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We prove two results which are relevant for constructing marginally outer trapped tubes (MOTTs) in de Sitter spacetime. The first one holds more generally, namely for spacetimes satisfying the null convergence condition and containing a timelike conformal Killing vector with a "temporal function". We show that all marginally outer trapped surfaces (MOTSs) in such a spacetime are unstable. This prevents application of standard results on the propagation of stable MOTSs to MOTTs. On the other hand, it was shown recently that, for every sufficiently high genus, there exists a smooth, complete family of CMC surfaces embedded in the round 3-sphere S3. This family connects a Lawson minimal surface with a doubly covered geodesic 2-sphere. We show by a simple scaling argument that this result translates to an existence proof for complete MOTTs with CMC sections in de Sitter spacetime. Moreover, the area of these sections increases strictly monotonically. We compare this result with an area law obtained before for holographic screens., Comment: 15 pages

This is the first in a series of two papers where we analyze the transverse expansion of the metric on a general null hypersurface. In this paper we obtain general geometric identities relating the transverse derivatives of the ambient Ricci tensor and the transverse expansion of the metric at the null hypersurface. We also explore the case where the hypersurface exhibits a generalized symmetry generator, namely a privileged vector field in the ambient space which, at the hypersurface, is null and tangent (including the possibility of zeroes). This covers the Killing, homothetic, or conformal horizon cases, and, more generally, any situation where detailed information on the deformation tensor of the symmetry generator is available. Our approach is entirely covariant, independent on any field equations, and does not make any assumptions regarding the topology or dimension of the null hypersurface. As an application we prove that the full transverse expansion of the spacetime metric at a non-degenerate Killing horizon (also allowing for bifurcation surfaces) is uniquely determined in terms of abstract data on the horizon and the tower of derivatives of the ambient Ricci tensor at the horizon. In particular, the transverse expansion of the metric in $\Lambda$-vacuum spacetimes admitting a non-degenerate horizon is uniquely determined in terms of abstract data at the horizon., Comment: 42 pages

In this work, we study null hypersurfaces admitting a privileged vector field $\eta$ which is null and tangent at the hypersurface. We derive an identity that relates the deformation tensor of $\eta$ with tensor fields codifying the intrinsic and extrinsic geometry of the hypersurface. This is done without imposing restrictions either on the topology of the hypersurface or on the (possibly empty) subset of points where $\eta$ vanishes. We introduce a generalized notion of surface gravity $\kappa$ that extends smoothly the usual one to the fixed points. We also analyze the properties of the Lie derivative of the Levi-Civita connection along $\eta$. This analysis allows us to introduce three new notions of abstractly defined horizons (i.e. not necessarily viewed as embedded submanifolds) that we then compare with the standard concepts of non-expanding, weakly isolated and isolated horizons. The former generalize the latter to completely general topologies and to horizons admitting fixed points. Finally, we study the structure of the fixed points on these new horizons., Comment: 23 pages

We introduce and study the notion of null manifold. This is a smooth manifold ${\mathcal N}$ endowed with a degenerate metric $\gamma$ with one-dimensional radical at every point. We also define the notion of ruled null manifold, which is a special case of null manifolds. We prove that ruled null manifolds are in one-to-one correspondence with equivalence classes of null metric hypersurface data. This correspondence is used to endow any null manifold $({\mathcal N},\gamma)$ with a family of torsion-free connections related to each other by a well-defined gauge group. The whole construction allows one to define and use geometric notions on arbitrary null manifolds. The paper has a second part where we introduce a canonical map on any null metric hypersurface data and use its algebraic properties to define a canonical decomposition of any symmetric (0,2)-covariant tensor. This decomposition, together with two new differential operators compatible with this splitting, are used to decompose the constraint tensor in full generality and at the purely abstract level. This leads to a hierarchical structure of the (detached) Einstein vacuum null constraint equations without the need of introducing special coordinates or special foliations. The results are applied to study null shells arising from the matching of two spacetimes across null boundaries. The equations governing such objects are obtained in hierarchical form without imposing any topological, gauge or coordinate conditions on the shell., Comment: 34 pages, no figures

The notions of (metric) hypersurface data were introduced in [Mars,2013] as a tool to analyze, from an abstract viewpoint, hypersurfaces of arbitrary signature in pseudo-riemannian manifolds. In this paper, general geometric properties of these notions are studied. In particular, the properties of the gauge group inherent to the geometric construction are analyzed and the metric hypersurface connection and its corresponding curvature tensor are studied. The results set up the stage for various potential applications. The particular but relevant case of spherical symmetry is considered in detail. In particular, a collection of gauge invariant quantities and a radial covariant derivative is introduced, such that the constraint equations of the Einstein field equations with matter can be written in a very compact form. The general solution of these equations in the vacuum case and Lorentzian ambient signature is obtained, and a generalization of the Birkhoff theorem to this abstract hypersurface setting is derived., Comment: 31 pages, no figures

We show that bifurcate Killing horizons with closed torsion form, in spacetimes of arbitrary dimension satisfying a Ricci-structure condition, arise from static Killing vectors. The result applies in particular to $\Lambda$-vacuum spacetimes., Comment: 20 pages, no figures

