The Geodesic Ray Transform on Riemannian Surfaces with Conjugate Points

We study the geodesic X-ray transform X on compact Riemannian surfaces with conjugate points. Regardless of the type of the conjugate points, we show that we cannot recover the singularities and, therefore, this transform is always unstable (ill-posed). We describe the microlocal kernel of X and relate it to the conjugate locus. We present numerical examples illustrating the cancellation of singularities. We also show that the attenuated X-ray transform is well posed if the attenuation is positive and there are no more than two conjugate points along each geodesic; but it is still ill-posed if there are three or more conjugate points. Those results follow from our analysis of the weighted X-ray transform.     

Particle Motion and Perturbed Dynamical System in Warped Product Spacetimes

In this paper we have used the dynamical systems analysis to study the dynamics of a five-dimensional universe in the form of a warped product spacetime with a spacelike dynamic extra dimension. We have decomposed the geodesic equations to get the motion along the extra dimension and have studied the associated dynamical system when the cross-diagonal element of the Einstein tensor vanishes, and also when it is non-vanishing. Introducing the concept of an energy function along the phase path in terms of the extra-dimensional coordinate, we have examined how the energy function depends on the warp factor. The energy function serves as a measure of the amount of perturbation of geodesic paths along the extra dimension in the region close to the brane. Then we studied the geodesic motion under a conventional metric perturbation in the form of homothetic motion and conformal motion and examined the nature of critical points for a Mashhoon-Wesson-type metric, for timelike and null geodesics when the cross-diagonal term of the Einstein tensor vanishes. Finally we investigated the motion for null and timelike geodesics under the condition when the cross-diagonal element of the Einstein tensor is non-vanishing and examined the effects of perturbation on the critical points of the dynamical system.     

On the generalized Jacobi equation

The standard text-book Jacobi equation (equation of geodesic deviation) arises by linearizing the geodesic equation around some chosen geodesic, where the linearization is done with respect to the coordinates and the velocities. The generalized Jacobi equation, introduced by Hodgkinson in 1972 and further developed by Mashhoon and others, arises if the linearization is done only with respect to the coordinates, but not with respect to the velocities. The resulting equation has been studied by several authors in some detail for timelike geodesics in a Lorentzian manifold. Here we begin by briefly considering the generalized Jacobi equation on affine manifolds, without a metric; then we specify to lightlike geodesics in a Lorentzian manifold. We illustrate the latter case by considering particular lightlike geodesics (a) in Schwarzschild spacetime and (b) in a plane-wave spacetime.     

Geodesic motions in extraordinary string geometry

The geodesic properties of the stationary vacuum string solution in (4+1) dimensions with momentum flow along the string direction are analyzed by using Hamilton-Jacobi method. The geodesic motions show distinct properties from those of the static one. Especially, any freely falling particle can not arrive at the horizon or singularity. To get into the horizon, a particle need to follow a non-geodesic trajectory. There exist stable null circular orbits and bouncing timelike and null geodesics. In the asymptotic geometry, some geodesics will be repelled by the string contrary to the case of Kerr-Neumann black hole. The light bending effect will be minimized at an impact parameter determined by the angular momentum and energy.     

Horizons and singularities in static,spherically symmetric spacetimes

We make a thorough study of the regions near finite-order metric-singularity boundaries of static, spherically symmetric spacetimes. After distinguishing curvature singularities from other types of metric breakdown, we examine the eigenvalues of the energy tensor near the singularities for positivity and energy dominance, find the causal class of the t-translation (static) Killing field, and ascertain the presence or absence of timelike, null, and spacelike geodesic incompleteness for each spacetime. For a certain subclass of spacetimes, we also show the completeness of all timelike and spacelike curves despite the superficial failure of the metric.     

Some properties of evolving wormhole geometries within nonlinear electrodynamics

In this paper, we review some properties for the evolving wormhole solution of Einstein equations coupled to nonlinear electrodynamics. We integrate the geodesic equations in the effective geometry obeyed by photons; we check out the weak field limit and find the traversability conditions. Then we analyze the case when the lagrangian depends on two electromagnetic invariants and it turns out that there is not a more general solution within the assumed geometry.     

