Questions tagged [general-relativity]
For questions about mathematical problems arising from general relativity, the branch of physics which provides and studies the currently accepted geometric description of gravity.
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reference for reading Schoen Yau positive mass theorem proof II
I am trying to read the paper by Schoen and Yau, Proof of the Positive Mass Theorem II. The notation is very different from what I am familiar with (basically Robert Wald's book on general relativity)....
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Distinguishable under manifold topology but indistinguishable under the Alexandrov topology
Take the time-oriented Lorentzian spacetime $(M, g)$ that is not strongly causal.
In such case it is shown that the Alexandrov topology and the Manifolds topology deviate such that the manifold ...
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Is it always possible to find a conjugate optical function?
Optical functions (functions with null gradients) and double null foliations (foliations of a spacetime by two related optical functions) play a large roll in modern mathematical relativity research. ...
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What is the nerve of this category?
If $\mathcal{C}$ is a thin category, we call $U \subseteq \mathrm{Ob}(\mathcal{C})$ open if for every object $X \in U$ and any morphism $X \to Y$, we also have $Y \in U$. This declares an Alexandrov ...
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Temporal evolution of a globally hyperbolic spacetime
Any globally hyperbolic spacetime can be assigned a global function of time as Hawking has demonstrated for stably causal spacetime. (Any globally hyperbolic spacetime is also stably causal).
For ...
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Is this set a manifold?
Take a general spacetime that is not strongly causal.
Call this spacetime $(M, g) $ where $M$ is a connected time-oriented manifold and $g$ is the Lorentzian metric that satisfies the Einstein's Field ...
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What is lost in General Relativity without Hahn-Banach axiom in the ZF+HB set theory?
In the same spirit of this question:
How much of mathematical General Relativity depends on the Axiom of Choice?
I want to go radically further ahead and ask for what remains of mathematical general ...
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Non-diffeomorphic but homeomorphic (under Lorentzian topology) Lorentzian manifolds
$\newcommand{\lorentzian}{\mathrm{lorentzian}}\newcommand{\lorentzian}{\mathrm{lorentzian}}\newcommand{\diff}{\mathrm{diff}}\newcommand{\manifold}{\mathrm{manifold}}$Take a time-oriented Lorentzian ...
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Comparing Honda's construction to mine
Consider a finite family $\Psi_\alpha$ where $\alpha=1,2,3,4$ of mutually transversely intersecting mixed type surfaces of $\mathbf L^3$ (Lorentz-Minkowski $3$-space) inscribed in $[-1,1]^3.$ Let the $...
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How much of mathematical General Relativity depends on the Axiom of Choice?
One of the cornerstones of the mathematical formulation of General Relativity (GR) is the result (due to Choquet-Bruhat and others) that the initial value problem for the Einstein field equations is ...
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Metric with a constant Chern–Pontryagin scalar
Do there exist 3+1 dimensional spacetimes (i.e. Lorentzian manifolds with signaure (1,3)), for which the Chern–Pontryagin scalar
\begin{equation}
K_2= \epsilon^{\mu\nu\rho\sigma}R^{\alpha}{}_{\beta\mu\...
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Non-compactness on Penrose singularity
I've been studying singularities in GR, and (obviously), came across PST.
Let us state it as the following:
Let $(M, g)$ be a connected globally hyperbolic
spacetime with a noncompact Cauchy ...
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Curvature of an affine system
I find an interesting paper that mentioned the Definition of curvature of an affine optimal control system. It reminded me that many textbooks on Riemannian geometry only tell us about metrics, ...
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Behavior of lapse function at infinity: stability of Minkowski
In the Stability of Minkowski Spacetime, Christodoulou and Klainerman prove a local existence proof for a particular class of quasilinear wave equation for a symmetric, traceless, covariant 2-tensor $...
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Naked curvature singularity vs Cauchy horizon in stably causal space-time
There is a result
that says (theorem 2.11) that any stably causal space-time $M$ is either a product $\Sigma\times \mathbb{R}$ or the time-like gradient $\nabla f$ of a time function $f:M\rightarrow \...
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Synthetic differential / conformal geometry of Lorentzian manifolds?
Let $M$ be a sufficiently nice Lorentzian manifold of dimension $\geq 3$. It's known [1] (see also [2]) that the differential and even conformal structure of $M$ is completely encoded in the causal ...
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Number of divergence free symmetric two tensor in dimension 4 [duplicate]
In a $4$ dimensional (semi)-Riemannian manifold $(M^{4}, g)$, both Einstein tensor $G= \operatorname{Ric}(g)- \frac{R(g)}{2}g$ and stress-energy tensor $T$ symmetric and divergence-free. Is there any ...