The formalism of hypersurface data is a framework to study hypersurfaces of any causal character abstractly (i.e. without the need of viewing them as embedded in an ambient space). In this paper we exploit this formalism to study the general problem of matching two spacetimes in a fully abstract manner, as this turns out to be advantageous over other approaches in several respects. We then concentrate on the case when the boundaries are null and prove that the whole matching is determined by a diffeomorphism $\varphi$ on the abstract data set. By exploiting the gauge structure of the formalism we find explicit expressions for the gravitational/matter-energy content of any null thin shell. The results hold for arbitrary topology. A particular case of interest is when more than one matching is allowed. Assuming that one such matchings has already been solved, we provide explicit expressions for the gravitational/matter-energy content of any other shell in terms of the known one. This situation covers, in particular, all cut-and-paste constructions, where one can simply take as known matching the trivial re-attachment of the two regions. We include, as an example, the most general matching of two regions of the (anti-)de Sitter or Minkowski spacetime across a totally geodesic null hypersurface., Comment: 35 pages

In this work we provide a definition of the constraint tensor of a null hypersurface data which is completely explicit in the extrinsic geometry of the hypersurface. The definition is fully covariant and applies for any topology of the hypersurface. For data embedded in a spacetime, the constraint tensor coincides with the pull-back of the ambient Ricci tensor. As applications of the results, we find three geometric quantities on any transverse submanifold $S$ of the data with remarkably simple gauge behaviour, and prove that the restriction of the constraint tensor to $S$ takes a very simple form in terms of them. We also obtain an identity that generalizes the standard near horizon equation of isolated horizons to totally geodesic null hypersurfaces with any topology. Finally, we prove that when a null hypersurface has product topology, its extrinsic curvature can be uniquely reconstructed from the constraint tensor plus suitable initial data on a cross-section., Comment: 28 pages

Our aim in this paper is two-fold. We establish a novel geometric characterization of the Roberson-Walker (RW) spacetime and, along the process, we find a canonical form of the RW metric associated to an arbitrary timelike curve and an arbitrary space frame. A known characterization establishes that a spacetime foliated by constant curvature leaves whose orthogonal flow (the cosmological flow) is geodesic, shear-free, and with constant expansion on each leaf, is RW. We generalize this characterization by relaxing the condition on the expansion. We show it suffices to demand that the spatial gradient and Laplacian of the expansion on a single arbitrary timelike curve vanish. In General Relativity these local conditions are equivalent to demanding that the energy flux measured by the cosmological flow, as well as its divergence, are zero on a single arbitrary timelike curve. The proof allows us to construct canonically adapted coordinates to the arbitrary curve, thus well-fitted to an observer with an arbitrary motion with respect to the cosmological flow., Comment: 29 pages, no figures. Added references and included some further discussion on the result. Version matches the published version

The characteristic Cauchy problem of the Einstein field equations has been recently addressed from a completely abstract viewpoint by means of hypersurface data and, in particular, via the notion of double null data. However, this definition was given in a partially gauge-fixed form. In this paper we generalize the notion of double null data in a fully diffeomorphism and gauge covariant way, and show that the definition is complete by proving that no extra conditions are needed to embed the double null data in some spacetime. The second aim of the paper is to show that the characteristic Cauchy problem satisfies a geometric uniqueness property. Specifically, we introduce a natural notion of isometry at the abstract level such that two double null data that are isometric in this sense give rise to isometric spacetimes., Comment: 36 pages, 1 figure

The standard method of proving analyticity of stationary vacuum metrics invokes the quotient-space version of Einstein equations. We verify that the same conclusion can be obtained using the KID equations on maximal surfaces., Comment: 11 pages, no figures

We obtain a coordinate independent algorithm to determine the class of conformal Killing vectors of a locally conformally flat $n$-metric $\gamma$ of signature $(r,s)$ modulo conformal transformations of $\gamma$. This is done in terms of endomorphisms in the pseudo-orthogonal Lie algebra $\mathfrak{o}(r+1,s+1)$ up to conjugation of the its group $O(r+1,s+1)$. The explicit classification is worked out in full for the Riemannian $\gamma$ case ($r = 0, s = n$). As an application of this result, we prove that the set of five dimensional, $(\Lambda>0)$-vacuum, algebraically special metrics with non-degenerate optical matrix, previously studied by Bernardi de Freitas, Godazgar and Reall, is in one-to-one correspondence with the metrics in the Kerr-de Sitter-like class. This class exists in all dimensions and its defining properties involve only properties at $\mathscr{I}$. The equivalence between two seemingly unrelated classes of metrics points towards interesting connections between the algebraically special type of the bulk spacetime and the conformal geometry at null infinity, Comment: 25 pages, 3 figures

