint equations in a particularly simple decoupling limit. Altogether, we use these results to obtain novel families of six-dimensional supergravity solutions, some of which can be interpreted as continuous deformations of the maximally supersymmetric solution on Sl˜(2,R)×S3.

Thermodynamics of rotating NUTty dyons

We extend the work on thermodynamics of Lorentzian NUTty solutions, by including simultaneously the effect of rotation and electromagnetic charges. Due to the fact that Misner strings carry electric charge, and similar to the non-rotating case, we observe an interesting interplay between the horizon and asymptotic charges. Namely, upon employing the Euclidean action calculation we derive two alternative full cohomogeneity first laws, one that includes the variations of the horizon electric charge and the asymptotic magnetic charge and another that involves the horizon magnetic charge and the asymptotic electric charge. When one of the horizon charges vanishes, we obtain the corresponding ‘electric’ and ‘magnetic’ first laws that are connected by the electromagnetic duality. We also briefly study the free energy of the corresponding system.

Non-singular spacetimes with a negative cosmological constant: IV. Stationary black hole solutions with matter fields

We use an elliptic system of equations with complex coefficients for a set of complex-valued tensor fields as a tool to construct infinite-dimensional families of non-singular stationary black holes, real-valued Lorentzian solutions of the Einstein–Maxwell-dilaton-scalar fields-Yang–Mills–Higgs–Chern–Simons- equations with a negative cosmological constant. The families include an infinite-dimensional family of solutions with the usual AdS conformal structure at conformal infinity.

Exotica and the status of the strong cosmic censor conjecture in four dimensions

An immense class of physical counterexamples to the four dimensional strong cosmic censor conjecture—in its usual broad formulation—is exhibited. More precisely, out of any closed and simply connected 4-manifold an open Ricci-flat Lorentzian 4-manifold is constructed which is not globally hyperbolic, and no perturbation of which, in any sense, can be globally hyperbolic. This very stable non-global-hyperbolicity is the consequence of our open spaces having a ‘creased end’—i.e. an end diffeomorphic to an exotic . Open manifolds having an end like this is a typical phenomenon in four dimensions.The construction is based on a collection of results of Gompf and Taubes on exotic and self-dual spaces, respectively, as well as applying Penrose’ non-linear graviton construction (i.e. twistor theory) to solve the Riemannian Einstein’s equation. These solutions then are converted into stably non-globally-hyperbolic Lorentzian vacuum solutions. It follows that the plethora of vacuum solutions we found cannot be obtained via the initial value formulation of the Einstein’s equation because they are ‘too long’ in a certain sense (explained in the text). This different (i.e. not based on the initial value formulation, but twistorial) technical background might partially explain why the existence of vacuum solutions of this kind have not been realized so far in spite of the fact that, apparently, their superabundance compared to the well-known globally hyperbolic vacuum solutions is overwhelming.

Can Galileons support Lorentzian wormholes?

We discuss the possibility of constructing stable, static, spherically symmetric, asymptotically flat Lorentzian wormhole solutions in General Relativity coupled to a generalized Galileon field $\pi$. Assuming that Minkowski space-time is obtained at $\partial \pi =0$, we find that there is tension between the properties of the energy-momentum tensor required to support a wormhole (violation of average null energy conditions) and stability of the Galileon perturbations about the putative solution (absence of ghosts and gradient instabilities). In 3-dimensional space-time, this tension is strong enough to rule out wormholes with above properties. In higher dimensions, including the most physically interesting case of 4-dimensional space-time, wormholes, if any, must have fairly contrived shapes.

A numerical approach to finding general stationary vacuum black holes

The Harmonic Einstein equation is the vacuum Einstein equation supplemented by a gauge fixing term which we take to be that of DeTurck. For static black holes analytically continued to Riemannian manifolds without boundary at the horizon, this equation has previously been shown to be elliptic, and Ricci flow and Newton’s method provide good numerical algorithms to solve it. Here we extend these techniques to the arbitrary cohomogeneity stationary case which must be treated in Lorentzian signature. For stationary spacetimes with globally timelike Killing vector the Harmonic Einstein equation is elliptic. In the presence of horizons and ergo-regions it is less obviously so. Motivated by the Rigidity theorem we study a class of stationary black hole spacetimes which is general enough to include many interesting higher dimensional solutions. We argue the Harmonic Einstein equation consistently truncates to this class of spacetimes giving an elliptic problem. The Killing horizons and axes of rotational symmetry are boundaries for this problem and we determine boundary conditions there. As a simple example we numerically construct 4D rotating black holes in a cavity using Anderson’s boundary conditions. We demonstrate both Newton’s method and Ricci flow to find these Lorentzian solutions.

