Related papers: On the conjectured gravity-related collapse rate $…
This paper is an extended version of a talk at the conference Constrained Dynamics and Quantum Gravity QG99. It reviews some work on the quantum collapse of the spherically symmetric gravitating thin shell of zero rest mass. Recent results…
We analyze the requirements to test some of the most paradigmatic collapse models with a protocol that prepares quantum superpositions of massive objects. This consists of coherently expanding the wave function of a ground-state-cooled…
We review the out-of-equilibrium properties of a self-gravitating gas of particles in the presence of a strong friction and a random force (canonical gas). We assume a bare diffusion coefficient of the form $D(\rho)=T\rho^{1/n}$, where…
A underlying dynamical structure for both relativity and quantum theory-``superrelativity'' has been proposed in order to overcome the well known incompatibility between these theories. The relationship between curvature of spacetime…
We study a spherical gravitational collapse of a small mass in higher derivative and ghost free theories of gravity. By boosting a solution of linearized equations for a static point mass in such theories we obtain in the Penrose limit the…
This thesis deals with critical collapse of a massless scalar field coupled to Einstein's equations in spherical symmetry. The system is numerically investigated from both global and local points of view using a characteristic slicing and…
Using a collapsing matter model at the center of an expanding universe as described by Weinberg we assume a special type of generated pressure. This pressure transmits into the surrounding expanding universe. Under certain restriction the…
We study classical and quantum self-similar collapses of a massless scalar field in higher dimensions, and examine how the increase in the number of dimensions affects gravitational collapse and black hole formation. Higher dimensions seem…
We give a characterization of the central shell-focusing curvature singularity that can form in the spherical gravitational collapse of a bounded matter distribution obeying the dominant energy condition. This characterization is based on…
The paper discusses a collapse of a self-interacting electrically charged scalar field in the decoupling limit of the dilatonic Gauss-Bonnet gravity. The emerging spacetimes were either non-singular or singular and containing black holes of…
The concept of a superposition is a revolutionary novelty introduced by Quantum Mechanics. If a system may be in any one of two pure states x and y, we must consider that it may also be in any one of many superpositions of x and y. An…
Spherical collapse predicts that a single value of the turnaround density (average matter density within the scale on which a structure detaches from the Hubble flow) characterizes all cosmic structures at the same redshift. It has been…
A critique of the singularity theorems of Penrose, Hawking, and Geroch is given. It is pointed out that a gravitationally collapsing black hole acts as an ultrahigh energy particle accelerator that can accelerate particles to energies…
A gravity-induced approach to wavefunction collapse based on semiclassical gravity is enhanced by the hypothesis of a temporally expanding spacetime, which leads to a collapse model that can resolve the conflict between quantum nonlocality…
Recently proposed ``table-top tests of quantum gravity'' involve creating, separating and recombining superpositions of masses at non-relativistic speeds. The general expectation is that these generate superpositions of gravitational fields…
A quantum theory of spherically symmetric thin shells of null dust and their gravitational field is studied. In Nucl. Phys. 603 (2001) 515 (hep-th/0007005), it has been shown how superpositions of quantum states with different geometries…
A longstanding conjecture by Belinskii, Khalatnikov, and Lifshitz that the singularity in generic gravitational collapse is spacelike, local, and oscillatory is explored analytically and numerically in spatially inhomogeneous cosmological…
Supermassive disks are thought to be precursors of supermassive black holes that are believed to power quasars and exist at centers of galaxies. Formation scenarios of such disks are reviewed and it is argued that gas dynamical schemes are…
A thought experiment is considered on observation of instantaneous collapse of an extended wave packet. According to relativity of simultaneity, such a collapse being instantaneous in some reference frame must be a lasting process in other…
We consider a randomly forced particle moving in a finite region, which rebounds inelastically with coefficient of restitution r on collision with the boundaries. We show that there is a transition at a critical value of r, r_c\equiv…