General hypersurfaces of any causal character can be studied abstractly using the hypersurface data formalism. In the null case, we write down all tangential components of the ambient Ricci tensor in terms of the abstract data. Using this formalism, we formulate and solve in a completely abstract way the characteristic Cauchy problem of the Einstein vacuum field equations. The initial data is detached from any spacetime notion, and it is fully diffeomorphism and gauge covariant. The results of this paper put the characteristic problem on a similar footing as the standard Cauchy problem in General Relativity., Comment: The presentation of the proof of Theorem 7.15 has been improved. Several typos has been amended. Some long computations has been moved to appendices

Null shells are a useful geometric construction to study the propagation of infinitesimally thin concentrations of massless particles or impulsive waves. After recalling the necessary and sufficient conditions obtained in [28] that allow for the matching of two spacetimes with null embedded hypersurfaces as boundaries, we will address the problem of matching across Killing horizons of zero order in the case when the symmetry generators are to be identified. The results are substantially different depending on whether the boundaries are non-degenerate or degenerate, and contain or not fixed points (in particular, in the former case the shells have zero pressure but non-vanishing energy density and energy flux in general). We will present the explicit form of the so-called step function in each situation. We will then concentrate on the case of actual Killing horizons admitting a bifurcation surface, where a complete description of the shell and its energy-momentum tensor can be obtained. We will conclude particularizing to the matching of two spacetimes with spherical, plane or hyperbolic symmetry without imposing this symmetry on the shell itself., Comment: 38 pages, 2 figures

Using asymptotic characterization results of spacetimes at conformal infinity, we prove that Kerr-Schild-de Sitter spacetimes are in one-to-one correspondence with spacetimes in the Kerr-de Sitter-like class with conformally flat $\mathscr{I}$. Kerr-Schild-de Sitter are spacetimes of Kerr-Schild form with de Sitter background that solve the $(\Lambda>0)$-vacuum Einstein equations and admit a smooth conformal compactification sharing $\mathscr{I}$ with the background metric. Kerr-de Sitter-like metrics with conformally flat $\mathscr{I}$ are a generalization of the Kerr-de Sitter metrics, defined originally in four spacetime dimensions and extended here to all dimensions in terms of their initial data at null infinity. We explicitly construct all metrics in this class as limits or analytic extensions of Kerr-de Sitter. The structure of limits is inferred from corresponding limits of the asymptotic data, which appear to be hard to guess from the spacetime metrics., Comment: 46 pages, 1 figure

We study the free data in the Fefferman-Graham expansion of asymptotically Einstein metrics with non-zero cosmological constant. We prove that if $\mathscr{I}$ is conformally flat, the rescaled Weyl tensor at $\mathscr{I}$ agrees up to a constant with the free data at $\mathscr{I}$ , namely the traceless part of the $n$-th order coefficient of the expansion. In the non-conformally flat case, the rescaled Weyl tensor is generically divergent at $\mathscr{I}$ but one can still extract the free data in terms of the difference of the Weyl tensors of suitably constructed metrics, in full generality when the spacetime dimension $D$ is even and provided the so-called obstruction tensor at $\mathscr{I}$ is identically zero when $D$ is odd. These results provide a geometric definition of the data, particularly relevant for the asymptotic Cauchy problem of even dimensional Einstein metrics with positive $\Lambda$ and also for the odd dimensional analytic case irrespectively of the sign of $\Lambda$. We establish a Killing initial data equation at spacelike $\mathscr{I}$ in all dimension for analytic data. These results are used to find a geometric characterization of the Kerr-de Sitter metrics in all dimensions in terms of its geometric data at null infinity., Comment: 25 pages, matches published version

We show the existence of families of orthonormal, future directed bases which allow to cast every skew-symmetric endomorphism of $\mathbb{M}^{1,n}$ ($\mathrm{SkewEnd}(\mathbb{M}^{1,n})$) in a single canonical form depending on a minimal number of parameters. This canonical form is shared by every pair of elements in $\mathrm{SkewEnd}(\mathbb{M}^{1,n})$ differing by an orthochronous Lorentz transformation, i.e. it defines the orbits of the orthochronous Lorentz group under the adjoint action on its algebra. Using this form, we obtain the quotient topology of $\mathrm{SkewEnd}(\mathbb{M}^{1,n})/O^+(1,n)$. From known relations between $\mathrm{SkewEnd}(\mathbb{M}^{1,n})$ and the conformal Killing vector fields (CKVFs) of the sphere $\mathbb{S}^n$, a canonical form for CKVFs follows immediately. This form is used to find adapted coordinates to an arbitrary CKVF that covers all cases at the same time. We do the calculation for even $n$ and obtain the case of odd $n$ as a consequence. Finally, we employ the adapted coordinates to obtain a wide class of TT-tensors for $n=3$, which provide Cauchy data at conformally flat null infinity $\mathscr{I}$. Specifically, this class of data is characterized for generating $\Lambda>0$-vacuum spacetimes with two-symmetries, one of which axial, admitting a conformally flat $\mathscr{I}$. The class of data is infinite dimensional, depending on two arbitrary functions of one variable as well as a number of constants. Moreover, it contains the data for the Kerr-de Sitter spacetime, which we explicitly identify within., Comment: 45 pages, 2 figures

