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NASA NTRS1979

Scale covariance and G-varying cosmology. II - Thermodynamics, radiation, and the 3 K background

Within the framework of a scale-covariant theory of gravitation, a semiclassical description of particles and photons is given. Thermodynamic relations consistent with the modified conservation equations are derived. Application to a system of radiation shows that the observed 3-K background radiation can be interpreted, within the present framework, as a remnant of equilibrium radiation in the past. As the theory postulates a nonstandard coupling between gravitation and electrodynamics, the assumption that Einstein's theory of gravitation is unchanged forces modifications at the atomic level. The use of Minkowskian spacetime in atomic physics is found to be adequate only over small, but not large, time scales compared with the age of the universe. As a result, a relation between energy and the frequency of a free photon is demonstrated. Possible observational consequences of this relation are discussed.

Canuto, V. M.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Statistical analysis of atmospheric turbulence about a simulated block building

An array of towers instrumented to measure the three components of wind speed was used to study atmospheric flow about a simulated block building. Two-point spacetime correlations of the longitudinal velocity component were computed along with two-point spatial correlations. These correlations are in good agreement with fundamental concepts of fluid mechanics. The two-point spatial correlations computed directly were compared with correlations predicted by Taylor's hypothesis and excellent agreement was obtained at the higher levels which were out of the building influence. The correlations fall off significantly in the building wake but recover beyond the wake to essentially the same values in the undisturbed, higher regions.

Steely, S. L., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Particle physics meets cosmology - The search for decaying neutrinos

The fundamental physical implications of the possible detection of massive neutrinos are discussed, with an emphasis on the Grand Unified Theories (GUTs) of matter. The Newtonian and general-relativistic pictures of the fundamental forces are compared, and the reduction of electromagnetic and weak forces to one force in the GUTs is explained. The cosmological consequences of the curved-spacetime gravitation concept are considered. Quarks, leptons, and neutrinos are characterized in a general treatment of elementary quantum mechanics. The universe is described in terms of quantized fields, the noninteractive 'particle' fields and the force fields, and cosmology becomes the study of the interaction of gravitation with the other fields, of the 'freezing out' of successive fields with the expansion and cooling of the universe. While the visible universe is the result of the clustering of the quark and electron fields, the distribution of the large number of quanta in neutrino field, like the mass of the neutrino, are unknown. Cosmological models which attribute anomalies in the observed motions of galaxies and stars to clusters or shells of massive neutrinos are shown to be consistent with a small but nonzero neutrino mass and a universe near the open/closed transition point, but direct detection of the presence of massive neutrinos by the UV emission of their decay is required to verify these hypotheses.

Henry, R. C.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Axially symmetric gravitational two-body problem of Cooperstock, Lim, and Hobill

Cooperstock, Lim, and Hobill have constructed and analyzed a model spacetime describing the head-on free-fall from rest of two fluid balls under their mutual gravitational attraction. These authors find a gravitational radiation energy flux having a different dependence on the parameters of the problem than would be expected on the basis of the quadrupole formula. It is shown that this dependence is due to their having incorrectly solved Einstein's gravitational field equations. The correct solution is consistent with the quadrupole formula.

Walker, M.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Clock synchronization by accelerated observers - Metric construction for arbitrary congruences of world lines

Clock synchronization in an arbitrarily accelerated observer congruence is considered. A general solution is obtained that maintains the isotropy and coordinate independence of the one-way speed of light. Attention is also given to various particular cases including, rotating disk congruence or ring congruence. An explicit, congruence-based spacetime metric is constructed according to Einstein's clock synchronization procedure and the equation for the geodesics of the space-time was derived using Hamilton-Jacobi method. The application of interferometric techniques (absolute phase radio interferometry, VLBI) to the detection of the 'global Sagnac effect' is also discussed.

