On the Rigidity Theorem for Spacetimes with a Stationary Event Horizon or a...
Abstract:We consider smooth electrovac spacetimes which represent either (A) an asymptotically flat, stationary black hole or (B) a cosmological spacetime with a compact Cauchy horizon ruled by closed...
View ArticleMorse Theory and Infinite Families¶of Harmonic Maps Between Spheres
Abstract: Existence of an infinite sequence of harmonic maps between spheres of certain dimensions was proven by Bizoń and Chmaj. This sequence shares many features of the Bartnik–McKinnon sequence of...
View ArticleLocal Wick Polynomials and Time Ordered Products¶of Quantum Fields in Curved...
Abstract: In order to have well defined rules for the perturbative calculation of quantities of interest in an interacting quantum field theory in curved spacetime, it is necessary to construct Wick...
View ArticleThe Thermodynamics of Black Holes
AbstractWe review the present status of black hole thermodynamics. Our review includes discussion of classical black hole thermodynamics, Hawking radiation from black holes, the generalized second law,...
View ArticleExistence of Local Covariant Time Ordered Products of Quantum Fields in...
Abstract: We establish the existence of local, covariant time ordered products of local Wick polynomials for a free scalar field in curved spacetime. Our time ordered products satisfy all of the...
View ArticleEssay: An Alternative to Inflation
AbstractInflationary models are generally credited with explaining the large scale homogeneity, isotropy, and flatness of our universe as well as accounting for the origin of structure (i.e., the...
View ArticleOn the Renormalization Group in Curved Spacetime
Abstract: We define the renormalization group flow for a renormalizable interacting quantum field in curved spacetime via its behavior under scaling of the spacetime metric, g→λ2g. We consider...
View ArticleEssay: Quantum Field Theory Is Not Merely Quantum Mechanics Applied to Low...
AbstractIt is commonly assumed that quantum field theory arises by applying ordinary quantum mechanics to the low energy effective degrees of freedom of a more fundamental theory defined at...
View ArticleThe Thermodynamics of Black Holes
AbstractWe review the present status of black hole thermodynamics. Our review includes discussion of classical black hole thermodynamics, Hawking radiation from black holes, the generalized second law,...
View ArticleA Higher Dimensional Stationary Rotating Black Hole Must be Axisymmetric
AbstractA key result in the proof of black hole uniqueness in 4-dimensions is that a stationary black hole that is “rotating”—i.e., is such that the stationary Killing field is not everywhere normal to...
View ArticleQuantum field theory in curved spacetime, the operator product expansion, and...
AbstractTo make sense of quantum field theory in an arbitrary (globally hyperbolic) curved spacetime, the theory must be formulated in a local and covariant manner in terms of locally measurable field...
View ArticleAxiomatic Quantum Field Theory in Curved Spacetime
AbstractThe usual formulations of quantum field theory in Minkowski spacetime make crucial use of features—such as Poincaré invariance and the existence of a preferred vacuum state—that are very...
View ArticleIntroduction to Gravitational Self-Force
AbstractThe motion of a sufficiently small body in general relativity should be accurately described by a geodesic. However, there should be “gravitational self-force” corrections to geodesic motion,...
View ArticleDerivation of Gravitational Self-Force
AbstractWe analyze the issue of “particle motion” in general relativity in a systematic and rigorous way by considering a one-parameter family of metrics corresponding to having a body (or black hole)...
View ArticleThe History and Present Status of Quantum Field Theory in Curved Spacetime
AbstractQuantum field theory in curved spacetime is the theory of quantum fields propagating in a classical curved spacetime. Here the spacetime is described, in accord with general relativity, by a...
View ArticleStability of Black Holes and Black Branes
AbstractWe 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...
View ArticleDynamic and Thermodynamic Stability of Black Holes and Black Branes
AbstractI describe recent work with Stefan Hollands that establishes a new criterion for the dynamical stability of black holes in \(D \ge 4\) spacetime dimensions in general relativity with respect to...
View ArticleBlack Hole Instabilities and Exponential Growth
AbstractRecently, a general analysis has been given of the stability with respect to axisymmetric perturbations of stationary-axisymmetric black holes and black branes in vacuum general relativity in...
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