Made available in DSpace on 2015-09-25T12:22:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Jailson Alves das Neves.pdf: 6872017 bytes, checksum: 21050025dd0116674ad0d7cdfa56749d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-05-14 / The activity of the teacher is full of challenges, especially when it mits the search for materials that can facilitate their teaching activity. Even with all the technological advances and possibilities of communication today, the Textbook is still the main, if not the only, teaching material used by teachers in the classroom. Recognizing the importance and relevance of these materials present contents of Modern Physics in high school, it is considered important to investigate how these contents are contributing to a contextualization, from the perspective of scientific approach to intellectual and personal growth of students in the educational process. This, the object of study, identified as the product of the Professional Masters in Teaching Science and Mathematics Education, is guided in presenting an analysis of the treatment given to the content of the Theory of Relativity in physics Textbooks of high school, considerands the structuring of content, the historical aspects of science and the suggested activities. Observed throughout our analysis that there is a huge concern in Textbooks in presenting the mathematical tools involved in the study of the Theory Relativity which just so omitting important discussions that lead to development of the study of this subject. Throughout his work is evident that the Textbook this is the most important resource that guide all pedagogic practice of teachers and student learning, which is crucial for teaching Physics resource. / atividade do professor é cheia de desafios, especialmente no que compete à busca de materiais que possa facilitar a sua atividade docente. Mesmo com todos os avanços tecnológicos e possibilidades de comunicação da/na atualidade, o Livro Didático continua sendo o principal, se não o único, material didático utilizado pelos professores em sala de aula. Reconhecendo-se a importância destes materiais e a relevância de abordar conteúdos de Física Moderna no Ensino Médio, considera-se importante investigar como esses conteúdos vêm contribuindo para uma contextualização, numa perspectiva de aproximação científica, para o crescimento pessoal e intelectual dos estudantes no processo educativo. Assim, o objeto de estudo, identificado, como produto do Mestrado Profissional em Ensino de Ciências e Educação Matemática, pauta-se em apresentar uma análise do tratamento dado ao conteúdo da Teoria da Relatividade Restrita nos Livros Didáticos de Física do Ensino Médio, considerando a estruturação do conteúdo, os aspectos históricos da ciência e as atividades sugeridas. Observamos ao longo de nossa análise que há uma preocupação enorme nos Livros Didáticos em apresentar o ferramental matemático envolvido no estudo da Teoria da Relatividade Restrita o que acaba, de certo modo, omitindo as discussões importantes que levam ao desenvolvimento do estudo desse tema. No decorrer do trabalho fica evidente que o Livro Didático trata-se do recurso didático mais importante que orienta toda a prática pedagógica dos professores e a aprendizagem dos estudantes, sendo um recurso indispensável para o ensino de Física.

We study the dynamics of time-like geodesics in the field of black holes perturbed by a circular ring or disc, restricting to static and axisymmetric class of space-times. Two analytical methods are tested which do not require solving the equations of motion: (i) the so-called geometric criterion of chaos based on eigenvalues of the Riemann tensor, and (ii) the method of Melnikov which detects the chaotic layer arising by break-up of a homoclinic orbit. Predictions of both methods are compared with numerical results in order to learn how accurate and reliable they are.

