On the Quasi-linear Elliptic PDE {-\nabla \cdot ( \nabla{u}/ \sqrt{1-| \nabla{u} |^2}) = 4 \pi \sum_k a_k \delta_{s_k}} in Physics and Geometry

It is shown that for each finite number N of Dirac measures ${\delta_{s_n}}$ supported at points ${s_n \in {\mathbb R}^3}$ with given amplitudes ${a_n \in {\mathbb R} \backslash\{0\}}$ there exists a unique real-valued function ${u \in C^{0, 1}({\mathbb R}^3)}$ , vanishing at infinity, which distributionally solves the quasi-linear elliptic partial differential equation of divergence form ${-\nabla \cdot ( \nabla{u}/ \sqrt{1-| \nabla{u} |^2}) = 4 \pi \sum_{n=1}^N a_n \delta_{s_n}}$ . Moreover, ${u \in C^{\omega}({\mathbb R}^3\backslash \{s_n\}_{n=1}^N)}$ . The result can be interpreted in at least two ways: (a) for any number N of point charges of arbitrary magnitude and sign at prescribed locations s _n in three-dimensional Euclidean space there exists a unique electrostatic field which satisfies the Maxwell-Born-Infeld field equations smoothly away from the point charges and vanishes as |s| ?? ??; (b) for any number N of integral mean curvatures assigned to locations ${s_n \in {\mathbb R}^3 \subset{\mathbb R}^{1, 3}}$ there exists a unique asymptotically flat, almost everywhere space-like maximal slice with point defects of Minkowski spacetime ${{\mathbb R}^{1, 3}}$ , having lightcone singularities over the s _n but being smooth otherwise, and whose height function vanishes as |s| ?? ??. No struts between the point singularities ever occur.     

The extremal black holes of {\mathcal{N} = 4} supergravity from {\mathfrak{so}(8, 2 + n)} nilpotent orbits

We consider the stationary solutions of ${\mathcal{N} = 4}$ supergravity coupled to n vector multiplets that define linear superpositions of non-interacting extremal black holes. The most general solutions of this type are derived from the graded decompositions of ${\mathfrak{so}(8, 2 + n)}$ associated to its nilpotent orbits. We illustrate the formalism by giving explicitly asymptotically Minkowski non-BPS solutions of the most exotic class depending on 6 + n harmonic functions.     

On the total mass of closed universes

The total mass, the Witten type gauge conditions and the spectral properties of the Sen–Witten and the 3-surface twistor operators in closed universes are investigated. It has been proven that a recently suggested expression $\mathtt{M}$ M for the total mass density of closed universes is vanishing if and only if the spacetime is flat with toroidal spatial topology; it coincides with the first eigenvalue of the Sen–Witten operator; and it is vanishing if and only if Witten’s gauge condition admits a non-trivial solution. Here we generalize slightly the result above on the zero-mass configurations: $\mathtt{M}=0$ M = 0 if and only if the spacetime is holonomically trivial with toroidal spatial topology. Also, we show that the multiplicity of the eigenvalues of the (square of the) Sen–Witten operator is even, and a potentially viable gauge condition is suggested. The monotonicity properties of $\mathtt{M}$ M through the examples of closed Bianchi I and IX cosmological spacetimes are also discussed. A potential spectral characterization of these cosmological spacetimes, in terms of the spectrum of the Riemannian Dirac operator and the Sen–Witten and the 3-surface twistor operators, is also indicated.     

