Cosmological Milestones and Gravastars - Topics in General Relativity

<p>In this thesis, we consider two different problems relevant to general relativity. Overthe last few years, opinions on physically relevant singularities occurring in FRWcosmologies have considerably changed. We present an extensive catalogue of suchcosmological milestones using generalized power series both at the kinematical anddynamical level. We define the notion of “scale factor singularity” and explore its relationto polynomial and differential curvature singularities. We also extract dynamicalinformation using the Friedmann equations and derive necessary and sufficient conditionsfor the existence of cosmological milestones such as big bangs, big crunches, bigrips, sudden singularities and extremality events. Specifically, we provide a completecharacterization of cosmological milestones for which the dominant energy conditionis satisfied. The second problem looks at one of the very small number of seriousalternatives to the usual concept of an astrophysical black hole, that is, the gravastarmodel developed by Mazur and Mottola. By considering a generalized class of similarmodels with continuous pressure (no infinitesimally thin shells) and negative centralpressure, we demonstrate that gravastars cannot be perfect fluid spheres: anisotropcpressures are unavoidable. We provide bounds on the necessary anisotropic pressureand show that these transverse stresses that support a gravastar permit a higher compactnessthan is given by the Buchdahl–Bondi bound for perfect fluid stars. We alsocomment on the qualitative features of the equation of state that such gravastar-likeobjects without any horizon must have.</p>

Cosmological Milestones and Gravastars - Topics in General Relativity

<p>In this thesis, we consider two different problems relevant to general relativity. Overthe last few years, opinions on physically relevant singularities occurring in FRWcosmologies have considerably changed. We present an extensive catalogue of suchcosmological milestones using generalized power series both at the kinematical anddynamical level. We define the notion of “scale factor singularity” and explore its relationto polynomial and differential curvature singularities. We also extract dynamicalinformation using the Friedmann equations and derive necessary and sufficient conditionsfor the existence of cosmological milestones such as big bangs, big crunches, bigrips, sudden singularities and extremality events. Specifically, we provide a completecharacterization of cosmological milestones for which the dominant energy conditionis satisfied. The second problem looks at one of the very small number of seriousalternatives to the usual concept of an astrophysical black hole, that is, the gravastarmodel developed by Mazur and Mottola. By considering a generalized class of similarmodels with continuous pressure (no infinitesimally thin shells) and negative centralpressure, we demonstrate that gravastars cannot be perfect fluid spheres: anisotropcpressures are unavoidable. We provide bounds on the necessary anisotropic pressureand show that these transverse stresses that support a gravastar permit a higher compactnessthan is given by the Buchdahl–Bondi bound for perfect fluid stars. We alsocomment on the qualitative features of the equation of state that such gravastar-likeobjects without any horizon must have.</p>

Application of curvatures to airborne gravity gradient data in oil exploration

We apply equipotential surface curvatures to airborne gravity gradient data. The mean and differential curvature of the equipotential surface, the curvature of the gravity field line, the zero contour of the Gaussian curvature, and the shape index improve the understanding and geologic interpretation of gravity gradient data. Their use is illustrated in model data and applied to FALCON airborne gravity gradiometer data from the Canning Basin, Australia.

Non linear inversion of gravity gradients and the GGI gradiometer

All gradiometers currently operating for exploration in the field are based on Lockheed Martin’s GGI gradiometer. The working of this gradiometer is described and a method for robust non linear inversion of gravity gradients is presented. The inversion method involves obtaining the gradient response of a trial body consisting of vertical rectangular prisms. The inversion adjusts the depth to the tops or bases of the prisms. In the trial model all the prisms are not required to have the same area of cross section or the same density (which can also be allowed to vary with depth). The depth to the tops and bottoms of each prism can also be different. This response is compared with the observed values of gradient and through an iterative procedure, the difference is minimized in a least square sense to arrive at a best fitting model by varying the position of the tops or bottoms of the prisms. Each gradient can be individually inverted or one or more gradients can be jointly inverted. The method is extended to invert gravity values individually or jointly with gradient values. The use of Differential Curvature, a quantity which is directly obtained by current gradiometers in use and which is an invariant under a rotation in the horizontal plane, is emphasized. Synthetic examples as well as a field example of inversion are given.