Trapped surfaces, horizons and exact solutions in higher dimensions

A very simple criterion to ascertain if (D - 2)-surfaces are trapped in arbitrary D-dimensional Lorentzian manifolds is given. The result is purely geometric, independent of the particular gravitational theory, of any field equations or of any other conditions. Many physical applications arise, a few are shown here: a definition of general horizon, which reduces to the standard one in black holes/rings and other known cases; the classification of solutions with a (D - 2)-dimensional Abelian group of motions and the invariance of the trapping under simple dimensional reductions of the Kaluza-Klein/string/M-theory type. Finally, a stronger result involving closed trapped surfaces is presented. It provides in particular a simple sufficient condition for their absence. (letter to the editor)