Stability of Black Holes and Black Branes

We establish a new criterion for the dynamical stability of black holes in D ≥ 4 spacetime dimensions in general relativity with respect to axisymmetric perturbations: Dynamical stability is equivalent to the positivity of the canonical energy, ${\mathcal{E}}$ , on a subspace, ${\mathcal{T}}$ , of linearized solutions that have vanishing linearized ADM mass, momentum, and angular momentum at infinity and satisfy certain gauge conditions at the horizon. This is shown by proving that—apart from pure gauge perturbations and perturbations towards other stationary black holes— ${\mathcal{E}}$ is nondegenerate on ${\mathcal{T}}$ and that, for axisymmetric perturbations, ${\mathcal{E}}$ has positive flux properties at both infinity and the horizon. We further show that ${\mathcal{E}}$ is related to the second order variations of mass, angular momentum, and horizon area by ${\mathcal{E} = \delta^2 M -\sum_A \Omega_A \delta^2 J_A - \frac{\kappa}{8\pi}\delta^2 A}$ , thereby establishing a close connection between dynamical stability and thermodynamic stability. Thermodynamic instability of a family of black holes need not imply dynamical instability because the perturbations towards other members of the family will not, in general, have vanishing linearized ADM mass and/or angular momentum. However, we prove that for any black brane corresponding to a thermodynamically unstable black hole, sufficiently long wavelength perturbations can be found with ${\mathcal{E} < 0}$ and vanishing linearized ADM quantities. Thus, all black branes corresponding to thermodynmically unstable black holes are dynamically unstable, as conjectured by Gubser and Mitra. We also prove that positivity of ${\mathcal{E}}$ on ${\mathcal{T}}$ is equivalent to the satisfaction of a “ local Penrose inequality,” thus showing that satisfaction of this local Penrose inequality is necessary and sufficient for dynamical stability. Although we restrict our considerations in this paper to vacuum general relativity, most of the results of this paper are derived using general Lagrangian and Hamiltonian methods and therefore can be straightforwardly generalized to allow for the presence of matter fields and/or to the case of an arbitrary diffeomorphism covariant gravitational action.     

n-Orthodistributivity in Orthomodular Lattices

A useful generalization of distributivity in lattices n-distributivity, \(n \in \mathbb{N}\) , was introduced in Huhn (Acta Sci. Math. 33:297–305, 1972). In Mayet and Roddy (Contrib. Gen. Algebra 5:285–294, 1987), ‘orthogonalized’ versions, n-orthodistributivity, \(n \in \mathbb{N}\) , of these equations were introduced and discussed. The discussion and results of Mayet and Roddy (Contrib. Gen. Algebra 5:285–294, 1987) centered on the class of modular ortholattices. In this paper we discuss and present some preliminary results for these conditions in orthomodular lattices. In particular, we completely classify the n-(ortho)distributive orthomodular lattices arising from Greechie’s classical 1971 construction, and we prove that a certain simple atomless orthomodular lattice, presented in Roddy (Algebra Univers. 29:564–597, 1992), is 4-orthodistributive. It is not 3-orthodistributive.     

Periodicity and area spectrum of the three dimensional BTZ black hole

Very recently, a new scheme to quantize the horizon area of a black hole has been proposed by Zeng and Liu et?al. In this paper, we further apply the analysis to investigate area spectrum of three dimensional BTZ black hole with the cosmological constant ${\Lambda=-1/l^{2}}$ . The results show that the area spectrum and entropy spectrum are independent of the cosmological constant. The area spectrum of the black hole is ${\Delta A=8\pi l_{P}^{2}}$ , which confirms the initial proposal of Bekenstein that the area spectrum is independent of the black hole parameters and the spacing is ${8\pi l_{P}^{2}}$ . This result also confirms the speculation of Maggiore that the periodicity of a black hole may be the origin of the area quantization. In addition, for the rotating and non-rotating BTZ black holes, we obtain the same entropy spectrum ${\triangle S=2\pi}$ , which is consistent with the result for other black holes. This implies that the entropy spectrum is more fundamental than the area spectrum.     

A third-order approximation for time delay of light propagation in the equatorial plane of Kerr black hole

The rotation effect of the gravitational source such as Kerr black hole on the time delay of light propagation has been studied in detail. Although it belongs to the second order, the magnitude of rotation effect may be smaller than that of the third-order effect of mass. In this paper, we calculate the time delay of the propagation of light in the equatorial plane of a Kerr black hole to the third order analytically. It is found that the third-order effect of mass is larger than the rotation effect when the magnitude of impact factor $|b| < \frac{120-5\pi }{16}\frac{M^3}{J}+M$ , with $M$ and $J$ being the mass and angular momentum of black hole. The total third-order effects on the time delay are also examined.     