Henriksen, R. N.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Non-existence of dynamical perturbations of Schwarzschild with vanishing self-dual part

A recent proposal of Ashtekar (1985) for the canonical quantisation of gravity involves a new choice of a (complex) polarisation on the (real) phase space of general relativity. In order for the 'four dimensional' version of Ashtekar's proposal to be viable, it is necessary that for an arbitrary (real) background solution there exist a sufficient number of (complex) solutions of the linearised Einstein equation with perturbed Weyl spinor having vanishing self-dual part. It is shown that this is not the case by explicitly demonstrating that for the Schwarzschild spacetime, aside from stationary perturbations, there are no such linearised solutions which can be expressed as superpositions of modes of real frequencies. The viability of the '3+1 version' of Ashtekar's proposal is not affected by these considerations.

Wald, R. M.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Relativistic effects in astronomical timing measurements

In this paper the relativistic transformations that are necessary to transform the results of earth-based astronomical timing observations from the terrestrial frame in which the observations are made to the proper frame of the astronomical object being observed are derived. Two coordinate systems are considered, the first being the parametrized post-Newtonian coordinate system and the second being a coordinate system based on the use of temps dynamique barycentrique as a time coordinate. Effects due to propagation of signals through curved spacetime and due to the relativistic gravitational time dilation for the earth are derived in each system. The results are then applied to three modern accurate data types spacecraft ranging, pulsar timing, and VLBI. A new effect is found in the analysis of VLBI data, amounting to a rescaling of VLBI-determined baselines produced by the curvature of space in the neighborhood of the sun.

Hellings, R. W.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Rotating wind solution and the acceleration of the cosmic radio jets

A wind-type solution is obtained in an axisymmetric spacetime in the case when matter has angular momentum. An application of the solution in understanding the acceleration of matter in radio jets as it flows along the funnel of a thick accretion disk is suggested. It is observed that the location of the critical point depends strongly upon the angular momentum of the wind. Apart from the usual acceleration of matter due to the expansion of the flow tube, the energy due to the rotational motion is found to contribute to the poloidal motion, hence enhancing the flow speed.

Chakrabarti, S. K.↗

NASA NTRS1986

A general, gauge-invariant analysis of the cosmic microwave anisotropy

A general, gauge-invariant analysis of the large-scale anisotropies in the cosmic background radiation produced by arbitrary scalar, vector, or tensor perturbations in open, closed, or flat Robertson-Walker spacetimes (with no cosmological constant) is presented. The multipole moment predictions for the scale invariant spectrum and Omega = 1 universe predicted by inflationary cosmologies are contrasted with those for other spectra and for open and closed universes. Using the measured value of the dipole moment, limits are set on the expected value of the quadrupole moment as a function of Omega for various spectra.

Abbott, L. F.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Generation of fluctuations in cosmological models

The initial production of classical matter fluctuations in a scalar quantum field theory in curved spacetime is discussed. It is shown how quantum fluctuations generate classical matter inhomogeneities, and that the resulting spectrum is scale invariant. The relevant events that occur before the scale leaves the Hubble radius are studied.

Brandenberger, Robert H.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Pulsar timing and general relativity

Techniques are described for accounting for relativistic effects in the analysis of pulsar signals. Design features of instrumentation used to achieve millisecond accuracy in the signal measurements are discussed. The accuracy of the data permits modeling the pulsar physical characteristics from the natural glitches in the emissions. Relativistic corrections are defined for adjusting for differences between the pulsar motion in its spacetime coordinate system relative to the terrestrial coordinate system, the earth's motion, and the gravitational potentials of solar system bodies. Modifications of the model to allow for a binary pulsar system are outlined, including treatment of the system as a point mass. Finally, a quadrupole model is presented for gravitational radiation and techniques are defined for using pulsars in the search for gravitational waves.

Backer, D. C.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Ambiguities in the definition of quasilocal mass

For a small surface in a vacuum spacetime, some components of the kinematic twistor are nonzero at the fifth order in the diameter of the surface even though, according to Penrose's (1986) modified construction, the leading term in the quasi-local mass m(p) is sixth order (or higher). This implies that the leading term in m(p) cannot be defined independently of higher-order terms in the twistor norm.

