Seminar

The Characteristics of Lovelock Theories

By
Benson Way (DAMTP, Cambridge University)
Date
Place
Aula 507
seminar ICCUB
Lovelock theories are natural higher-curvature alternatives to general relativity in more than four space-time dimensions. In these theories, gravity may travel faster or slower than light. We investigate the characteristic surfaces which govern causal structure and find that hyperbolicity can be violated near the horizon of certain black hole solutions. We also demonstrate that, unlike GR, disturbances propagating along characteristic surfaces can form shocks, where the back of a wavefront catches up to the front.