Category Archives: Referees’ recommendations

Referees’ recommendations are short entries written by the referees of high quality papers published in CQG.

Non-CMC solutions to the Einstein constraint equations on asymptotically Euclidean manifolds with apparent horizon boundaries

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Juan A. Valiente Kroon

Juan A. Valiente Kroon works on various aspects of mathematical Relativity and, in particular, on applications of conformal methods to analyse the global properties of spacetimes.

The construction of physically realistic data for the Einstein field equations is one of the great challenges of the Cauchy problem in General Relativity. In this paper C. Meier and M. Holst show how to construct solutions to the constraint equations of General Relativity representing data which will evolve, assuming that a certain form of weak cosmic censorship holds, into a spacetime containing one or more black holes.

The most studied procedure for solving the constraint equations is the so-called conformal method. This approach can be traced back to the pioneering work of Continue reading →

A unified description of the second order cosmological density contrast

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In this paper the authors introduce a new way of expressing the relativistic density contrast of matter perturbations in four commonly used gauges, both at first and second orders.

Julien Larena

Dr Julien Larena is a senior lecturer in the Department of Mathematics at Rhodes University, South Africa. His research is centred on relativistic corrections to cosmology, tests of the Copernican principle, and the backreaction issue in cosmology.

This new method is very interesting, since it provides a unified treatment of the density contrast in the various gauges, thus allowing a straightforward comparison of results obtained by other authors in different gauges. This should be useful when computing non-trivial effects such as the properties Continue reading →

A spacetime route to positive mass

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Brien Nolan

Brien Nolan is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Mathematical Sciences, Dublin City University

This paper provides an important, unexpected and very satisfying route to positivity of mass in General Relativity. It shows positivity of the Trautman-Bondi mass in a way that avoids both the heavy differential geometric machinery of the work of Schoen and Yau, and the Continue reading →

Continuous symmetries in discrete space?

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Martin Bojowald

Martin Bojowald is a Professor of Physics at Pennsylvania State University, PA,
USA

Violating Lorentz symmetries can be dangerous. A new model assesses this threat in loop quantum gravity.

Discrete space is attractive in quantization attempts of gravity, but it implies the great danger of violating Lorentz transformations. Any approach must show that modifications of symmetries by discrete space are tame enough for predictions to be consistent with continuum low-energy physics. In the CQG paper, Sandipan Sengupta constructs an encouraging model using Continue reading →

High-order fully general-relativistic hydrodynamics: new approaches and tests

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Pablo Laguna

Pablo Laguna is the Chair of the School of Physics at Georgia Tech

As we approach the era of gravitational-wave astrophysics driven by observations, it is imperative to have general-relativistic hydrodynamic codes capable of revealing in exquisite detail phenomena driven by strong dynamical gravity.

In this paper, Radice, Rezzolla and Galeazzi introduce a new approach to build a code, called WhiskyTHC, with the potential to help deliver that. The new approach borrows elements from the Whisky and Template Hydrodynamics codes. The Whisky code is widely used by the numerical relativity community, and the Continue reading →

Non-orientability constrains couplings in 2+1 quantum gravity

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Jorma Louko

Jorma Louko is an Associate Professor in Applied Mathematics at the School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Nottingham

2+1 gravity is topological even without spacetime orientability, and quantisable for selected couplings

General relativity in four and more spacetime dimensions has local dynamical degrees of  freedom, as manifested for example in gravitational waves. In three spacetime dimensions,  by contrast, Einstein’s equations preclude local dynamics but allow still dynamics in the  global properties. This makes (2+1)-dimensional general relativity a dynamically simple but geometrically interesting arena for quantising gravity. Continue reading →