Timelike Boundary Research Articles

Boundary and corner terms in the action for general relativity

We revisit the action principle for general relativity, motivated by the path integral approach to quantum gravity. We consider a spacetime region whose boundary has piecewise C2 components, each of which can be spacelike, timelike or null and consider metric variations in which only the pullback of the metric to the boundary is held fixed. Allowing all such metric variations we present a unified treatment of the spacelike, timelike and null boundary components using Cartan’s tetrad formalism. Apart from its computational simplicity, this formalism gives us a simple way of identifying corner terms. We also discuss ‘creases’ which occur when the boundary is the event horizon of a black hole. Our treatment is geometric and intrinsic and we present our results both in the computationally simpler tetrad formalism as well as the more familiar metric formalism. We recover known results from a simpler and more general point of view and find some new ones.

Timelike twisted geometries

Within the twistorial parametrization of Loop Quantum Gravity we investigate the consequences of choosing a spacelike normal vector in the linear simplicity constraints. The amplitudes for the $SU(2)$ boundary states of Loop Quantum Gravity, given by most of the current spinfoam models, are constructed in such a way that even in the bulk only spacelike building blocks occur. Using a spacelike normal vector in the linear simplicity constraints allows us to distinguish spacelike from timelike 2-surfaces. We propose in this paper a quantum theory that includes both spatial and temporal building blocks and hence a more complete picture of quantum spacetime. At the classical level we show how we can describe $T^{\ast}SU(1,1)$ as a symplectic quotient of 2-twistor space $\mathbb{T}^2$ by area matching and simplicity constraints. This provides us with the underlying classical phase space for $SU(1,1)$ spin networks describing timelike boundaries and their extension into the bulk. Applying a Dirac quantization we show that the reduced Hilbert space is spanned by $SU(1,1)$ spin networks and hence are able to give a quantum description of both spacelike and timelike faces. We discuss in particular the spectrum of the area operator and argue that for spacelike and timelike 2-surfaces it is discrete.

Non-existence of isometry-invariant Hadamard states for a Kruskal black hole in a box and for massless fields on 1+1 Minkowski spacetime with a uniformly accelerating mirror

We conjecture that (when the notion of Hadamard state is suitably adapted to spacetimes with timelike boundaries) there is no isometry-invariant Hadamard state for the massive or massless covariant Klein–Gordon equation defined on the region of the Kruskal spacetime to the left of a surface of constant Schwarzschild radius in the right Schwarzschild wedge when Dirichlet boundary conditions are put on that surface. We also prove that, with a suitable definition for ‘boost-invariant Hadamard state’ (which we call ‘strongly boost-invariant globally Hadamard’) which takes into account both the existence of the timelike boundary and the special infra-red pathology of massless fields in 1+1 dimensions, there is no such state for the massless wave equation on the region of 1+1 Minkowski space to the left of an eternally uniformly accelerating mirror—with Dirichlet boundary conditions at the mirror. We argue that this result is significant because, as we point out, such a state does exist if there is also a symmetrically placed decelerating mirror in the left wedge (and the region to the left of this mirror is excluded from the spacetime). We expect a similar existence result to hold for Kruskal when there are symmetrically placed spherical boxes in both right and left Schwarzschild wedges. Our Kruskal no-go conjecture raises basic questions about the nature of the black holes in boxes considered in black hole thermodynamics. If true, it would lend further support to the conclusion of Kay (2015 Gen. Relativ. Gravit. 47 1–27) that the nearest thing to a description of a black hole in equilibrium in a box in terms of a classical spacetime with quantum fields propagating on it has, for the classical spacetime, the exterior Schwarzschild solution, with the classical spacetime picture breaking down near the horizon. Appendix to the paper points out the existence of, and partially fills, a gap in the proofs of the theorems in Kay and Wald (1991 Phys. Rep. 207 49–136).