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Definitions fundamental forms and their geometric Intuition
Let $(M^{n+1}, g)$ be a Lorentzian manifold (spacetime) that contains a Riemannian/spacelike hypersurface $(\Sigma ^{n},h).$ Then we can define the second fundamental form of the hypersurface in many ...
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The Cauchy problem in general relativity, hyperbolic PDEs, and Sobolev spaces on manifolds
(I apologize in advance if this question is ill-posed or not suitable for Math Overflow, I am not yet a research mathematician, just a student.)
Let $(\Sigma,\bar{g})$ be an $n$-dimensional Riemannian ...
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Numerical reconstruction of Einstein's field equations
A few analytic solutions are known to the Einstein field equations:
$$ R_{\mu\nu} - \frac{1}{2}g_{\mu\nu}R - kT_{\mu\nu} = 0$$
Taking a preexisting analytic solution such as Schwarzchild's solution:
$$...
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Understanding the boundary condition of spherical waves in the flat spacetime
I am trying to understand one of the two boundary conditions one has to impose to find the solutions of the wave equation in the flat space-time inside a collapsing null shell. For the spherical wave, ...
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Invariance signature in infinite dimension
Let $V$ be an infinite dimensional vector space and suppose we have a smooth family $\{g_t\}_{t\ge 0}$ of symmetric bi-linear forms such that:
$g_0$ is positive-definite
$g_t$ is non-degenerate for ...
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Mathematical characterization of gravitational geons as reference request, and their properties as main question
I've edited (ten days ago) a question on Physics Stack Exchange, this Mathematical characterization of gravitational geons, post with identifier 726281 the users of the site were kind adding in the ...
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Understanding the proof of lemma 1.1 from Fisher, Marsden, and Moncrief's paper
The following lemma is from Fisher, Marsden, and Moncrief's paper: the structure of the space of solutions of Einstein's equations:1
1.1. Lemma.
If Ein( $\left.{ }^{(4)} g\right)=0$, and ${ }^{(4)} h$ ...
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On imaginary time
I've heard a few times that "the time was imaginary before the Big Bang".
I am guessing it means that at this stage, the space-time was a Riemannian $4$-manifold, but I am not sure this ...
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How to choose a set of non-orthonormal basis vectors for the absolute space of a stationary and axisymmetric space-time in General Relativity?
In General Relativity, the space-time is described by the metric tensor $g_{\mu\nu}$, where $\mu,\nu=0,1,2,3$ and the interval is written as $$ds^2=g_{\mu\nu}dx^\mu dx^\nu$$.
A 3+1 split allows to ...
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Convergence of spheres in nonlinear stability of Minkowski space
My question is about Lemma 3.3.1 in Christodoulou and Klainerman's proof of nonlinear stability of Minkowski space. This lemma says the following: Consider a family of metrics $m_u$ on $S^2$ defined ...
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In which dimensions is a strongly causal Lorentzian manifold determined conformally by its causal structure?
Let $M$ be a strongly causal Lorentzian manifold. If $M$ has dimension 4, a theorem of Hawking, King, and McCarthy (see Thm 5) says that $M$ is determined up to conformal isomorphism by its class of ...
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Example of a bicontinuous poset which is not jointly bicontinuous?
Recall that a poset $P$ is said to be continuous if, for every $p \in P$, the set $\{q \in P \mid q \ll p \}$ is directed with supremum $p$. Here $q \ll p$ is the "way below" relation (see ...
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Completeness of infinitely intersecting causal geodesics in strongly causal spacetimes
Let $(M,g)$ be a connected, smooth, strongly causal Lorentzian manifold, and consider an inextendible causal geodesic $\sigma : [0,b) \to M$ (a priori, $b$ may be $\infty$) with the following property:...
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Two identical objects circling the center of mass periodically in general relativity
In Newton's gravity we can have two identical objects circle the center of mass periodically (assuming the surroundings are vacuum).
Is something like this possible in general relativity? Is there an ...
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What are quantum extremal surfaces from a mathematical viewpoint?
It is said that they are surfaces which locally maximize area and bulk entanglement entropy. It would be great if I could receive some introductory material on it and some prerequisites to understand ...
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Hyperboloids in Minkowski geometry
Let $(\mathbb R^{1+2},\eta)$ be Minkowski with the metric $\eta= -dt^2+(dx^1)^2+(dx^2)^2$. Suppose $\Sigma$ is a smooth timelike hypersurface and denote by $h$ the second fundamental form on $\Sigma$. ...