Existence and uniqueness of rotating fluid bodies in equilibrium is still poorly understood in General Relativity (GR). Apart from the limiting case of infinitely thin disks, the only known global results in the stationary rotating case (Heilig [14] and Makino [21] [arXiv:1705.07392]) show existence in GR nearby a Newtonian configuration (under suitable additional restrictions). In this work we prove existence and uniqueness of rigidly (slowly) rotating fluid bodies in equilibrium to second order in perturbation theory in GR. The most widely used perturbation framework to describe slowly rigidly rotating stars in the strong field regime is the Hartle-Thorne model. The model involves a number of hypotheses, some explicit, like equatorial symmetry or that the perturbation parameter is proportional to the rotation, but some implicit, particularly on the structure and regularity of the perturbation tensors and the conditions of their matching at the surface. In this work, with basis on the gauge results obtained in [25], the Hartle-Thorne model is fully derived from first principles and only assuming that the perturbations describe a rigidly rotating finite perfect fluid ball (with no layer at the surface) with the same barotropic equation of state as the static ball. Rigidly rotating fluid balls are analyzed consistently in second order perturbation theory by imposing only basic differentiability requirements and boundedness. Our results prove in particular that, at this level of approximation, the spacetime must be indeed equatorially symmetric and is fully determined by two parameters, namely the central pressure and the uniform angular velocity of the fluid., Comment: 81 pages, no figures

Perturbation theory in geometric theories of gravitation is a gauge theory of symmetric tensors defined on a Lorentzian manifold (the background spacetime). The gauge freedom makes uniqueness problems in perturbation theory particularly hard as one needs to understand in depth the process of gauge fixing before attempting any uniqueness proof. This is the first paper of a series of two aimed at deriving an existence and uniqueness result for rigidly rotating stars to second order in perturbation theory in General Relativity. A necessary step is to show the existence of a suitable choice of gauge and to understand the differentiability and regularity properties of the resulting gauge tensors in some "canonical form", particularly at the centre of the star. With a wider range of applications in mind, in this paper we analyse the fixing and regularity problem in a more general setting. In particular we tackle the problem of the Hodge-type decomposition into scalar, vector and tensor components on spheres of symmetric and axially symmetric tensors with finite differentiability down to the origin, exploiting a strategy in which the loss of differentiability is as low as possible. Our primary interest, and main result, is to show that stationary and axially symmetric second order perturbations around static and spherically symmetric background configurations can indeed be rendered in the usual "canonical form" used in the literature while loosing only one degree of differentiability and keeping all relevant quantities bounded near the origin., Comment: 60 pages, no figures

In Class. Quantum Grav. 35 (2018) 155015 we have introduced the notion of "Multiple Killing Horizon" and analyzed some of its general properties. Multiple Killing Horizons are Killing horizons for two or more linearly independent Killing vectors simultaneously. In this paper we focus on the vacuum case, possibly with cosmological constant, and study the emergence of Multiple Killing Horizons in terms of characteristic initial value problems for two transversally intersecting null hypersurfaces. As a relevant outcome, a more general definition of Near Horizon Geometry is put forward. This new definition avoids the use of Gaussian null coordinates associated to the corresponding degenerate Killing vector and thereby allows for inclusion of its fixed points., Comment: 43 pages

Near Horizon Geometries with multiply degenerate Killing horizons $\mathcal{H}$ are considered, and their degenerate Killing vector fields identified. We prove that they all arise from hypersurface-orthogonal Killing vectors of any cut of $\mathcal{H}$ with the inherited metric -- cuts are spacelike co-dimension two submanifolds contained in $\mathcal{H}$. For each of these Killing vectors on a given cut, there are three different possibilities for the Near Horizon metric which are presented explicitly. The structure of the metric for Near Horizon Geometries with multiple Killing horizons of order $m\geq 3$ is thereby completely determined, and in particular we prove that the cuts on $\mathcal{H}$ must be warped products with maximally symmetric fibers (ergo of constant curvature). The question whether multiple degenerate Killing horizons may lead to inequivalent Near Horizon Geometries by using different degenerate Killings is addressed, and answered on the negative: all Near Horizon geometries built from a given multiple degenerate Killing horizon (using different degenerate Killings) are isometric., Comment: 29 pages

Killing horizons which can be such for two or more linearly independent Killing vectors are studied. We provide a rigorous definition and then show that the set of Killing vectors sharing a Killing horizon is a Lie algebra $\mathcal{A}_{\mathcal{H}}$ of dimension at most the dimension of the spacetime. We prove that one cannot attach different surface gravities to such multiple Killing horizons, as they have an essentially unique non-zero surface gravity (or none). $\mathcal{A}_{\mathcal{H}}$ always contains an Abelian (sub)-algebra ---whose elements all have vanishing surface gravity--- of dimension equal to or one less than dim $\mathcal{A}_{\mathcal{H}}$. There arise only two inequivalent possibilities, depending on whether or not there exists the non-zero surface gravity. We show the connection with Near Horizon geometries, and also present a linear system of PDEs, the master equation, for the proportionality function on the horizon between two Killing vectors of a multiple Killing horizon, with its integrability conditions. We provide explicit examples of all possible types of multiple Killing horizons, as well as a full classification of them in maximally symmetric spacetimes., Comment: 41 pages