Jeans instability in superfluids

Recent numerical studies of the coupled Einstein–Klein–Gordon system in a cavity have provided compelling evidence that confined scalar fields generically collapse to form black holes. Motivated by this intriguing discovery, we here use analytical tools in order to study the characteristic resonance spectra of the confined fields. These discrete resonant frequencies are expected to dominate the late-time dynamics of the coupled black-hole-field-cage system. We consider caged Reissner–Nordström black holes whose confining mirrors are placed in the near-horizon region \(x_{\text {m}}\equiv (r_{\text {m}}-r_+)/r_+\ll \tau \equiv (r_+-r_-)/r_+\) (here \(r_{\text {m}}\) is the radius of the confining mirror and \(r_{\pm }\) are the radii of the black-hole horizons). We obtain a simple analytical expression for the fundamental quasinormal resonances of the coupled black-hole-field-cage system: \(\omega _n=-i2\pi T_{\text {BH}} \cdot n\left[ 1+O(x^n_{\text {m}}/\tau ^n)\right] \) , where \(T_{\text {BH}}\) is the temperature of the caged black hole and \(n=1,2,3,...\) is the resonance parameter.     

Gravitational entropy of Kerr black holes

Classical invariants of General Relativity can be used to approximate the entropy of the gravitational field. In this work, we study two proposed estimators based on scalars constructed out from the Weyl tensor, in Kerr spacetime. In order to evaluate Clifton, Ellis and Tavakol’s proposal, we calculate the gravitational energy density, gravitational temperature, and gravitational entropy of the Kerr spacetime. We find that in the frame we consider, Clifton et al.’s estimator does not reproduce the Bekenstein–Hawking entropy of a Kerr black hole. The results are compared with previous estimates obtained by the authors using the Rudjord–Gr \(\varnothing \) n–Hervik approach. We conclude that the latter represents better the expected behaviour of the gravitational entropy of black holes.     

Nonsingular black hole

We consider the Schwarzschild black hole and show how, in a theory with limiting curvature, the physical singularity “inside it” is removed. The resulting spacetime is geodesically complete. The internal structure of this nonsingular black hole is analogous to Russian nesting dolls. Namely, after falling into the black hole of radius \(r_{g}\), an observer, instead of being destroyed at the singularity, gets for a short time into the region with limiting curvature. After that he re-emerges in the near horizon region of a spacetime described by the Schwarzschild metric of a gravitational radius proportional to \(r_{g}^{1/3}\). In the next cycle, after passing the limiting curvature, the observer finds himself within a black hole of even smaller radius proportional to \(r_{g}^{1/9}\), and so on. Finally after a few cycles he will end up in the spacetime where he remains forever at limiting curvature.     

Spectral signs of the internal heavy-atom effect in aliphatic carbonyl compounds

The CNDO/S method has been applied to the internal effect of Si on the electronic spectrum of the acetone molecule; there is a considerable bathochromic shift and an increase in the \(S_0 \to S_{n\pi ^ * } \) intensity for theα-silyl ketones, while theβ-silyl ketons give only an increase in the intensity of \(S_0 \to S_{n\pi ^ * } \) absorption relative to acetone. The heavy atom substantially alters \(f_{S_0 \to T_{n\sigma ^* } } \) and \(\tau _{T_{n\sigma ^* } }^0 \) but has little effect on \(f_{S_0 \to T_{n\pi ^* } } \) and \(\tau _{T_{n\pi ^* } }^0 \) .     