Black hole non-modal linear stability: the Schwarzschild (A)dS cases

The non-modal linear stability of the Schwarzschild black hole established in Dotti (2014 Phys. Rev. Lett. 112 191101) is generalized to the case of a non-negative cosmological constant Λ. Two gauge invariant combinations G± of perturbed scalars made out of the Weyl tensor and its first covariant derivative are found such that the map with domain the set of equivalent classes under gauge transformations of solutions of the linearized Einstein’s equation, is invertible. The way to reconstruct a representative of in terms of is given. It is proved that, for an arbitrary perturbation consistent with the background asymptote, and are bounded in the the outer static region. At large times, the perturbation decays leaving a linearized Kerr black hole around the Schwarzschild or Schwarschild de Sitter background solution. For negative cosmological constant it is shown that there are choices of boundary conditions at the time-like boundary under which the Schwarzschild anti de Sitter black hole is unstable. The root of Chandrasekhar’s duality relating odd and even modes is exhibited, and some technicalities related to this duality and omitted in the original proof of the case are explained in detail.

A boundary term for the gravitational action with null boundaries

Constructing a well-posed variational principle is a non-trivial issue in general relativity. For spacelike and timelike boundaries, one knows that the addition of the Gibbons-Hawking-York (GHY) counter-term will make the variational principle well-defined. This result, however, does not directly generalize to null boundaries on which the 3-metric becomes degenerate. In this work, we address the following question: What is the counter-term that may be added on a null boundary to make the variational principle well-defined? We propose the boundary integral of $2 \sqrt{-g} \left( \Theta+\kappa \right)$ as an appropriate counter-term for a null boundary. We also conduct a preliminary analysis of the variations of the metric on the null boundary and conclude that isolating the degrees of freedom that may be fixed for a well-posed variational principle requires a deeper investigation.

BV-BFV approach to general relativity: Einstein-Hilbert action

The present paper shows that general relativity in the Arnowitt-Deser-Misner formalism admits a BV-BFV formulation. More precisely, for any d + 1 ≠ 2 (pseudo-) Riemannian manifold M with space-like or time-like boundary components, the BV data on the bulk induces compatible BFV data on the boundary. As a byproduct, the usual canonical formulation of general relativity is recovered in a straightforward way.

On the stability of gravity with Dirichlet walls

Dirichlet walls—time-like boundaries at a finite distance from the bulk on which the induced metric is held fixed—have been used to model AdS spacetimes with a finite cutoff. In the context of gauge/gravity duality, such models are often described as dual to some novel UV-cutoff version of a corresponding CFT that maintains local Lorentz invariance. We study linearized gravity in the presence of such a wall and find it to differ significantly from the seemingly analogous case of Dirichlet boundary conditions for fields of spins zero and one. In particular, using the Kodama–Ishibashi formalism, the boundary conditions that must be imposed on the scalar–sector master field with harmonic time dependence depend explicitly on their frequency. That this feature first arises for spin-2 appears to be related to the second-order nature of the equations of motion. It gives rise to a number of novel instabilities, though both global and planar anti-de Sitter remain (linearly) stable in the presence of large-radius Dirichlet cutoffs. The instabilities arise on the outside of spherical Dirichlet walls, and also inside sufficiently large spherical walls in de Sitter space. We analyze both the inside and outside of flat and spherical walls in Minkowski, de Sitter, and anti-de Sitter space, as well as in certain black hole spacetimes, and find stability for the cases not mentioned above. In particular, we find no linear instabilities in the presence of flat walls. We also find evidence supporting the conjecture that neutral black holes are repelled by Dirichlet walls.

On the Klein–Gordon equation near a de Sitter brane

In this paper we investigate the Klein–Gordon equation in the past causal domain of a de Sitter brane imbedded in an Anti-de Sitter bulk. We solve the global mixed hyperbolic problem. We prove that any finite energy solution can be expressed as a Kaluza–Klein tower that is a superposition of free fields in the Steady State Universe, of which we study the asymptotic behaviours. We show that the leading term of a gravitational fluctuation is a massless graviton, i.e. the de Sitter brane is linearly stable. Beyond the Cauchy horizon, the energy of the waves can tend to infinity at the moment the brane hits the conformal time-like boundary.

Disentangling the black hole vacuum

We study the question whether disentanglement of Hawking radiation can be achieved with any local operation. We assume that the operation we look for is unitary and can be described by a Bogoliubov transformation. This allows to formulate requirements on the operation of disentanglement. We then show that these requirements can be fulfilled by a timelike boundary condition in the near-horizon area and that the local observer does not notice the presence of the boundary and does not encounter a firewall.