We consider the limit $a\rightarrow \infty$ of the Kerr-de Sitter spacetime. The spacetime is a Petrov type-D solution of the vacuum Einstein field equations with a positive cosmological constant $\Lambda$, vanishing Mars-Simon tensor and conformally flat scri. It possesses an Abelian 2-dimensional group of symmetries whose orbits are spacelike or timelike in different regions, and it includes, as a particular case, de Sitter spacetime. The global structure of the solution is analyzed in detail, with particular attention to its Killing horizons: they are foliated by non-compact marginally trapped surfaces of finite area, and one of them `touches' the curvature singularity, which resembles a null 2-dimensional surface. Outside the region between these horizons there exist trapped surfaces that again are non-compact. The solution contains, apart from $\Lambda$, a unique free parameter which can be related to the angular momentum of the non-singular horizon in a precise way. A maximal extension of the (axis of the) spacetime is explicitly built. We also analyze the structure of scri, whose topology is $\mathbb{R}^3$., Comment: 24 pages

We show that, away from the axis of symmetry, no continuous degeneration exists between the shadows of observers at any point in the exterior region of any Kerr-Newman black hole spacetime of unit mass. Therefore, except possibly for discrete changes, an observer can, by measuring the black holes shadow, determine the angular momentum and the charge of the black hole under observation, as well as the observer's radial position and angle of elevation above the equatorial plane. Furthermore, his/her relative velocity compared to a standard observer can also be measured. On the other hand, the black hole shadow does not allow for a full parameter resolution in the case of a Kerr-Newman-Taub-NUT black hole, as a continuous degeneration relating specific angular momentum, electric charge, NUT charge and elevation angle exists in this case., Comment: 23 pages, 0 figures

We provide a classification of $\Lambda>0$-vacuum spacetimes which admit a Killing vector field with respect to which the associated "Mars-Simon tensor" (MST) vanishes and having a conformally flat $\mathcal{J}^-$ (or $\mathcal{J}^+$). To that end, we also give a complete classification of conformal Killing vector fields on the $3$-sphere $\mathbb{S}^3$ up to M\"obius transformations shedding light on the two fundamental constants that characterize the family of Kerr-de Sitter-like spacetimes, which turn out to be well-defined geometrical invariants. The topology of $\mathcal{J}$ is determined in every case, and a characterization result at $\mathcal{J}$ of the Kerr-de Sitter family presented., Comment: 63 pages

An exhaustive list of four-dimensional $\Lambda$-vacuum spacetimes admitting a Killing vector whose self-dual Killing two-form ${\cal F}$ is null is obtained assuming that the self-dual Weyl tensor is proportional to the tensor product of ${\cal F}$ by itself. Our analysis complements previous results concerning the case with non-null ${\cal F}$. We analyze both cases with $\Lambda$ vanishing or not. In the latter case we prove that $\Lambda< 0$ must hold necessarily, and we find a characterization of the Einstein spacetimes conformal to pp-waves. In the former case we obtain spacetime characterizations of vacuum plane waves and of the stationary vacuum Brinkmann spacetimes. At the light of the full set of results, old and new, we reformulate the case with non-null ${\cal F}$ and $\Lambda= 0$. We finally present a table collecting the results for both null, and non-null, ${\cal F}$., Comment: 31 pages, one Table, no figures

We investigate solutions $(\mathcal{M}, g)$ to Einstein's vacuum field equations with positive cosmological constant $\Lambda$ which admit a smooth past null infinity $\mathcal{J}^-$ \`a la Penrose and a Killing vector field whose associated Mars-Simon tensor (MST) vanishes. The main purpose of this work is to provide a characterization of these spacetimes in terms of their Cauchy data on $\mathcal{J}^-$. Along the way, we also study spacetimes for which the MST does not vanish. In that case there is an ambiguity in its definition which is captured by a scalar function $Q$. We analyze properties of the MST for different choices of $Q$. In doing so, we are led to a definition of "asymptotically Kerr-de Sitter-like spacetimes", which we also characterize in terms of their asymptotic data on $\mathcal{J}^-$., Comment: 49 pages. v2: Revised version with some changes with respect to the published paper in order to amend a mistake in the statements of theorems 4 and 6 in arXiv:1307.5018v2 (corrected in v3). The validity of all results remains unaltered

The null Penrose inequality, i.e. the Penrose inequality in terms of the Bondi energy, is studied by introducing a funtional on surfaces and studying its properties along a null hypersurface $\Omega$ extending to past null infinity. We prove a general Penrose-type inequality which involves the limit at infinity of the Hawking energy along a specific class of geodesic foliations called Geodesic Asymptotic Bondi (GAB), which are shown to always exist. Whenever, this foliation approaches large spheres, this inequality becomes the null Penrose inequality and we recover the results of Ludvigsen-Vickers and Bergqvist. By exploiting further properties of the functional along general geodesic foliations, we introduce an approach to the null Penrose inequality called Renormalized Area Method and find a set of two conditions which implies the validity of the null Penrose inequality. One of the conditions involves a limit at infinity and the other a condition on the spacetime curvature along the flow. We investigate their range of applicability in two particular but interesting cases, namely the shear-free and vacuum case, where the null Penrose inequality is known to hold from the results by Sauter, and the case of null shells propagating in the Minkowski spacetime. Finally, a general inequality bounding the area of the quasi-local black hole in terms of an asymptotic quantity intrinsic of $\Omega$ is derived., Comment: 32 pages, 0 figures