Woodhouse, N. M. J.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Raychaudhuri equation in the self-consistent Einstein-Cartan theory with spin-density

The physical implications of the Raychaudhuri equation for a spinning fluid in a Riemann-Cartan spacetime is developed and discussed using the self-consistent Lagrangian based formulation for the Einstein-Cartan theory. It was found that the spin-squared terms contribute to expansion (inflation) at early times and may lead to a bounce in the final collapse. The relationship between the fluid's vorticity and spin angular velocity is clarified and the effect of the interaction terms between the spin angular velocity and the spin in the Raychaudhuri equation investigated. These results should prove useful for studies of systems with an intrinsic spin angular momentum in extreme astrophysical or cosmological problems.

Fennelly, A. J.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Inflation in anisotropic scalar-tensor theories

The existence of an inflationary phase in anisotropic Scalar-Tensor Theories is investigated by means of a conformal transformation that allows us to rewrite these theories as gravity minimally coupled to a scalar field with a nontrivial potential. The explicit form of the potential is then used and the No Hair Theorem concludes that there is an inflationary phase in all open or flat anisotropic spacetimes in these theories. Several examples are constructed where the effect becomes manifest.

Pimentel, Luis O.↗

NASA NTRS1990

The spectra of weakly magnetized neutron stars

The continuum spectrum of a rotating equatorial emitting region on the surface of an accreting neutron star is investigated within the Schwarzschild spacetime. It is found that the dominant general relativistic effect is the increase in apparent emission area from the neutron star surface due to gravitational light bending. For typical neutron star parameters, the apparent area of the accretion belt is remarkably independent of the viewing angle and, hence, the contribution for a boundary layer to the total X-ray luminosity is found to depend only weakly on the inclination angle of the binary system. For a blackbody spectrum in the local rest frame of the emitting surface, the distortion of the spectral shape by longitudinal and transverse Doppler shifts is minimal for neutron stars rotating at periods greater than about 2 ms. It is shown that the failure to detect a blackbody component from the weakly magnetized neutron star surface in some X-ray burst sources during their quiescent state may be related to the presence of temperature variations along the vertical extent of the boundary layer.

Fu, Albert↗

NASA NTRS1990

Space distribution of extragalactic sources - Cosmology versus evolution

Alternative cosmologies have been recurrently invoked to explain in terms of global spacetime structure the apparent large increase, with increasing redshift, in the average luminosity of active galactic nuclei. These models interestingly seek to avoid the complexities of the canonical interpretation in terms of intrinsic population evolutions in a Friedmann universe. However, a problem of consistency for these cosmologies is pointed out, since they have to include also other classes of extragalactic sources, such as clusters of galaxies and BL Lac objects, for which there is preliminary evidence of a different behavior.

Cavaliere, A.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Phase transitions triggered by quantum fluctuations in the inflationary universe

The dynamics of a second-order phase transition during inflation, which is induced by time-variation of spacetime curvature, is studied as a natural mechanism to produce topological defects of typical grand unification scales such as cosmic strings or global textures. It is shown that their distribution is almost scale-invariant with small- and large-scale cutoffs. Also discussed is how these cutoffs are given.

Nagasawa, Michiyasu↗

NASA NTRS1991

Closed timelike curves produced by pairs of moving cosmic strings - Exact solutions

Exact solutions of Einstein's field equations are presented for the general case of two moving straight cosmic strings that do not intersect. The solutions for parallel cosmic strings moving in opposite directions show closed timelike curves (CTCs) that circle the two strings as they pass, allowing observers to visit their own past. Similar results occur for nonparallel strings, and for masses in (2+1)-dimensional spacetime. For finite string loops the possibility that black-hole formation may prevent the formation of CTCs is discussed.

Gott, J. Richard, III↗