Black holes in anti–de Sitter spacetime: Quasinormal modes, tails, and flat spacetime

Black holes in asymptotically anti-de Sitter (AdS) spacetimes have been the subject of intense scrutiny, including detailed frequency-domain analysis and full nonlinear evolutions. Remarkably, studies of linearized perturbations in the time-domain are scarce or non-existing. We close this gap by evolving linearized scalar wavepackets in the background of rotating BHs in AdS spacetimes. Our results show a number of interesting features. Small BHs in AdS behave as asymptotically flat BHs for early/intermediate times, displaying the same ringdown modes and power-law tails. As the field bounces back and forth between the horizon and the timelike boundary it "thermalizes" and the modes of AdS settle in. Finally, we have indications that wavepackets in the vicinity of fastly spinning BHs grow exponentially in time, signalling a superradiant instability of the geometry previously reported through a frequency-domain analysis.

The perpendicular Neumann problem for mean curvature flow with a timelike cone boundary condition

This paper demonstrates existence for all time of mean curvature flow in Minkowski space with a perpendicular Neumann boundary condition, where the boundary manifold is a convex cone and the flowing manifold is initially spacelike. Using a blowdown argument, we show that under renormalisation this flow converges towards a homothetically expanding hyperbolic solution.

The Massive Wave Equation in Asymptotically AdS Spacetimes

We consider the massive wave equation on asymptotically AdS spaces. We show that the timelike scri behaves like a finite timelike boundary, on which one may impose the equivalent of Dirichlet, Neumann or Robin conditions for a range of (negative) mass parameter which includes the conformally coupled case. We demonstrate well posedness for the associated initial-boundary value problems at the $H^1$ level of regularity. We also prove that higher regularity may be obtained, together with an asymptotic expansion for the field near scri. The proofs rely on energy methods, tailored to the modified energy introduced by Breitenlohner and Freedman. We do not assume the spacetime is stationary, nor that the wave equation separates.

New Dynamics in the Anti-de Sitter Universe AdS 5

This paper deals with the propagation of the gravitational waves in the Poincaré patch of the 5-dimensional Anti-de Sitter universe. We construct a large family of unitary dynamics with respect to some high order energies that are conserved and positive. These dynamics are associated with asymptotic conditions on the conformal time-like boundary of the universe. This result does not contradict the statement of Breitenlohner-Freedman that the hamiltonian is essentially self-adjoint in L 2 and thus accordingly the dynamics is uniquely determined. The key point is the introduction of a new Hilbert functional framework that contains the massless graviton which is not normalizable in L 2. Then the hamiltonian is not essentially self-adjoint in this new space and possesses a lot of different positive self-adjoint extensions. These dynamics satisfy a holographic principle: there exists a renormalized boundary value which completely characterizes the whole field in the bulk.

Axisymmetric Bondi–Hoyle accretion on to a Schwarzschild black hole: shock cone vibrations

We study numerically the axisymmetric relativistic Bondi-Hoyle accretion of a supersonic ideal gas onto a fixed Schwarzschild background space-time described with horizon penetrating coordinates. We verify that a nearly stationary shock cone forms and that the properties of the shock cone are consistent with previous results in Newtonian gravity and former relativistic studies. The fact that the evolution of the gas is tracked on a spatial domain that contains a portion of the inner part of the black hole avoids the need to impose boundary conditions on a time-like boundary as done in the past. Thus, our approach contributes to the solution to the Bondi-Hoyle accretion problem at the length scale of the accretor in the sense that the gas is genuinely entering the black hole. As an astrophysical application, we study for a set of particular physical parameters, the spectrum of the shock cone vibrations and their potential association with QPO sources.

