We apply the 1+1+2 covariant approach to describe a general static and spherically symmetric relativistic stellar object which contains two interacting fluids. We then use the 1+1+2 equations to derive the corresponding Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff (TOV) equations in covariant form in the isotropic, non-interacting case. These equations are used to obtain new exact solutions by means of direct resolution and reconstruction techniques. Finally, we show that the generating theorem known for the single fluid case can also be used to obtain two-fluid solutions from single fluid ones.
We introduce a rigorous and general framework to study systematically self-gravitating elastic materials within general relativity, and apply it to investigate the existence and viability, including radial stability, of spherically symmetric elastic stars. We present the mass-radius ($M-R$) diagram for various families of models, showing that elasticity contributes to increase the maximum mass and the compactness up to a ${cal O}(10%)$ factor, thus supporting compact stars with mass well above two solar masses. Some of these elastic stars can reach compactness as high as $GM/(c^2R)approx 0.35$ while remaining stable under radial perturbations and satisfying all energy conditions and subluminal wave propagation, thus being physically viable models of stars with a light ring. We provide numerical evidence that radial instability occurs for central densities larger than that corresponding to the maximum mass, as in the perfect-fluid case. Elasticity may be a key ingredient to build consistent models of exotic ultracompact objects and black-hole mimickers, and can also be relevant for a more accurate modelling of the interior of neutron stars.
It might seem that a choice of a time coordinate in Hamiltonian formulations of general relativity breaks the full four-dimensional diffeomorphism covariance of the theory. This is not the case. We construct explicitly the complete set of gauge generators for Ashtekars formulation of canonical gravity. The requirement of projectability of the Legendre map from configuration-velocity space to phase space renders the symmetry group a gauge transformation group on configuration-velocity variables. Yet there is a sense in which the full four-dimensional diffeomorphism group survives. Symmetry generators serve as Hamiltonians on members of equivalence classes of solutions of Einsteins equations and are thus intimately related to the so-called problem of time in an eventual quantum theory of gravity.
We implement a spatially fixed mesh refinement under spherical symmetry for the characteristic formulation of General Relativity. The Courant-Friedrich-Levy (CFL) condition lets us deploy an adaptive resolution in (retarded-like) time, even for the nonlinear regime. As test cases, we replicate the main features of the gravitational critical behavior and the spacetime structure at null infinity using the Bondi mass and the News function. Additionally, we obtain the global energy conservation for an extreme situation, i.e. in the threshold of the black hole formation. In principle, the calibrated code can be used in conjunction with an ADM 3+1 code to confirm the critical behavior recently reported in the gravitational collapse of a massless scalar field in an asymptotic anti-de Sitter spacetime. For the scenarios studied, the fixed mesh refinement offers improved runtime and results comparable to code without mesh refinement.
We construct explicitly generators of projectable four-dimensional diffeomorphisms and triad rotation gauge symmetries in a model of vacuum gravity where the fundamental dynamical variables in a Palatini formulation are taken to be a lapse, shift, densitized triad, extrinsic curvature, and the time-like components of the Ricci rotation coefficient. Time-foliation-altering diffeomorphisms are not by themselves projectable under the Legendre transformations. They must be accompanied by a metric- and triad-dependent triad rotation. The phase space on which these generators act includes all of the gauge variables of the model.
We consider two most popular definitions of velocities of remote objects in General Relativity. Our work has two motivations. From a research point of view, we generalize the formula connecting these two velocities in FRW metrics found by Chodorowski to arbitrary synchronous spherically symmetric metrics. From a methodological point of view, our goal is to outline certain counter-intuitive properties of the definitions in question, which would allow to use them when it is reasonable and to avoid incorrect statements, based on inappropriate use of intuition.