Physics

It will be argued here that the cosmological constant problem exists because of the way the vacuum is defined in quantum field theory. It has been known for some time that for QFT to be gauge invariant certain terms—such as part of the vacuum polarization tensor must be eliminated either explicitly or by some form of regularization followed by renormalization. It has recently been shown that lack of gauge invariance is a result of the way the vacuum is defined, and redefining the vacuum so that the theory is gauge invariant may also offer a solution to the cosmological constant problem.

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Foundations of Physics Vol. 38, pp. 293-300 (2008).

The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com

http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10701-008-9209-1

Charge, like mass in Newtonian mechanics, is an irreducible element of electromagnetic theory that must be introduced ab initio. Its origin is not properly a part of the theory. Fields are then defined in terms of forces on either masses–in the case of Newtonian mechanics, or charges in the case of electromagnetism. General Relativity changed our way of thinking about the gravitational field by replacing the concept of a force field with the curvature of space-time. Mass, however, remained an irreducible element. It is shown here that the Reissner-Nordstrom solution to the Einstein field equations tells us that charge, like mass, has a unique space-time signature.

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In contrast to the Schwarzschild solution, the infinite red shift surfaces and null surfaces of the Kerr solution to the axially-symmetric Einstein field equations are distinct. Some unusual infinite red shift surfaces for observers following the time-like Killing vector are displayed here for the Kerr and Kerr-Newman solution. Some similarities of the latter to the Reissner-Nordstrom solution are also discussed

arxiv.org/gr-qc/0702114v3

Journal of Physics & Astronomy Vol. 2, Issue 4.

JOPA_InfRedShiftSurf

Physics Letters A Vol. 262, pp. 257-260 (1999)
Coauthor: Charles Nissim-Sabat

Comment on an article by Van Flandern on the speed of gravity. Van Flandern argues that the speed of gravity must be greater than 2 X 10^10 c. We show this is not the case.

SpdGrav 1.pdf SpdGrav 2.pdf SpdGrav 3.pdf SpdGrav 4.pdf

J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 31 (1998) 7077-7094 (PDF)

The topology assumed by most authors for a spacelike hypersurface in a spacetime containing a monopole is generally Euclidean 3-space minus the origin; save for the spherical surface isolating the monopole, this space is unbounded. For such a topology, a consistency relation of de Rham’s theorems shows that a single isolated monopole cannot exist. Monopoles, with charge +/- m, if they exist at all, must occur in pairs having opposite magnetic charge. An extension of de Rham’s theorems to non-Abelian monopoles which are generalizations of Dirac monopoles (those characterized by the first homotopy group of G, the fundamental group of the gauge group G) is made using the definition of an ordered integral of a path-dependent curvature over a surface. This integral is similar to that found in the non-Abelian Stokes theorem. The implications of de Rham’s theorems for non-Abelian monopoles are shown to be similar to the Abelian case.

Phys. Rev. B Vol. 50, p. 571 (1994) (PDF)

A heuristic model of flux flow and vortex cutting that does not imply a build up of longitudinal flux is given for type-II superconducting cylinders carrying a current in the presence of an axial magnetic field.