From Navier-Stokes to Einstein

We show by explicit construction that for every solution of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equation in $p+1$ dimensions, there is a uniquely associated "dual" solution of the vacuum Einstein equations in $p+2$ dimensions. The dual geometry has an intrinsically flat timelike boundary segment $\Sigma_c$ whose extrinsic curvature is given by the stress tensor of the Navier-Stokes fluid. We consider a "near-horizon" limit in which $\Sigma_c$ becomes highly accelerated. The near-horizon expansion in gravity is shown to be mathematically equivalent to the hydrodynamic expansion in fluid dynamics, and the Einstein equation reduces to the incompressible Navier-Stokes equation. For $p=2$, we show that the full dual geometry is algebraically special Petrov type II. The construction is a mathematically precise realization of suggestions of a holographic duality relating fluids and horizons which began with the membrane paradigm in the 70's and resurfaced recently in studies of the AdS/CFT correspondence.

New boundary conditions on the time-like conformal infinity of the Anti-de Sitter universe

We investigate the possible propagations of the gravitational waves in the 5-dimensional Anti-de Sitter universe. We construct a large family of unitary dynamics with respect to some high order energies that are conserved and positive. These dynamics are associated with asymptotic conditions on the conformal time-like boundary of the universe. The key point is the introduction of a new Hilbert functional framework that contains the massless graviton which is not normalizable in L2. The proof needs the study of the Klein–Gordon equation on R1+6 with a super-singular perturbation of δ0-type.

Regular black holes: Electrically charged solutions, Reissner-Nordström outside a de Sitter core

To have the correct picture of a black hole as a whole, it is of crucial importance to understand its interior. The singularities that lurk inside the horizon of the usual Kerr-Newman family of black hole solutions signal an endpoint to the physical laws and, as such, should be substituted in one way or another. A proposal that has been around for sometime is to replace the singular region of the spacetime by a region containing some form of matter or false vacuum configuration that can also cohabit with the black hole interior. Black holes without singularities are called regular black holes. In the present work, regular black hole solutions are found within general relativity coupled to Maxwell's electromagnetism and charged matter. We show that there are objects which correspond to regular charged black holes, whose interior region is de Sitter, whose exterior region is Reissner-Nordstr\"om, and the boundary between both regions is made of an electrically charged spherically symmetric coat. There are several types of solutions: regular nonextremal black holes with a null matter boundary, regular nonextremal black holes with a timelike matter boundary, regular extremal black holes with a timelike matter boundary, and regular overcharged stars with a timelike matter boundary. The main physical and geometrical properties of such charged regular solutions are analyzed.

Black holes in a box: Toward the numerical evolution of black holes in AdS space-times

The evolution of black holes in "confining boxes" is interesting for a number of reasons, particularly because it mimics the global structure of Anti-de Sitter geometries. These are non-globally hyperbolic space-times and the Cauchy problem may only be well defined if the initial data is supplemented by boundary conditions at the time-like conformal boundary. Here, we explore the active role that boundary conditions play in the evolution of a bulk black hole system, by imprisoning a black hole binary in a box with mirror-like boundary conditions. We are able to follow the post-merger dynamics for up to two reflections off the boundary of the gravitational radiation produced in the merger. We estimate that about 15% of the radiation energy is absorbed by the black hole per interaction, whereas transfer of angular momentum from the radiation to the black hole is only observed in the first interaction. We discuss the possible role of superradiant scattering for this result. Unlike the studies with outgoing boundary conditions, both the Newman-Penrose scalars \Psi_4 and \Psi_0 are non-trivial in our setup, and we show that the numerical data verifies the expected relations between them.

Quasilocal Hamiltonians in general relativity

We analyse the definition of quasi-local energy in GR based on a Hamiltonian analysis of the Einstein-Hilbert action initiated by Brown-York. The role of the constraint equations, in particular the Hamiltonian constraint on the timelike boundary, neglected in previous studies, is emphasized here. We argue that a consistent definition of quasi-local energy in GR requires, at a minimum, a framework based on the (currently unknown) geometric well-posedness of the initial boundary value problem for the Einstein equations.

An alternative well-posedness property and static spacetimes with naked singularities

In the first part of this paper, we show that the Cauchy problem for wave propagation in some static spacetimes presenting a singular timelike boundary is well-posed, if we only require the waves to have finite energy, although no boundary condition is required. This feature does not come from essential self-adjointness, which is false in these cases, but from a different phenomenon that we call the alternative well-posedness property, whose origin is due to the degeneracy of the metric components near the boundary. Beyond these examples, in the second part, we characterize the type of degeneracy which leads to this phenomenon.