Zeitreisen und Reisen mit Überlichtgeschwindigkeit sind zwei Menschheitsträume; sie beflügeln die Fantasie und bieten Stoff für skurrile Geschichten. Eine Arbeit zum Thema „Zeitreisen und Reisen mit Überlichtgeschwindigkeit“ zwingt zu einer Auseinandersetzung mit dem Begriff der „Zeit“. Die Vielschichtigkeit und der antinomische Charakter dieses Begriffes machen es schwer, „Zeit“ genauer zu fassen. Zeit tritt uns entgegen als Form der Wahrnehmung in ihrer zutiefst subjektiven Seite, als biologischer Rhythmus, als soziales Phänomen im Sinne einer kollektiven Zeitbestimmung, aber eben auch als physikalischer Parameter. Einsteins Relativitätstheorie revolutioniert unsere Vorstellungen von Raum und Zeit, indem sie sich vom newton-mechanischen Konzept des absoluten Raumes und der absoluten Zeit löst. Sie macht aber das, was bei Wells zehn Jahre vorher noch reine Fiktion war, zu einem für die Physik diskussionswürdigen Thema, nämlich das „Problem der Zeitreisen“. Einsteins Spezielle Relativitätstheorie (1905) erlaubt durch den von ihr vorhergesagten Effekt der Zeitdilatation „Reisen in die Zukunft“, und die Einstein’sche Gravitationstheorie lässt geschlossene zeitartige Linien als Lösungen ihrer Gleichungen zu (z. B. Gödel-Kosmos, Anti-de-Sitter-Kosmos). Allerdings würde eine Reise auf einer Zeitschleife sofort ein ganzes Bündel von Paradoxien (z. B. Großvater-Paradoxon, Informationsparadoxon) und semantischen Inkonsistenzen nach sich ziehen. Obwohl erstaunlicherweise die fundamentalen Gesetze der Physik (abgesehen von extrem seltenen und makroskopisch nicht in Erscheinung tretenden quantenmechanischen Effekten) bei einer Zeitumkehr nicht verletzt würden, scheint es in der Natur doch ein grundsätzliches Verbot von Vergangenheitsreisen zu geben. Der Physiker Dieter Zeh, dessen Position im Schlusskapitel der Arbeit näher beleuchtet wird, vertritt die Auffassung, dass die Science-Fiction-Literatur zum Thema „Zeitreisen“ überwiegend auf einfachen begrifflichen Fehlern beruhe. Die in Anlehnung an die Allgemeine Relativitätstheorie konstruierten Vorgänge seien bestenfalls genauso „theoretisch möglich“ wie ein Gas, das sich von selbst in einer Ecke des Gefäßes versammelt. Die vorliegende Arbeit erörtert Ansätze für „Zeitmaschinen“ und superluminale Prozesse, die in Einklang mit der modernen Physik stehen. Besprochen werden u. a. die Tachyonen-Hypothese, Tiplers rotierender Zylinder, der Gödel-Kosmos, der Anti-de-Sitter-Kosmos, die sogenannten „Wurmlöcher“ und die Alcubierre-Metrik. Zugleich sollen Ansätze vorgestellt werden (z. B. Eternalismus, Viele-Welten-Modell, Prinzip der konsistenten Geschichte), die Lösungsversuche für die Paradoxien von Vergangenheitsreisen bieten. Um die Reisen in die Vergangenheit und Reisen mit Überlichtgeschwindigkeit scheint es zu stehen wie mit einer Anfrage an Radio Jerewan; die Antwort lautet stets: „Im Prinzip ja, aber …“ Doch die Faszination dieser Idee wird weiterhin Stoff für die „Fiction“ liefern. / Time travel and superluminal travel are two of mankind's dreams. They inspire our imagination and provide material for bizarre stories. A work on the subject of time travel and superluminal travel forces us to re-examine our concept of "time". The complexity and the contradictory nature this subject makes it difficult to be more precise about "time". On its deepest subjective side, time is a means of perception, a biological rhythm, a social phenomenon in terms of our collective understanding of time. But it is also a physical parameter. Einstein's Theory of Relativity revolutionised our idea of space and time by freeing us from the Newtonian concept of absolute space and absolute time. The "problem of time travel", a subject that Wells wrote about just ten years before as mere fiction, was now a discussion worthy of physics. Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity (1905), by predicting the effects of time dilation, allowed for "travels into the future" and Einstein's Theory of Gravity used closed time-like lines for solutions to calculations about time travel (for example, the Gödel Universe and the Anti-de Sitter Universe). However, a trip to a time warp would immediately involve a whole set of paradoxes (for example, the grandfather paradox and the information paradox) and semantic inconsistencies. Surprisingly, the fundamental laws of physics (apart from extremely rare and non-emergent macroscopic quantum mechanical effects) are not violated by the concept of time reversal. Yet, in nature, there still seems to be a fundamental prohibition against time travel to the past. Physicist Dieter Zeh, whose position is more closely presented in the final chapter of this work, supports the view that science fiction literature on the subject of "time travel" is overwhelmingly based on simple conceptual errors. The processes used in this literature, which are based on the General Theory of Relativity, at best, are just as "theoretically possible" as a gas which gathers itself into the corner of a container. This work discusses approaches for "time machines" and superluminal travel which are consistent with modern physics. Some of the discussions that will be presented are the tachyon hypothesis, Tipler's rotating cylinder, the Gödel Universe, the Anti-de Sitter Universe, so-called "wormholes" and the Alcubierre-metric. At the same time, approaches will be presented (for example, Eternalism, the Many-Worlds Interpretation and the Consistent Histories Approach) that will provide attempts to find a solution for paradoxes regarding time travel to the past. Questions about time travel to the past and superluminal travel are like the questions asked on Radio Yerevan. The answer is always, "In principle yes, but…" But the fascination about time travel will continue to provide material for "fiction".