The Critical Fugacity for Surface Adsorption of Self-Avoiding Walks on the Honeycomb Lattice is {1+\sqrt{2}}

In 2010, Duminil-Copin and Smirnov proved a long-standing conjecture of Nienhuis, made in 1982, that the growth constant of self-avoiding walks on the hexagonal (a.k.a. honeycomb) lattice is ${\mu=\sqrt{2+\sqrt{2}}}$ . A key identity used in that proof was later generalised by Smirnov so as to apply to a general O(n) loop model with ${n\in [-2,2]}$ (the case n = 0 corresponding to self-avoiding walks). We modify this model by restricting to a half-plane and introducing a surface fugacity y associated with boundary sites (also called surface sites), and obtain a generalisation of Smirnov’s identity. The critical value of the surface fugacity was conjectured by Batchelor and Yung in 1995 to be ${y_{\rm c}=1+2/\sqrt{2-n}}$ . This value plays a crucial role in our generalized identity, just as the value of the growth constant did in Smirnov’s identity. For the case n = 0, corresponding to self-avoiding walks interacting with a surface, we prove the conjectured value of the critical surface fugacity. A crucial part of the proof involves demonstrating that the generating function of self-avoiding bridges of height T, taken at its critical point 1/μ, tends to 0 as T increases, as predicted from SLE theory.     

Horizon structure of rotating Bardeen black hole and particle acceleration

We investigate the horizon structure and ergosphere in a rotating Bardeen regular black hole, which has an additional parameter (g) due to the magnetic charge, apart from the mass (M) and the rotation parameter (a). Interestingly, for each value of the parameter g, there exists a critical rotation parameter (\(a=a_{E}\)), which corresponds to an extremal black hole with degenerate horizons, while for \(a<a_{E}\) it describes a non-extremal black hole with two horizons, and no black hole for \(a>a_{E}\). We find that the extremal value \(a_E\) is also influenced by the parameter g, and so is the ergosphere. While the value of \(a_E\) remarkably decreases when compared with the Kerr black hole, the ergosphere becomes thicker with the increase in g. We also study the collision of two equal mass particles near the horizon of this black hole, and explicitly show the effect of the parameter g. The center-of-mass energy (\(E_\mathrm{CM}\)) not only depend on the rotation parameter a, but also on the parameter g. It is demonstrated that the \(E_\mathrm{CM}\) could be arbitrarily high in the extremal cases when one of the colliding particles has a critical angular momentum, thereby suggesting that the rotating Bardeen regular black hole can act as a particle accelerator.     

Non-Isothermal Boundary in the Boltzmann Theory and Fourier Law

In the study of the heat transfer in the Boltzmann theory, the basic problem is to construct solutions to the following steady problem: $$v \cdot \nabla _{x}F =\frac{1}{{\rm K}_{\rm n}}Q(F,F),\qquad (x,v)\in \Omega \times \mathbf{R}^{3}, \quad \quad (0.1) $$ v · ? x F = 1 K n Q ( F , F ) , ( x , v ) ∈ Ω × R 3 , ( 0.1 ) $$F(x,v)|_{n(x)\cdot v<0} = \mu _{\theta}\int_{n(x) \cdot v^{\prime}>0}F(x,v^{\prime})(n(x)\cdot v^{\prime})dv^{\prime},\quad x \in\partial \Omega,\quad \quad (0.2) $$ F ( x , v ) | n ( x ) · v < 0 = μ θ ∫ n ( x ) · v ′ > 0 F ( x , v ′ ) ( n ( x ) · v ′ ) d v ′ , x ∈ ? Ω , ( 0.2 ) where Ω is a bounded domain in ${\mathbf{R}^{d}, 1 \leq d \leq 3}$ R d , 1 ≤ d ≤ 3 , K_n is the Knudsen number and ${\mu _{\theta}=\frac{1}{2\pi \theta ^{2}(x)} {\rm exp} [-\frac{|v|^{2}}{2\theta (x)}]}$ μ θ = 1 2 π θ 2 ( x ) exp [ - | v | 2 2 θ ( x ) ] is a Maxwellian with non-constant(non-isothermal) wall temperature θ(x). Based on new constructive coercivity estimates for both steady and dynamic cases, for ${|\theta -\theta_{0}|\leq \delta \ll 1}$ | θ - θ 0 | ≤ δ ? 1 and any fixed value of K_n, we construct a unique non-negative solution F _s to (0.1) and (0.2), continuous away from the grazing set and exponentially asymptotically stable. This solution is a genuine non-equilibrium stationary solution differing from a local equilibrium Maxwellian. As an application of our results we establish the expansion ${F_s=\mu_{\theta_0}+\delta F_{1}+O(\delta ^{2})}$ F s = μ θ 0 + δ F 1 + O ( δ 2 ) and we prove that, if the Fourier law holds, the temperature contribution associated to F ₁ must be linear, in the slab geometry.     

