Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

2017

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Miller, Warner A.

Abstract

One of the most fundamental problems in classical general relativity is the measure of e↵ective mass of a pure gravitational field. The principle of equivalence prohibits a purely local measure of this mass. This thesis critically examines the most recent quasi-local measure by Wang and Yau for a maximally rotating black hole spacetime. In particular, it examines a family of spacelike 2-surfaces with constant radii in Boyer-Lindquist coordinates. There exists a critical radius r* below which, the Wang and Yau quasi-local energy has yet to be explored. In this region, the results of this thesis indicate that the Wang and Yau quasi-local energy yields complex values and is essentially equivalent to the previously defined Brown and York quasi-local energy. However, an application of their quasi-local mass is suggested in a dynamical setting, which can potentially give new and meaningful measures. In supporting this thesis, the development of a novel adiabatic isometric mapping algorithm is included. Its purpose is to provide the isometric embedding of convex 2-surfaces with spherical topology into Euclidean 3-space necessary for completing the calculation of quasilocal energy in numerical relativity codes. The innovation of this algorithm is the guided adiabatic pull- back routine. This uses Ricci flow and Newtons method to give isometric embeddings of piecewise simplicial 2-manifolds, which allows the algorithm to provide accuracy of the edge lengths up to a user set tolerance.

Extent

88 p.

Comments

Includes bibliography.|Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2017.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Includes bibliography.

Identifier

FA00004865

Format

pdf

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