In this work we obtain the limit of the Hawking energy of a large class of foliations along general null hypersurfaces $\Omega$ satisfying a weak notion of asymptotic flatness. The foliations are not required to be either geodesic or approaching large spheres at infinity. The limit is obtained in terms of a reference background geodesic foliation approaching large spheres and a positive function, constant along the null generators on $\Omega$, which describes the relation between the two foliations at infinity. The integrand in the limit expression has interesting covariance and invariance properties with respect to change of background foliation. The standard result that the Hawking energy tends to the Bondi energy under suitable circumstances is recovered in this framework., Comment: 29 pages, no figures

We describe a method to analyze causal geodesics in static and spherically symmetric spacetimes of Kerr-Schild form which, in particular, allows for a detailed study of the geodesics in the vicinity of the central singularity by means of a regularization procedure based on a generalization of the McGehee regularization for the motion of Newtonian point particles moving in a power-law potential. The McGehee regularization was used by Belbruno and Pretorius to perform a dynamical system regularization of the central singularity of the motion of massless test particles in the Schwarzschild spacetime. Our generalization allows us to consider causal (timelike or null) geodesics in any static and spherically symmetric spacetime of Kerr-Schild form. As an example, we apply these results to causal geodesics in the Schwarzschild and Reissner-Nordstr\"om spacetimes., Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. To appear in the Proceedings of the Spanish Relativity Meeting 2014

The McGehee regularization is a method to study the singularity at the origin of the dynamical system describing a point particle in a plane moving under the action of a power-law potential. It was used by Belbruno and Pretorius to perform a dynamical system regularization of the singularity at the center of the motion of massless test particles in the Schwarzschild spacetime. In this paper, we generalize the McGehee transformation so that we can regularize the singularity at the origin of the dynamical system describing the motion of causal geodesics (timelike or null) in any stationary and spherically symmetric spacetime of Kerr-Schild form. We first show that the geodesics for both massive and massless particles can be described globally in the Kerr-Schild spacetime as the motion of a Newtonian point particle in a suitable radial potential and study the conditions under which the central singularity can be regularized using an extension of the McGehee method. As an example, we apply these results to causal geodesics in the Schwarzschild and Reissner-Nordstr\"om spacetimes. Interestingly, the geodesic trajectories in the whole maximal extension of both spacetimes can be described by a single two-dimensional phase space with non-trivial topology. This topology arises from the presence of excluded regions in the phase space determined by the condition that the tangent vector of the geodesic be causal and future directed., Comment: LaTeX file, 37 pages, 11 figures

In this sequel paper we give a shorter, second proof of the monotonicity of the Hawking mass for time flat surfaces under spacelike uniformly area expanding flows in spacetimes that satisfy the dominant energy condition. We also include a third proof which builds on a known formula and describe a class of sufficient conditions of divergence type for the monotonicity of the Hawking mass. These flows of surfaces may have connections to the problem in general relativity of bounding the total mass of a spacetime from below by the quasi-local mass of spacelike 2-surfaces in the spacetime., Comment: 19 pages, 1 figure

The Penrose inequality in Minkowski is a geometric inequality relating the total outer null expansion and the area of closed, connected and spacelike codimension-two surfaces S in the Minkowski spacetime, subject to an additional convexity assumption. In a recent paper, Brendle and Wang find a sufficient condition for the validity of this Penrose inequality in terms of the geometry of the orthogonal projection of S onto a constant time hyperplane. In this work, we study the geometry of hypersurfaces in n-dimensional euclidean space which are normal graphs over other surfaces and relate the intrinsic and extrinsic geometry of the graph with that of the base hypersurface. These results are used to rewrite Brendle and Wang's condition explicitly in terms of the time height function of S over a hyperplane and the geometry of the projection of S along its past null cone onto this hyperplane. We also include, in an Appendix, a self-contained summary of known and new results on the geometry of projections along the Killing direction of codimension two-spacelike surfaces in a strictly static spacetime., Comment: 15 pages, 1 figure, Latex

A characterization of the Kerr-NUT-(A)de Sitter metric among four dimensional \Lambda-vacuum spacetimes admitting a Killing vector is obtained in terms of the proportionality of the self-dual Weyl tensor and a natural self-dual double two-form constructed from the Killing vector. This result recovers and extends a previous characterization of the Kerr and Kerr-NUT metrics. The method of proof is based on (i) the presence of a second Killing vector field which is built in terms of geometric information arising from the previous Killing vector exclusively, and (ii) the existence of an interesting underlying geometric structure involving a Riemannian submersion of a conformally related metric, both of which may be of independent interest., Comment: 43 pages. No figures. v2: Statement of main theorem added in the Introduction. Section 4 divided into subsections. Minor additional changes. v3: Theorems 1 and 6 corrected to include a hypothesis that was not made explicit in version v1 and v2 and in the published paper. Relevant changes are highlighted in blue color. Some typos also amended

