Effect of an arbitrary spin orientation on the quadrupolar structure of an extended body in a Schwarzschild spacetime

The influence of an arbitrary spin orientation on the quadrupolar structure of an extended body moving in a Schwarzschild spacetime is investigated. The body dynamics is described by the Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon model, without any restriction on the motion or simplifying assumption on the associated spin vector and quadrupole tensor, generalizing previous works.

Weitzenböck's torsion, Fermi coordinates, and adapted frames

We study Weitzenböck's torsion and discuss its properties. Specifically, we calculate the measured components of Weitzenböck's torsion tensor for a frame field adapted to static observers in a Fermi normal coordinate system that we establish along the world line of an arbitrary accelerated observer in general relativity. A similar calculation is carried out in the standard Schwarzschild-like coordinates for static observers in the exterior Kerr spacetime; we then compare our results with the corresponding curvature components.

Slicing black hole spacetimes

A general framework is developed to investigate the properties of useful choices of stationary spacelike slicings of stationary spacetimes whose congruences of timelike orthogonal trajectories are interpreted as the world lines of an associated family of observers, the kinematical properties of which in turn may be used to geometrically characterize the original slicings.

Dynamics of extended bodies in a Kerr spacetime with spin-induced quadrupole tensor

The features of equatorial motion of an extended body in Kerr spacetime are investigated in the framework of the Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon model. The body is assumed to stay at quasiequilibrium and respond instantly to external perturbations. Besides the mass, it is completely determined by its spin, the multipolar expansion being truncated at the quadrupole order, with a spin-induced quadrupole tensor. The study of the radial effective potential allows us to analytically determine the innermost stable circular orbit shift due to spin and the associated frequency of the last circular orbit.

Fundamental diagrams in traffic flow: the case of heterogeneous kinetic models

Experimental studies on vehicular traffic provide data on quantities like density, flux, and mean speed of the vehicles. However, the diagrams relating these variables (the fundamental and \emph{speed} diagrams) show some peculiarities not yet fully reproduced nor explained by mathematical models. In this paper, resting on the methods of kinetic theory, we introduce a new traffic model which takes into account the heterogeneous nature of the flow of vehicles along a road.