We provide a prescription to compute the gravitational multipole moments of compact objects for asymptotically de Sitter spacetimes. Our prescription builds upon a recent definition of the gravitational multipole moments in terms of Noether charges associated to specific vector fields, within the residual harmonic gauge, dubbed multipole symmetries. We first derive the multipole symmetries for spacetimes which are asymptotically de Sitter; we also show that these symmetry vector fields eliminate the non-propagating degrees of freedom from the linearized gravitational wave equation in a suitable gauge. We then apply our prescription to the Kerr-de Sitter black hole and compute its multipole structure. Our result recovers the Geroch-Hansen moments of the Kerr black hole in the limit of vanishing cosmological constant.
The deflection and gravitational lensing of light and massive particles in arbitrary static, spherically symmetric and asymptotically (anti-)de Sitter spacetimes are considered in this work. We first proved that for spacetimes whose metric satisfying certain conditions, the deflection of null rays with fixed closest distance will not depend on the cosmological constant $Lambda$, while that of timelike signals and the apparent angle in gravitational lensing still depend on $Lambda$. A two-step perturbative method is then developed to compute the change of the angular coordinate and total travel time in the weak field limit. The results are quasi-series of two small quantities, with the finite distance effect of the source/detector naturally taken into account. These results are verified by applying to some known de Sitter spacetimes. Using an exact gravitational lensing equation, we solved the apparent angles of the images and time delays between them and studied the effect of $Lambda$ on them. It is found that generally, a small positive $Lambda$ will decrease the apparent angle of images from both sides of the lens and increase the time delay between them. The time delay between signals from the same side of the lens but with different energy however, will be decreased by $Lambda$.
In this work, we present a numerical scheme to study the quasinormal modes of the time-dependent Vaidya black hole metric in asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetime. The proposed algorithm is primarily based on a generalized matrix method for quasinormal modes. The main feature of the present approach is that the quasinormal frequency, as a function of time, is obtained by a generalized secular equation and therefore a satisfactory degree of precision is achieved. The implications of the results are discussed.
We use planar coordinates as well as hyperbolic coordinates to separate the de Sitter spacetime into two parts. These two ways of cutting the de Sitter give rise to two different spatial infinities. For spacetimes which are asymptotic to either half of the de Sitter spacetime, we are able to provide definitions of the total energy, the total linear momentum, the total angular momentum, respectively. And we prove two positive mass theorems, corresponding to these two sorts of spatial infinities, for spacelike hypersurfaces whose mean curvatures are bounded by certain constant from above.
We discuss dynamics of massive Klein-Gordon fields in two-dimensional Anti-de Sitter spacetimes ($AdS_2$), in particular conserved quantities and non-modal instability on the future Poincare horizon called, respectively, the Aretakis constants and the Aretakis instability. We find out the geometrical meaning of the Aretakis constants and instability in a parallel-transported frame along a null geodesic, i.e., some components of the higher-order covariant derivatives of the field in the parallel-transported frame are constant or unbounded at the late time, respectively. Because $AdS_2$ is maximally symmetric, any null hypersurfaces have the same geometrical properties. Thus, if we prepare parallel-transported frames along any null hypersurfaces, we can show that the same instability emerges not only on the future Poincare horizon but also on any null hypersurfaces. This implies that the Aretakis instability in $AdS_2$ is the result of singular behaviors of the higher-order covariant derivatives of the fields on the whole $AdS$ infinity, rather than a blow-up on a specific null hypersurface. It is also discussed that the Aretakis constants and instability are related to the conformal Killing tensors. We further explicitly demonstrate that the Aretakis constants can be derived from ladder operators constructed from the spacetime conformal symmetry.
We discuss several aspects of quantum field theory of a scalar field in a Friedmann universe, clarifying and highlighting several conceptual and technical issues. (A) We show that one can map the dynamics of (1) a massless scalar field in a universe with power law expansion to (2) a massive scalar field in the de Sitter spacetime, which allows us to understand several features of either system and clarifies several issues related to the massless limit. (B) We obtain a useful integral representation for the Euclidean Greens function for the de Sitter spacetime, by relating it to the solution of a hypothetical electrostatic problem in five dimensions. This is helpful in the study of several relevant limits. (C) We recover that in any Friedmann universe, sourced by a negative pressure fluid, the Wightman function for a massless scalar field is divergent. This shows that the divergence of Wightman function for the massless field in the de Sitter spacetime is just a special, limiting, case of this general phenomenon. (D) We provide a generally covariant procedure for defining the power spectrum of vacuum fluctuations in terms of the different Killing vectors present in the spacetime. This allows one to study the interplay of the choice of vacuum state and the nature of the power spectrum in different coordinate systems, in the de Sitter universe, in a unified manner. (Truncated Abstract; see the paper for full Abstract.)