The Einstein-Straus model consists of a Schwarzschild spherical vacuole in a Friedman-Lema\^{\i}tre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) dust spacetime (with or without \Lambda). It constitutes the most widely accepted model to answer the question of the influence of large scale (cosmological) dynamics on local systems. The conclusion drawn by the model is that there is no influence from the cosmic background, since the spherical vacuole is static. Spherical generalizations to other interior matter models are commonly used in the construction of lumpy inhomogeneous cosmological models. On the other hand, the model has proven to be reluctant to admit non-spherical generalizations. In this review, we summarize the known uniqueness results for this model. These seem to indicate that the only reasonable and realistic non-spherical deformations of the Einstein-Straus model require perturbing the FLRW background. We review results about linear perturbations of the Einstein-Straus model, where the perturbations in the vacuole are assumed to be stationary and axially symmetric so as to describe regions (voids in particular) in which the matter has reached an equilibrium regime., Comment: 29 pages, 1 figure

Hypersurfaces of arbitrary causal character embedded in a spacetime are studied with the aim of extracting necessary and sufficient free data on the submanifold suitable for reconstructing the spacetime metric and its first derivative along the hypersurface. The constraint equations for hypersurfaces of arbitrary causal character are then computed explicitly in terms of this hypersurface data, thus providing a framework capable of unifying, and extending, the standard constraint equations in the spacelike and in the characteristic cases to the general situation. This may have interesting applications in well-posedness problems more general than those already treated in the literature. As a simple application of the constraint equations for general hypersurfaces, we derive the field equations for shells of matter when no restriction whatsoever on the causal character of the shell is imposed., Comment: 34 pages, no figures

Global properties of maximal future Cauchy developments of stationary, m-dimensional asymptotically flat initial data with an outer trapped boundary are analyzed. We prove that, whenever the matter model is well posed and satisfies the null energy condition, the future Cauchy development of the data is a black hole spacetime. More specifically, we show that the future Killing development of the exterior of a sufficiently large sphere in the initial data set can be isometrically embedded in the maximal Cauchy development of the data. In the static setting we prove, by working directly on the initial data set, that all Killing prehorizons are embedded whenever the initial data set has an outer trapped boundary and satisfies the null energy condition. By combining both results we prove a uniqueness theorem for static initial data sets with outer trapped boundary., Comment: 38 pages, 2 figures, Latex

Closed sections of totally geodesic null hypersurfaces are marginally outer trapped surfaces (MOTS), for which a well-defined notion of stability exists. In this paper we obtain the explicit form for the stability operator for such MOTS and analyze in detail its properties in the particular case of non-evolving horizons, which include both isolated and Killing horizons. We link these stability properties with the surface gravity of the horizon and/or to the existence of minimal sections. The results are used, in particular, to obtain an area-angular momentum inequality for sections of axially symmetric horizons in four spacetime dimensions, which helps clarifying the relationship between two different approaches to this inequality existing in the literature., Comment: 29 pages, no figures

A particular, yet relevant, particular case of the Penrose inequality involves null shells propagating in the Minkowski spacetime. Despite previous claims in the literature, the validity of this inequality remains open. In this paper we rewrite this inequality in terms of the geometry of the surface obtained by intersecting the past null cone of the original surface S with a constant time hyperplane and the "time height" function of S over this hyperplane. We also specialize to the case when S lies in the past null cone of a point and show the validity of the corresponding inequality in any dimension (in four dimensions this inequality was proved by Tod). Exploiting properties of convex hypersurfaces in Euclidean space we write down the Penrose inequality in the Minkowski spacetime of arbitrary dimension n+2 as an inequality for two smooth functions on the sphere. We finally obtain a sufficient condition for the validity of the Penrose inequality in the four dimensional Minkowski spacetime and show that this condition is satisfied by a large class of surfaces., Comment: 25 pages, 2 figures, Latex

Marginally outer trapped surfaces are widely considered as the best quasi-local replacements for event horizons of black holes in General Relativity. However, this equivalence is far from being proved, even in stationary and static situations. In this paper we study an important aspect of this equivalence, namely whether classic uniqueness theorems of static black holes can be extended to static spacetimes containing weakly outer trapped surfaces or not. Our main theorem states that, under reasonable hypotheses, a static spacetime satisfying the null energy condition and containing an asymptotically flat initial data set, possibly with boundary, which possesses a bounding weakly outer trapped surface is a unique spacetime. A related result to this theorem was given in arXiv:0711.1299, where we proved that no bounding weakly outer trapped surface can penetrate into the exterior region of the initial data where the static Killing vector is timelike. In this paper, we also fill some gaps in arXiv:0711.1299 and extend this confinement result to initial data sets with boundary., Comment: 30 pages, 9 figures