All extremal instantons in Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton-axion theory

We construct explicitly all extremal instanton solutions to $\mathcal{N}=4,\, D=4$ supergravity truncated to one vector field (Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton-axion (EMDA) theory). These correspond to null geodesics of the target space of the sigma-model $G/H=Sp(4,\mathbb{R})/GL(2,\mathbb{R})$ obtained by compactification of four-dimensional Euclidean EMDA on a circle. They satisfy a no-force condition in terms of the asymptotic charges and part of them (corresponding to nilpotent orbits of the $Sp(4,\mathbb{R})$ U-duality) are presumably supersymmetric. The space of finite action solutions is found to be unexpectedly large and includes, besides the Euclidean versions of known Lorentzian solutions, a number of new asymptotically locally flat (ALF) instantons endowed with electric, magnetic, dilaton and axion charges. We also describe new classes of charged asymptotically locally Euclidean (ALE) instantons as well as some exceptional solutions. Our classification scheme is based on the algebraic classification of matrix generators according to their rank, according to the nature of the charge vectors and according to the number of independent harmonic functions with unequal charges. Besides the nilpotent orbits of $G$, we find solutions which satisfy the asymptotic no-force condition, but are not supersymmetric. The renormalized on-shell action for instantons is calculated using the method of matched background subtraction.

N-dimensional static and evolving Lorentzian wormholes with a cosmological constant

We present a family of static and evolving spherically symmetric Lorentzian wormhole solutions in N+1 dimensional Einstein gravity. In general, for static wormholes, we require that at least the radial pressure has a barotropic equation of state of the form $p_r=\omega_r \rho$, where the state parameter $\omega_r$ is constant. On the other hand, it is shown that in any dimension $N \geq 3$, with $\phi(r)=\Lambda=0$ and anisotropic barotropic pressure with constant state parameters, static wormhole configurations are always asymptotically flat spacetimes, while in 2+1 gravity there are not only asymptotically flat static wormholes and also more general ones. In this case, the matter sustaining the three-dimensional wormhole may be only a pressureless fluid. In the case of evolving wormholes with $N \geq 3$, the presence of a cosmological constant leads to an expansion or contraction of the wormhole configurations: for positive cosmological constant we have wormholes which expand forever and, for negative cosmological constant we have wormholes which expand to a maximum value and then recollapse. In the absence of a cosmological constant the wormhole expands with constant velocity, i.e without acceleration or deceleration. In 2+1 dimensions the expanding wormholes always have an isotropic and homogeneous pressure, depending only on the time coordinate.

DOES THE HETEROTIC SUPERSTRING THEORY CONTAIN CLOSED TIME-LIKE LINES?

Causal solutions of the Gödel type, for which the line element is ds2 = dt2 - 2b e mxdtdv - c e 2mxdv2 - dx2 - dz2 with c = 0, are known to exist for gravitational theories containing a cosmological constant Λ and quadratic higher-derivative terms defined by the Lagrangian L = -(1/2)κ-2(R + 2Λ) + A1R2 + A2RijRij. Here, we show that acausal solutions, for which c < 0, containing closed time-like lines, can be constructed only if A2 = 0. Extension of this analysis to the heterotic superstring theory, including a generic massless scalar field ϕ plus quadratic and quartic gravitational terms [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], again yields a causal solution with c = 0, and also Λ = 0, as required for anomaly freedom, while solutions with c < 0 are ruled out. More general rotational space–times appear to be intractable analytically, and therefore it remains a matter of conjecture that the heterotic superstring admits only classical Lorentzian solutions which respect causality. For the energy density ρ(ϕ) of the scalar field is positive semi-definite only when g00 ≥ 0, which is equivalent to the causality condition g11 ≤ 0 or c ≥ 0 in a Lorentzian space–time for which det gij < 0; while ρ(ϕ) is unbounded from below in the presence of closed time-like lines, when g11 > 0, implying instability of ϕ, which will react back on the metric until it becomes causal.

Lorentzian wormholes in Lovelock gravity

In this paper, we introduce the $n$-dimensional Lorentzian wormhole solutions of third order Lovelock gravity. In contrast to Einstein gravity and as in the case of Gauss-Bonnet gravity, we find that the wormhole throat radius, $r_0$, has a lower limit that depends on the Lovelock coefficients, the dimensionality of the spacetime and the shape function. We study the conditions of having normal matter near the throat, and find that the matter near the throat can be normal for the region $r_0 \leq r \leq r_{\max}$, where $r_{\max}$ depends on the Lovelock coefficients and the shape function. We also find that the third order Lovelock term with negative coupling constant enlarges the radius of the region of normal matter, and conclude that the higher order Lovelock terms with negative coupling constants enlarge the region of normal matter near the throat.