Marginally outer-trapped surfaces (MOTSs) are found for a family of space-like hypersurfaces described by the Brill-Lindquist initial data. These hypersurfaces contain a singular ring characterized by its radius, mass and charge. Due to the ring character of the singularity, these surfaces are natural candidates for MOTSs with toroidal topology. By adjusting and employing the numerical method of geodesics, we indeed localize MOTSs of both spherical and toroidal topology, and compare the results with those obtained previously by Jaramillo & Lousto.

Submitted by Vasti Diniz (vastijpa@hotmail.com) on 2017-09-12T13:00:44Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2334284 bytes, checksum: c3d087bb8f68c3b8f619b05f161a3e77 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-12T13:00:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2334284 bytes, checksum: c3d087bb8f68c3b8f619b05f161a3e77 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-25 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / In this thesis, we study the influence of gravitating non-Abelian cosmic strings on the spacetime geomerty. In order to develop this analysis, we constructed a set of coupled non-linear differential equations. Because there is no closed solution for this set of equations, we solve it numerically to determine the behaviour for the Higgs, gauge and metric fields. This model under consideration present two bosonic sectors, besides the non-Abelian gauge field. The two bosonic sectors may present a direct coupling. So, we investigate the relevance of this coupling on the system, specifically in the linear energy density of the string and on the planar angle deficit. We also analyze the behaviors of these quantities as function of the energy scale where the gauge symmetry is spontaneously broken. We have extented this analysis to de Sitter and anti-de Sitter spacetimes. In order to do that we construct the complete set of equations of motion considering the presence of a cosmological constant. By using numerical analysis we provide the behavior of the Higgs and gauge fields and also for the metric tensor for specific values of the physical parameters of the theory. For de Sitter case, we find the appearance of horizons that although being consequence of the presence of the cosmological constant it strongly depends on the value of the gravitational coupling. In the anti-de Sitter case, we find that the system does not present horizons. In fact the new feature of this system is related with the behavior of the (tt) and (zz) components of the metric tensor. They present a strongly increasing for large distance from the string. / Nesta tese estudamos a influência das cordas cósmicas não-Abelianas na geometria do espaço-tempo. Para este fim, utilizamos um modelo de Higgs não-Abeliano acoplado com a gravidade e obtemos um sistema de equações diferenciais não-lineares. Como este sistema de equações diferenciais não possui solução analítica, realizamos análise numérica para obter o comportamento dos campos de Higgs, de gauge e métricos em função da distância à corda cósmica. O modelo considerado apresenta dois campos bosônicos e um campo de gauge não-Abeliano. Como os dois setores bosônicos podem apresentar um acoplamento direto, investigamos a relevância deste acoplamento no sistema, especificamente na densidade linear de energia e no déficit de ângulo planar. Também analisamos o comportamento destas quantidades como função da escala de energia onde a simetria de gauge é espontaneamente quebrada. Ampliamos este estudo para as cordas cósmicas não-Abelianas no espaço-tempo de de Sitter e anti-de Sitter. Para isto, construímos um sistema de equações de campo considerando a presença da constante cosmológica. Utilizando a análise numérica, fornecemos o comportamento dos campos de Higgs, de gauge e dos campos métricos para valores específicos dos parâmetros físicos do modelo. Para o caso do espaço-tempo de de Sitter, salientamos o surgimento do horizonte cosmológico que, embora seja consequência da constante cosmológica, está fortemente relacionado ao acoplamento gravitacional. Para o espaço-tempo de anti-de Sitter, encontramos que o sistema não apresenta horizonte. Esta característica do sistema está relacionada às componentes (tt) e (zz) do tensor métrico, que divergem para grandes distâncias da corda cósmica.