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Spin connection in the tetradic Palatini-formalism of general relativity
$\DeclareMathOperator\SO{SO}$I am trying to understand the tetradic Palatini-formalism of general relativity from a mathematical point of view. I am graduate student and quite new to mathematical ...
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Compactly supported transverse traceless tensors
Let $(M, g)$ be a Riemanian manifold (or $\mathbb{R}^n$ if you prefer). A TT-tensor is a symmetric 2-tensor $\sigma_{ab}$ satisfying
$g^{ab} \sigma_{ab} \equiv 0$ ($\sigma$ is trace free),
$\nabla^a ...
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A question on light cones in Lorentzian manifolds with timelike boundary
Suppose $M= \mathbb R \times M_0$ with a Lorentzian metric $g(t,x)=-dt^2+ g_0(t,x)$ where
$M_0$ is a compact manifold with a smooth boundary and $g_0$ is a family of smooth Riemannian metrics on $M_0$ ...
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Reference for mathematical Palatini formalism of general relativity
I know that this is maybe not a research level question, but since the topic is quite special, I thought that the chance to get some reference is higher in this community.
I am looking for a reference ...
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Morphism of non-commutative algebras
Disclaimer: this question is a "big picture" one that comes from my personal thoughts in physics. If it doesn't fit this site, please tell me.
While having a walk, I thought a bit about what ...
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Preservation of metric signature in Cauchy problem for the Einstein equations
In Choquet-Bruhat's solution to the Cauchy problem for Einstein's equation, one reduces the Einstein equations to a quasidiagonal quasilinear hyperbolic system on $ M := [0, T] \times \bar M$ where $T ...
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Usage/Application of Raychaudhuri equation in Riemann geometry or pure maths
While going through this paper by Witten and seeing a discussion about different aspects of Raychaudhari Equation and Einstein Field Equation. I want to ask if Raychaudhari Equation find any ...
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In what sense exactly are the Einstein metrics distinguished?
EDIT: In general relativity given a manifold $M$ one can consider a functional on (pseudo-) Riemannian metrics $g$ $$\int_M R\,\, dvol_g,$$
where $R$ is the scalar curvature and $vol_g$ is the (pseudo-...
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Deriving (Gaussian) curvature bounds from bounds on the metric
I am trying to understand a bound in Christodoulou's 2008 paper on black hole formation.
The paper considers a spacelike surface $S$ diffeomorphic to a sphere, with two metrics:
the induced metric $\...
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Counterexamples to the Penrose Conjecture
I have noticed that in the literature on causality in general relativity one sees apparent counterexamples to the cosmic censorship hypothesis (somehow you have models for gravitational collapse which ...
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Proving the Hawking Area Theorem without Cosmic Censorship
I notice that some of the classic results and theorems in black hole physics from the 1960s like the Hawking area theorem use the cosmic censorship hypothesis at some point in the proofs of the ...
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What are the main contributions to the mathematics of general relativity by Sir Roger Penrose, winner of the 2020 Nobel prize?
I received an email today about the award of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics to Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez. Roger Penrose receives one-half of the prize "for the discovery ...
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Penrose’s singularity theorem
Roger Penrose won today the Nobel Prize in Physics for the singularity theorem, which at first glance seems to be a result in pure mathematics.
Questions about the theorem:
What kind of mathematical ...
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Homotopy types of causal / chronological pathspaces in Lorentzian manifolds?
Let $M$ be a Lorentzian manifold, and let $p,q \in M$. Let $\Pi^J(p,q)$ be the space of causal paths from $p$ to $q$ (in the compact-open topology).
Question 1: Is it reasonable to expect that the ...
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Proving an identity used in general relativity
I need to prove the following identity for scalar field ($\phi:M\rightarrow R$) in curved spacetime without torsion called $M$
$\nabla_{\mu}[\Box \phi \nabla^{\mu}\phi-\frac{1}{2}\nabla^{\mu}(\nabla \...
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On thinking of spacetime as a local Scott domain
An observation of Martin and Panangaden links the study of Lorentzian manifolds and the semantics of programming languages via the theory of Scott domains.
Background:
Recall that if $M$ is a time-...
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Lorentzian cobordism through the dominant energy condition
Is the answer to the following problem, or some close variant thereof, known? Briefly:
Given two initial data sets $I_1=(M,g_1,k_1)$ and $I_2=(M,g_2,k_2)$, is there a time-oriented spacetime ...
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