Does Smoothing Matter?

TL;DR

This paper investigates the impact of inhomogeneities on large-scale parameters in General Relativity, providing exact comparisons between discrete black hole configurations and smooth models in five dimensions.

Contribution

It offers an exact analysis of how inhomogeneities affect large-scale parameters, specifically comparing black hole strings to smooth lines in five-dimensional spacetime.

Findings

Effective energy density remains similar between inhomogeneous and smooth models.

Exact solutions for black hole strings and smooth lines in five dimensions.

Inhomogeneities do not significantly alter large-scale parameters.

Abstract

We study how inhomogeneities modify large scale parameters in General Relativity. For a particular model, we obtain exact results: we compare an infinite string of extremal black holes to a corresponding smooth line with the same mass and charge in five dimensions. We find that the effective energy density does not differ significantly.