Zeitreisen und Reisen mit Überlichtgeschwindigkeit sind zwei Menschheitsträume; sie beflügeln die Fantasie und bieten Stoff für skurrile Geschichten. Eine Arbeit zum Thema „Zeitreisen und Reisen mit Überlichtgeschwindigkeit“ zwingt zu einer Auseinandersetzung mit dem Begriff der „Zeit“. Die Vielschichtigkeit und der antinomische Charakter dieses Begriffes machen es schwer, „Zeit“ genauer zu fassen. Zeit tritt uns entgegen als Form der Wahrnehmung in ihrer zutiefst subjektiven Seite, als biologischer Rhythmus, als soziales Phänomen im Sinne einer kollektiven Zeitbestimmung, aber eben auch als physikalischer Parameter. Einsteins Relativitätstheorie revolutioniert unsere Vorstellungen von Raum und Zeit, indem sie sich vom newton-mechanischen Konzept des absoluten Raumes und der absoluten Zeit löst. Sie macht aber das, was bei Wells zehn Jahre vorher noch reine Fiktion war, zu einem für die Physik diskussionswürdigen Thema, nämlich das „Problem der Zeitreisen“. Einsteins Spezielle Relativitätstheorie (1905) erlaubt durch den von ihr vorhergesagten Effekt der Zeitdilatation „Reisen in die Zukunft“, und die Einstein’sche Gravitationstheorie lässt geschlossene zeitartige Linien als Lösungen ihrer Gleichungen zu (z. B. Gödel-Kosmos, Anti-de-Sitter-Kosmos). Allerdings würde eine Reise auf einer Zeitschleife sofort ein ganzes Bündel von Paradoxien (z. B. Großvater-Paradoxon, Informationsparadoxon) und semantischen Inkonsistenzen nach sich ziehen. Obwohl erstaunlicherweise die fundamentalen Gesetze der Physik (abgesehen von extrem seltenen und makroskopisch nicht in Erscheinung tretenden quantenmechanischen Effekten) bei einer Zeitumkehr nicht verletzt würden, scheint es in der Natur doch ein grundsätzliches Verbot von Vergangenheitsreisen zu geben. Der Physiker Dieter Zeh, dessen Position im Schlusskapitel der Arbeit näher beleuchtet wird, vertritt die Auffassung, dass die Science-Fiction-Literatur zum Thema „Zeitreisen“ überwiegend auf einfachen begrifflichen Fehlern beruhe. Die in Anlehnung an die Allgemeine Relativitätstheorie konstruierten Vorgänge seien bestenfalls genauso „theoretisch möglich“ wie ein Gas, das sich von selbst in einer Ecke des Gefäßes versammelt. Die vorliegende Arbeit erörtert Ansätze für „Zeitmaschinen“ und superluminale Prozesse, die in Einklang mit der modernen Physik stehen. Besprochen werden u. a. die Tachyonen-Hypothese, Tiplers rotierender Zylinder, der Gödel-Kosmos, der Anti-de-Sitter-Kosmos, die sogenannten „Wurmlöcher“ und die Alcubierre-Metrik. Zugleich sollen Ansätze vorgestellt werden (z. B. Eternalismus, Viele-Welten-Modell, Prinzip der konsistenten Geschichte), die Lösungsversuche für die Paradoxien von Vergangenheitsreisen bieten. Um die Reisen in die Vergangenheit und Reisen mit Überlichtgeschwindigkeit scheint es zu stehen wie mit einer Anfrage an Radio Jerewan; die Antwort lautet stets: „Im Prinzip ja, aber …“ Doch die Faszination dieser Idee wird weiterhin Stoff für die „Fiction“ liefern. / Time travel and superluminal travel are two of mankind's dreams. They inspire our imagination and provide material for bizarre stories. A work on the subject of time travel and superluminal travel forces us to re-examine our concept of "time". The complexity and the contradictory nature this subject makes it difficult to be more precise about "time". On its deepest subjective side, time is a means of perception, a biological rhythm, a social phenomenon in terms of our collective understanding of time. But it is also a physical parameter. Einstein's Theory of Relativity revolutionised our idea of space and time by freeing us from the Newtonian concept of absolute space and absolute time. The "problem of time travel", a subject that Wells wrote about just ten years before as mere fiction, was now a discussion worthy of physics. Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity (1905), by predicting the effects of time dilation, allowed for "travels into the future" and Einstein's Theory of Gravity used closed time-like lines for solutions to calculations about time travel (for example, the Gödel Universe and the Anti-de Sitter Universe). However, a trip to a time warp would immediately involve a whole set of paradoxes (for example, the grandfather paradox and the information paradox) and semantic inconsistencies. Surprisingly, the fundamental laws of physics (apart from extremely rare and non-emergent macroscopic quantum mechanical effects) are not violated by the concept of time reversal. Yet, in nature, there still seems to be a fundamental prohibition against time travel to the past. Physicist Dieter Zeh, whose position is more closely presented in the final chapter of this work, supports the view that science fiction literature on the subject of "time travel" is overwhelmingly based on simple conceptual errors. The processes used in this literature, which are based on the General Theory of Relativity, at best, are just as "theoretically possible" as a gas which gathers itself into the corner of a container. This work discusses approaches for "time machines" and superluminal travel which are consistent with modern physics. Some of the discussions that will be presented are the tachyon hypothesis, Tipler's rotating cylinder, the Gödel Universe, the Anti-de Sitter Universe, so-called "wormholes" and the Alcubierre-metric. At the same time, approaches will be presented (for example, Eternalism, the Many-Worlds Interpretation and the Consistent Histories Approach) that will provide attempts to find a solution for paradoxes regarding time travel to the past. Questions about time travel to the past and superluminal travel are like the questions asked on Radio Yerevan. The answer is always, "In principle yes, but…" But the fascination about time travel will continue to provide material for "fiction".