Real-Time Gauge/Gravity Duality

We present a general prescription for the holographic computation of real-time n-point functions in nontrivial states. In quantum field theory such real-time computations involve a choice of a time contour in the complex time plane. The holographic prescription amounts to "filling in" this contour with bulk solutions: real segments of the contour are filled in with Lorentzian solutions while imaginary segments are filled in with Riemannian solutions and appropriate matching conditions are imposed at the corners of the contour. We illustrate the general discussion by computing the 2-point function of a scalar operator using this prescription and by showing that this leads to an unambiguous answer with the correct iE insertions.

Ricci-flat and charged wormholes in five dimensions

We construct stationary Ricci-flat inter-universe Lorentzian wormhole solutions in all D⩾5 dimensions that connect two flat asymptotic spacetimes. Such a solution can be viewed as the gravity dual of a string tachyon state whose linear momentum is larger than its tension. We focus our analysis on the D=5 wormholes which are not traversable for the timelike and null geodesics; however, we demonstrate that there exist accelerated timelike trajectories that traverse from one asymptotic region to the other. We further study the minimally-coupled scalar wave equation and demonstrate that the quantum tunnelling between two worlds must occur. We also obtain charged wormholes in five-dimensional supergravities. With appropriate choice of parameters, these wormholes connect AdS3×S2 in one asymptotic region to flat Minkowskian spacetime in the other.

HOLOGRAPHY OF ROTATING DUAL GIANT WILSON LOOPS

We briefly review a tunneling picture of rotating D3-brane solutions. By applying the "double Wick rotation" to the Lorentzian solutions, we construct Euclidean solutions. The solutions are composed of dual giant gravitons and spike D3-brane solutions, and their classical actions reproduce expectation values of the k-th symmetric Wilson loops as well as correlation functions of dual giant graviton operators as expected.

Troubles with Spacetime Noncommutative Theories: Tachyons or S-branes?

We find Lorentzian solutions of spacetime noncommutative gauge theories that are localized exponentially in space and time. Together with time translational invariance of the theories, we argue that perurbative S matrix formulation of such theories is problematic in the sense that the S matrix based on free in and out states misses the spacetime localized degrees. We show that, in 3+1 dimensions, the problem disappears for the cases where the noncommutativity becomes purely spatial by an appropriate Lorentz transformation or the noncommutativity is lightlike with its electric and magnetic parts orthogonal to each other.

ℂP2 and ℂP1 sigma models in supergravity: Bianchi type IX instantons and cosmologies

We find instanton/cosmological solutions with biaxial Bianchi-IX symmetry, involving nontrivial spatial dependence of the - and -sigma-models coupled to gravity. Such manifolds arise in N = 1, d = 4 supergravity with supermatter actions and hence the solutions can be embedded in supergravity. There is a natural way in which the standard coordinates of these manifolds can be mapped into the four-dimensional physical space. Due to its special symmetry, we start with with its corresponding scalar ansatz; this further requires the spacetime to be SU(2) × U(1)-invariant. The problem then reduces to a set of ordinary differential equations whose analytical properties and solutions are discussed. Among the solutions there is a surprising, special family of exact solutions which owe their existence to the nontrivial topology of and are in 1-1 correspondence with matter-free Bianchi-IX metrics. These solutions can also be found by coupling to gravity. The regularity of these Euclidean solutions is discussed—the only possibility is bolt-type regularity. The Lorentzian solutions with similar scalar ansatz are all obtainable from the Euclidean solutions by Wick rotation.

Non-trivial, static, geodesically complete, vacuum space-times with a negative cosmological constant

We construct a large class of new singularity-free static Lorentzian four-dimensional solutions of the vacuum Einstein equations with a negative cosmological constant. The new families of metrics contain space-times with, or without, black hole regions. Two uniqueness results are also established.

Bifurcation of gap solitons through catastrophe theory.

In the theory of optical gap solitons, slowly-moving finite-amplitude Lorentzian solutions are found to mediate the transition from bright to coexistent dark-antidark solitary wave pairs when the laser frequency is detuned out of the proper edge of a dynamical photonic band gap. Catastrophe theory is applied to give a geometrical description of this strongly asymmetrical "morphing" process.

Dynamical Properties of Euclidean Solutions in a Multidimensional Cosmological Model

In the framework of the Hartle-Hawking no-boundary proposal, we investigated quantum creation of the multidimensional universe with a cosmological constant ($\Lambda$) but without matter fields. We have found that the classical solutions of the Euclidean Einstein equations in this model have ``quasi-attractors'', i.e., most trajectories on the a-b plane, where a and b are the scale factors of external and internal spaces, go around a point. It is presumed that the wave function of the universe has a hump near this quasi-attractor point. In the case that both the curvatures of external and internal spaces are positive, and $\Lambda>0$, there exist Lorentzian solutions which start near the quasi-attractor, the internal space remains microscopic, and the external space evolves into our macroscopic universe.