General static spherically symmetric solutions in Horava gravity

We derive general static spherically symmetric solutions in the Horava theory of gravity with nonzero shift field. These represent "hedgehog" versions of black holes with radial "hair" arising from the shift field. For the case of the standard de Witt kinetic term (lambda =1) there is an infinity of solutions that exhibit a deformed version of reparametrization invariance away from the general relativistic limit. Special solutions also arise in the anisotropic conformal point lambda = 1/3.Comment: References adde

Hawking radiation from dynamical horizons

In completely local settings, we establish that a dynamically evolving black hole horizon can be assigned a Hawking temperature. Moreover, we calculate the Hawking flux and show that the radius of the horizon shrinks.Comment: 5 Page

Stability of BTZ black strings

We study the dynamical stability of the BTZ black string against fermonic and gravitational perturbations. The BTZ black string is not always stable against these perturbations. There exist threshold values for $m^2$ related to the compactification of the extra dimension for fermonic perturbation, scalar part of the gravitational perturbation and the tensor perturbation, respectively. Above the threshold values, perturbations are stable; while below these thresholds, perturbations can be unstable. We find that this non-trivial stability behavior qualitatively agrees with that predicted by a thermodynamical argument, showing that the BTZ black string phase is not the privileged stable phase.Comment: 9 pages, revised version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Simple observations concerning black holes and probability

It is argued that black holes and the limit distributions of probability theory share several properties when their entropy and information content are compared. In particular the no-hair theorem, the entropy maximization and holographic bound, and the quantization of entropy of black holes have their respective analogues for stable limit distributions. This observation suggests that the central limit theorem can play a fundamental role in black hole statistical mechanics and in a possibly emergent nature of gravity.Comment: 6 pages Latex, final version. Essay awarded "Honorable Mention" in the Gravity Research Foundation 2009 Essay Competitio

Negative Pressure and Naked Singularities in Spherical Gravitational Collapse

Assuming the weak energy condition, we study the nature of the non-central shell-focussing singularity which can form in the gravitational collapse of a spherical compact object in classical general relativity. We show that if the radial pressure is positive, the singularity is covered by a horizon. For negative radial pressures, the singularity will be covered if the ratio of pressure to the density is greater than -1/3 and naked if this ratio is $\leq -1/3$.Comment: 7 pages, LaTeX Fil

Gauss-Bonnet black holes with non-constant curvature horizons

We investigate static and dynamical n(\ge 6)-dimensional black holes in Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity of which horizons have the isometries of an (n-2)-dimensional Einstein space with a condition on its Weyl tensor originally given by Dotti and Gleiser. Defining a generalized Misner-Sharp quasi-local mass that satisfies the unified first law, we show that most of the properties of the quasi-local mass and the trapping horizon are shared with the case with horizons of constant curvature. It is shown that the Dotti-Gleiser solution is the unique vacuum solution if the warp factor on the (n-2)-dimensional Einstein space is non-constant. The quasi-local mass becomes constant for the Dotti-Gleiser black hole and satisfies the first law of the black-hole thermodynamics with its Wald entropy. In the non-negative curvature case with positive Gauss-Bonnet constant and zero cosmological constant, it is shown that the Dotti-Gleiser black hole is thermodynamically unstable. Even if it becomes locally stable for the non-zero cosmological constant, it cannot be globally stable for the positive cosmological constant.Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure; v2, discussion clarified and references added; v3, published version; v4, Eqs.(4.22)-(4.24) corrected, which do not change Eqs.(4.25)-(4.27

Matter instability in modified gravity

The Dolgov-Kawasaki instability discovered in the matter sector of the modified gravity scenario incorporating a 1/R correction to Einstein gravity is studied in general f(R) theories. A stability condition is found in the metric version of these theories to help ruling out models that are unviable from the theoretical point of view.Comment: 4 pages, revtex, to appear in Phys. Rev. D. In the revised version, an error concerning the Palatini version of these theories has been corrected and the references update

A Rigorous Derivation of Electromagnetic Self-force

During the past century, there has been considerable discussion and analysis of the motion of a point charge, taking into account "self-force" effects due to the particle's own electromagnetic field. We analyze the issue of "particle motion" in classical electromagnetism in a rigorous and systematic way by considering a one-parameter family of solutions to the coupled Maxwell and matter equations corresponding to having a body whose charge-current density $J^a(\lambda)$ and stress-energy tensor $T_{ab} (\lambda)$ scale to zero size in an asymptotically self-similar manner about a worldline $\gamma$ as $\lambda \to 0$. In this limit, the charge, $q$, and total mass, $m$, of the body go to zero, and $q/m$ goes to a well defined limit. The Maxwell field $F_{ab}(\lambda)$ is assumed to be the retarded solution associated with $J^a(\lambda)$ plus a homogeneous solution (the "external field") that varies smoothly with $\lambda$. We prove that the worldline $\gamma$ must be a solution to the Lorentz force equations of motion in the external field $F_{ab}(\lambda=0)$. We then obtain self-force, dipole forces, and spin force as first order perturbative corrections to the center of mass motion of the body. We believe that this is the first rigorous derivation of the complete first order correction to Lorentz force motion. We also address the issue of obtaining a self-consistent perturbative equation of motion associated with our perturbative result, and argue that the self-force equations of motion that have previously been written down in conjunction with the "reduction of order" procedure should provide accurate equations of motion for a sufficiently small charged body with negligible dipole moments and spin. There is no corresponding justification for the non-reduced-order equations.Comment: 52 pages, minor correction

Global Extensions of Spacetimes Describing Asymptotic Final States of Black Holes

We consider a globally hyperbolic, stationary spacetime containing a black hole but no white hole. We assume, further, that the event horizon, \tn, of the black hole is a Killing horizon with compact cross-sections. We prove that if surface gravity is non-zero constant throughout the horizon one can {\it globally} extend such a spacetime so that the image of $\cal N$ is a proper subset of a regular bifurcate Killing horizon in the enlarged spacetime. The necessary and sufficient conditions are given for the extendibility of matter fields to the enlarged spacetime. These conditions are automatically satisfied if the spacetime is static (and, hence ``$t$"-reflection symmetric) or stationary-axisymmetric with ``$t-\phi$" reflection isometry and the matter fields respect the reflection isometry. In addition, we prove that a necessary and sufficient condition for the constancy of the surface gravity on a Killing horizon is that the exterior derivative of the twist of the horizon Killing field vanish on the horizon. As a corollary of this, we recover a result of Carter that constancy of surface gravity holds for any black hole which is static or stationary- axisymmetric with the ``$t-\phi$" reflection isometry. No use of Einstein's equation is made in obtaining any of the above results. Taken together, these results support the view that any spacetime representing the asymptotic final state of a black hole formed by gravitational collapse may be assumed to possess a bifurcate Killing horizon or a Killing horizon with vanishing surface gravity.Comment: 20 pages, plain te