Through a critical-functional, rather than literal, reading of the text of Revelation, this dissertation hypothesises a move beyond the paralysing constant reduction of hermeneutic meaning to two conventional poles when discussing hope – the early Christian movement’s hope through reversal, and contemporary nihilism. In order to do so in a responsible manner, it is necessary to study other research done on the topics of eschatology and hope – especially as seen in the book of Revelation. For this reason, the most popular and representative scholars of the Book of Revelation are studied. This overall look at current scholarships' views regarding the Apocalypse will help detect any possible missing elements in our approach to Revelation. But no study of this topic can be considered near complete if other disciplines are not involved; in this case especially when moving on to a critical-functional reading of Revelation. This thesis thus features an exploratory study of the functioning of ritual and hope within the human psyche; from archaeological to psychological perspectives. This emphasises the importance of, and leads into, the possibilities of a functional reading of the Book of Revelation. All of the above work leads to a re-evaluation of the success of hope as metanarrative for today. The suggestion is that Christian hope is not imaginary, but is irreducibly imaginative. For “reality is never just the world as it exists; it is the world as it is experienced through the lenses of social perception” (Barr 2010:636). / New Testament / D. Th. (New Testament and Early Christian Studies)

In the review part of the thesis we summarize various modified theories of gravity, especially those that are characterized by additional curvature invariants in the Lagrangian density. Further, we review non-twisting geometries, especially their Kundt subclass. Finally, from the principle of least action we derive field equations for the case with the Lagrangian density corresponding to an arbitrary function of the curvature invariants. In the original part of the thesis we explicitly express particular components of the field equations for non-gyratonic Kundt geometry in generic quadratic gravity in arbitrary dimension. Then we discuss how this, in general fourth order, field equations restrict the Kundt metric in selected geome- trically privileged situations. We also analyse the special case of Gauss-Bonnet theory. 1

Albert Einstein published the English translation of Relativity: The Special and General Theory in the midst of two big events in 1920: the confirmation of the two theories of relativity and spacetime in 1919 and the Nobel prize in physics in 1921. The new global celebrity wanted to make the theories intelligible and readable for an international English-speaking audience, an audience that also included antagonistic scientists and even anti-Semites. The aim of this thesis is to do a rhetorical analysis of Einstein’s character, his ethos, in Relativity, with a specific focus on creation of credibility in regard to his historical context: scientific ideals, values and norms as well as the political and cultural tendencies in Europe during the early 20th century. This was done firstly by identifying the implied auditor. Secondly, based on the material, I have identified three stereotypes or characters – the professional idealist, the mentor and the internationalist –  which emphases different features and capacities that are crucial for the credibility of the text. Thirdly, by using these stereotypes and in regard to the specific historical context, I investigated how Einstein developed his primary ethos into a secondary ethos in the text. The rhetorical analysis of Einstein’s Relativity shows that his ethos stands in relation to the social and cultural perception of the virtuous epistemic scientist; to fight prejudices regarding being a Jewish-German theoretical physicist; and, noteworthy, a way to produce a well-needed international space – a crucial alternative to continue the positivistic knowledge production counter to the nationalistic project.