The infeld/schild approach to the geodesic motion of test particles in general relativity

Test particles are defined and a version of the Infeld/Schild theorem on geodesic motion is presented. The hypotheses of the theorem are discussed in the IPN approximation and in the Weyl static axisymmetric metrics. Initial terms in a series solution of the linearized field equations are found explicitly for a test particle on an arbitrary timelike geodesic.     

Singularities and conjugate points in FLRW spacetimes

Conjugate points play an important role in the proofs of the singularity theorems of Hawking and Penrose. We examine the relation between singularities and conjugate points in FLRW spacetimes with a singularity. In particular we prove a theorem that when a non-comoving, non-spacelike geodesic in a singular FLRW spacetime obeys conditions (39) and (40), every point on that geodesic is part of a pair of conjugate points. The proof is based on the Raychaudhuri equation. We find that the theorem is applicable to all non-comoving, non-spacelike geodesics in FLRW spacetimes with non-negative spatial curvature and scale factors that near the singularity have power law behavior or power law behavior times a logarithm. When the spatial curvature is negative, the theorem is applicable to a subset of these spacetimes.     

A new characterization of the n-dimensional Einstein static spacetime

The Einstein static spacetime is characterized as the unique geodesically complete and simply connected Lorentzian manifold such that the geodesic flow acts by isometries of the Sasaki metric on any null congruence associated to a conformal timelike vector field.     

On the Volumorphism Group, the First Conjugate Point is Always the Hardest

We find a simple local criterion for the existence of conjugate points on the group of volume-preserving diffeomorphisms of a 3-manifold with the Riemannian metric of ideal fluid mechanics, in terms of an ordinary differential equation along each Lagrangian path. Using this criterion, we prove that the first conjugate point along a geodesic in this group is always pathological: the differential of the exponential map always fails to be Fredholm.Much of this work was completed while the author was a Lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania. The author is grateful for their hospitality.     

Null Geodesics in Brane World Scenarios

We study the null bulk geodesic motion in the brane world in which the bulk metric has an un-stabilized extra spatial dimension. We find that the null bulk geodesic motion as observed on the 3-brane with Z₂ symmetry would be a timelike geodesic motion even though there exists an extra non-gravitational force in contrast with the case of the stabilized extra spatial dimension. In other words the presence of the extra non-gravitational force would not violate the Z₂ symmetry.     

Lax Pair Tensors and Integrable Spacetimes

The use of Lax pair tensors as a unifying framework for Killing tensors of arbitrary rank is discussed. Some properties of the tensorial Lax pair formulation are stated. A mechanical system with a well-known Lax representation—the three-particle open Toda lattice—is geometrized by a suitable canonical transformation. In this way the Toda lattice is realized as the geodesic system of a certain Riemannian geometry. By using different canonical transformations we obtain two inequivalent geometries which both represent the original system. Adding a timelike dimension gives four-dimensional spacetimes which admit two Killing vector fields and are completely integrable.     

Spacelike metric foliations

In this paper, we investigate spacelike metric foliations in lightlike complete spacetimes. When such a foliation satisfies the strong energy condition Ric^V (e) ≥ 0 for timelike vectors e, it must be totally geodesic, and the metric is of higher rank, in the sense that each point of the spacetime is contained inside a flat, totally geodesic, timelike rectangle. If in addition Ric^V(e) = 0, then the metric is (at least locally) a product metric, with the leaves of the foliation tangent to one of the factors.     

Conformally flat space-times of locally constant connection. I

Conformally flat space-times of locally constant connection are studied. The constant connection defines a global vector field which is assumed timelike. The general solution of the geodesic equations is presented and several theorems characterizing the geometry of such space-times are proved.     

Tidal Effects in Some Regular Black Holes

This paper is aimed to study the tidal forces produced by a class of regular black holes. We consider the radial infall of test particle and find radial as well as angular components of tidal forces by taking geodesic deviation equations. We also compute geodesic deviation vector by solving geodesic deviation equation numerically. It is concluded that a particle undergos either compression or stretching in radial or angular direction due to tidal forces.     