Neutral-charged particle correlations in proton-proton collisions in the framework of a two-component model

The data on \(\bar N_0 \left( {n\_} \right)\) , the average number of neutrals as a function ofn _?, the number of negatively charged particles produced, is fitted at 69, 205 and 303 GeV/c. The two-component model used for the charged multiplicity distributionP _n, is one which envisages two distinct types of collisions and is the simplest such model consistent with charge conservation. We find that the data on \(\bar N_0 \left( {n\_} \right)\) can be fitted reasonably well. Further, our results, based on this model forP _n, suggest that at 50 GeV/c, \(\bar N_0 \left( {n\_} \right)\) should increase linearly withn _?and that neutral-negative correlations should be present in the central component.     

Hole Probabilities and Overcrowding Estimates for Products of Complex Gaussian Matrices

We consider eigenvalues of a product of n non-Hermitian, independent random matrices. Each matrix in this product is of size N×N with independent standard complex Gaussian variables. The eigenvalues of such a product form a determinantal point process on the complex plane (Akemann and Burda in J. Phys. A, Math. Theor. 45:465201, 2011), which can be understood as a generalization of the finite Ginibre ensemble. As N→∞, a generalized infinite Ginibre ensemble arises. We show that the set of absolute values of the points of this determinantal process has the same distribution as $\{R_{1}^{(n)},R_{2}^{(n)},\ldots\}$ , where $R_{k}^{(n)}$ are independent, and $(R_{k}^{(n)} )^{2}$ is distributed as the product of n independent Gamma variables Gamma(k,1). This enables us to find the asymptotics for the hole probabilities, i.e. for the probabilities of the events that there are no points of the process in a disc of radius r with its center at 0, as r→∞. In addition, we solve the relevant overcrowding problem: we derive an asymptotic formula for the probability that there are more than m points of the process in a fixed disk of radius r with its center at 0, as m→∞.     

On the Geodesic Hypothesis in General Relativity

In this paper, we give a rigorous derivation of Einstein’s geodesic hypothesis in general relativity. We use small material bodies ${\phi^\epsilon}$ governed by the nonlinear Klein–Gordon equations to approximate the test particle. Given a vacuum spacetime ${([0, T]\times\mathbb{R}^3, h)}$ , we consider the initial value problem for the Einstein-scalar field system. For all sufficiently small ε and δ ≤ ε ^q , q > 1, where δ, ε are the amplitude and size of the particle, we show the existence of the solution ${([0, T]\times\mathbb{R}^3, g, \phi^\epsilon)}$ to the Einstein-scalar field system with the property that the energy of the particle ${\phi^\epsilon}$ is concentrated along a timelike geodesic. Moreover, the gravitational field produced by ${\phi^\epsilon}$ is negligibly small in C ¹, that is, the spacetime metric g is C ¹ close to the given vacuum metric h. These results generalize those obtained by Stuart in (Ann Sci École Norm Sup (4) 37(2):312–362, 2004, J Math Pures Appl (9) 83(5):541–587, 2004).     

Self-Avoiding Walk is Sub-Ballistic

We prove that self-avoiding walk on ${\mathbb{Z}^d}$ is sub-ballistic in any dimension d ≥ 2. That is, writing ${\| u \|}$ for the Euclidean norm of ${u \in \mathbb{Z}^d}$ , and ${\mathsf{P_{SAW}}_n}$ for the uniform measure on self-avoiding walks ${\gamma : \{0, \ldots, n\} \to \mathbb{Z}^d}$ for which γ ₀ = 0, we show that, for each v > 0, there exists ${\varepsilon > 0}$ such that, for each ${n \in \mathbb{N}, \mathsf{P_{SAW}}_n \big( {\rm max}\big\{\| \gamma_k \| : 0 \leq k \leq n\big\} \geq vn \big) \leq e^{-\varepsilon n}}$ .