By considering suitable axially symmetric slices on the Kruskal spacetime, we construct counterexamples to a recent version of the Penrose inequality in terms of so-called generalized apparent horizons., Comment: 12 pages. Appendix added with technical details. To appear in Classical and Quantum Gravity

The Penrose inequality gives a lower bound for the total mass of a spacetime in terms of the area of suitable surfaces that represent black holes. Its validity is supported by the cosmic censorship conjecture and therefore its proof (or disproof) is an important problem in relation with gravitational collapse. The Penrose inequality is a very challenging problem in mathematical relativity and it has received continuous attention since its formulation by Penrose in the early seventies. Important breakthroughs have been made in the last decade or so, with the complete resolution of the so-called Riemannian Penrose inequality and a very interesting proposal to address the general case by Bray and Khuri. In this paper, the most important results on this field will be discussed and the main ideas behind their proofs will be summarized, with the aim of presenting what is the status of our present knowledge in this topic., Comment: 54 pages, 3 figures, to be submitted as a Topical Review to Classical and Quantum Gravity

We study properties of stable, strictly stable and locally outermost marginally outer trapped surfaces in spacelike hypersurfaces of spacetimes possessing certain symmetries such as isometries, homotheties and conformal Killings. We first obtain results for general diffeomorphisms in terms of the so-called metric deformation tensor and then particularize to different types of symmetries. In particular, we find restrictions at the surfaces on the vector field generating the symmetry. Some consequences are discussed. As an application we present a result on non-existence of stable marginally outer trapped surfaces in slices of FLRW., Comment: 23 pages, 3 figures

In previous work we have shown the existence of a dynamical horizon or marginally trapped tube (MOTT) containing a given strictly stable marginally outer trapped surface (MOTS). In this paper we show some results on the global behavior of MOTTs assuming the null energy condition. In particular we show that MOTSs persist in the sense that every Cauchy surface in the future of a given Cauchy surface containing a MOTS also must contain a MOTS. We describe a situation where the evolving outermost MOTS must jump during the coalescence of two seperate MOTSs. We furthermore characterize the behavior of MOTSs in the case that the principal eigenvalue vanishes under a genericity assumption. This leads to a regularity result for the tube of outermost MOTSs under the genericity assumption. This tube is then smooth up to finitely many jump times. Finally we discuss the relation of MOTSs to singularities of a space-time., Comment: 21 pages. This revision corrects some typos and contains more detailed proofs than the original version

We derive the linearly perturbed matching conditions between a Schwarzschild spacetime region with stationary and axially symmetric perturbations and a FLRW spacetime with arbitrary perturbations. The matching hypersurface is also perturbed arbitrarily and, in all cases, the perturbations are decomposed into scalars using the Hodge operator on the sphere. This allows us to write down the matching conditions in a compact way. In particular, we find that the existence of a perturbed (rotating, stationary and vacuum) Schwarzschild cavity in a perturbed FLRW universe forces the cosmological perturbations to satisfy constraints that link rotational and gravitational wave perturbations. We also prove that if the perturbation on the FLRW side vanishes identically, then the vacuole must be perturbatively static and hence Schwarzschild. By the dual nature of the problem, the first result translates into links between rotational and gravitational wave perturbations on a perturbed Oppenheimer-Snyder model, where the perturbed FLRW dust collapses in a perturbed Schwarzschild environment which rotates in equilibrium. The second result implies in particular that no region described by FLRW can be a source of the Kerr metric., Comment: LaTeX; 29 pages

We show that some types of sudden singularities admit a natural explanation in terms of regular changes of signature on brane-worlds in AdS$_{5}$. The present accelerated expansion of the Universe and its possible ending at a sudden singularity may therefore simply be an indication that our braneworld is about to change its Lorentzian signature to an Euclidean one, while remaining fully regular. An explicit example of this behaviour satisfying the weak and strong energy conditions is presented., Comment: LaTeX, 4 pages. Uses the eas.cls class. To appear in the proceedings of the Spanish Relativity Meeting ERE'07

In this paper we prove that for any spacelike hypersurface containing an untrapped barrier in a stationary spacetime satisfying the null energy condition, any marginally outer trapped surface cannot lie in the exterior region where the stationary Killing vector is timelike. In the static case we prove that any marginally outer trapped surface cannot penetrate into the exterior region where the static Killing vector is timelike. In fact, we prove these result at an initial data level, without even assuming existence of a spacetime. The proof relies on a powerful theorem by Andersson and Metzger on existence of an outermost marginally outer trapped surface., Comment: 22 pages, 3 figures; 1 reference added, 1 figure changed, other minor changes

We show that regular changes of signature on brane-worlds in AdS bulks may account for some types of the recently fashionable sudden singularities. Therefore, the possibility that the Universe seems to approach a future sudden singularity at an accelerated rate of expansion might simply be an indication that our braneworld is about to change from Lorentzian to Euclidean signature. Both the brane and the bulk remain fully regular everywhere. We present a model in which the weak and strong energy conditions hold on the brane, in contrast with the standard cosmologies leading to the analogous kinematical behaviour (that is, with a diverging Hubble factor)., Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure. Minor improvements in abstract and main text. New title and new reference added. To be published in PRD