Kinematics in matrix gravity

We develop the kinematics in Matrix Gravity, which is a modified theory of gravity obtained by a non-commutative deformation of General Relativity. In this model the usual interpretation of gravity as Riemannian geometry is replaced by a new kind of geometry, which is equivalent to a collection of Finsler geometries with several Finsler metrics depending both on the position and on the velocity. As a result the Riemannian geodesic flow is replaced by a collection of Finsler flows. This naturally leads to a model in which a particle is described by several mass parameters. If these mass parameters are different then the equivalence principle is violated. In the non-relativistic limit this also leads to corrections to the Newton’s gravitational potential. We find the first and second order corrections to the usual Riemannian geodesic flow and evaluate the anomalous nongeodesic acceleration in a particular case of static spherically symmetric background.     

Time-like geodesic structure of a spherically symmetric black hole in the brane-world

Recently Malihe Heydari-Fard obtained a spherically symmetric exterior black hole solution in the brane-world scenario, which can be used to explain the galaxy rotation curves without postulating dark matter. By analysing the particle effective potential, we have investigated the time-like geodesic structure of the spherically symmetric black hole in the brane-world. We mainly take account of how the cosmological constant α and the stellar pressure β affect the time-like geodesic structure of the black hole. We find that the radial particle falls to the singularity from a finite distance or plunges into the singularity, depending on its initial conditions. But the non-radial time-like geodesic structure is more complex than the radial case. We find that the particle moves on the bound orbit or stable (unstable) circle orbit or plunges into the singularity, or reflects to infinity, depending on its energy and initial conditions. By comparing the particle effective potential curves for different values of the stellar pressure β and the cosmological constant α, we find that the stellar pressure parameter β does not affect the time-like geodesic structure of the black hole, but the cosmological constant α has an impact on its time-like geodesic structure.     

Geodesic Stability for Kehagias-Sfetsos Black Hole in Hořava-Lifshitz Gravity via Lyapunov Exponents

By computing the Lyapunov exponent, which is the inverse of the instability time scale associated with this geodesic motion we show that for a general Kehagias-Sfetsos (KS) solution, there is two region of space which in both of them the equatorial timelike geodesics are stable via Lyapunov measure of stability.     

Gödel black hole,closed timelike horizon and the study of particle emissions

We show that a particle, with positive orbital angular momentum, following an outgoing null/timelike geodesic, shall never reach the closed timelike horizon present in the (4 + 1)-dimensional rotating Gödel black hole space–time. Therefore a large part of this space–time remains inaccessible to a large class of geodesic observers, depending on the conserved quantities associated with them. We discuss how this fact and the existence of the closed timelike curves present in the asymptotic region make the quantum field theoretic study of the Hawking radiation, where the asymptotic observer states are a pre-requisite, unclear. However, the semi classical approach provides an alternative to verify the Smarr formula derived recently for the rotating Gödel black hole. We present a systematic analysis of particle emissions, specifically for scalars, charged Dirac spinors and vectors, from this black hole via the semiclassical complex path method.     

On the structure of space-time caustics

Caustics formed by timelike and null geodesics in a space-timeM are investigated. Care is taken to distinguish the conjugate points in the tangent space (T-conjugate points) from conjugate points in the manifold (M-conjugate points). It is shown that most nonspacelike conjugate points are regular, i.e. with all neighbouring conjugate points having the same degree of degeneracy. The regular timelikeT-conjugate locus is shown to be a smooth 3-dimensional submanifold of the tangent space. Analogously, the regular nullT-conjugate locus is shown to be a smooth 2-dimensional submanifold of the light cone in the tangent space. The smoothness properties of the null caustic are used to show that if an observer sees focusing in all directions, then there will necessarily be a cusp in the caustic. If, in addition, all the null conjugate points have maximal degree of degeneracy (as in the closed Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universes), then the space-time is closed.