Daily Papers

It is demonstrated that self-diffusion and shear viscosity data for the TIP4P/Ice water model reported recently [L. Baran, W. Rzysko and L. MacDowell, J. Chem. Phys. {\bf 158}, 064503 (2023)] obey the microscopic version of the Stokes-Einstein relation without the hydrodynamic diameter.

We study the large scale behavior of a collection of hard core run and tumble particles on a one dimensional lattice with periodic boundary conditions. Each particle has persistent motion in one direction decided by an associated spin variable until the direction of spin is reversed. We map the run and tumble model to a mass transfer model with fluctuating directed bonds. We calculate the steady state single site mass distribution in the mass model within a mean field approximation for larger spin-flip rates and by analyzing an appropriate coalescence fragmentation model for small spin-flip rates. We also calculate the hydrodynamic coefficients of diffusivity and conductivity for both large and small spin-flip rates and show that the Einstein relation is violated in both regimes. We also show how the non-gradient nature of the process can be taken into account in a systematic manner to calculate the hydrodynamic coefficients.

We find and analyse solutions of Einstein's equations in arbitrary d dimensions and in the presence of a scalar field with a Liouville potential coupled to a Maxwell field. We consider spacetimes of cylindrical symmetry or again subspaces of dimension d-2 with constant curvature and analyse in detail the field equations and manifest their symmetries. The field equations of the full system are shown to reduce to a single or couple of ODE's which can be used to solve analytically or numerically the theory for the symmetry at hand. Further solutions can also be generated by a solution generating technique akin to the EM duality in the absence of a cosmological constant. We then find and analyse explicit solutions including black holes and gravitating solitons for the case of four dimensional relativity and the higher-dimensional oxydised 5-dimensional spacetime. The general solution is obtained for a certain relation between couplings in the case of cylindrical symmetry.

We investigate the scattering halos resulting from collisions between discrete momentum components in the time-of-flight expansion of interaction-tunable ^6rm Li_2 molecular Bose-Einstein condensates. A key highlight of this study is the observation of the influence of interactions on the collisional scattering process. We measure the production of scattering halos at different interaction levels by varying the number of particles and the scattering length, and quantitatively assess the applicability of perturbation theory. To delve into a general theory of scattering halos, we introduce a scattering factor and obtain a universal relation between it and the halo ratio. Furthermore, we simulate the formation of scattering halos under non-perturbative conditions and analyze the discrepancies between simulation results and experiments through a return pulse experiment. This study enhances our understanding of the physical mechanisms underlying scattering processes in many-body systems and provides new perspectives for further theoretical research.

CLIP (Contrastive Language-Image Pre-training) has become a de facto paradigm for image-text alignment, but it struggles with long-context descriptions (>77 tokens) due to absolute positional encoding and pretraining on short captions. In long contexts, sentences are often reordered, summarized, or partially omitted. Although prior works extend CLIP with longer positional encodings, they often suffer from degraded image-text alignment under such text perturbations. We attribute this limitation to the Euclidean contrastive objective, which enforces strict one-to-one matching and lacks explicit mechanisms for modeling hierarchical relationships between global context and its constituent elements. To address this issue, we propose HyFL-CLIP, a hyperbolic fine-tuning framework that distills the well-established text-image alignment learned in Euclidean CLIP into hyperbolic space via cross-manifold similarity distillation, leveraging its geometry to capture hierarchical and entailment relations. Our method models hierarchical semantics by linking summarized token-wise features, long-context descriptions, constituent short textual components, and images, capturing part-whole relationships via hyperbolic entailment with Einstein midpoint aggregation. Experiments on diverse benchmarks, including long-context cross-modal retrieval, cross-modal retrieval with caption perturbations, intra-modality retrieval, and short-text cross-modal retrieval, show that HyFL-CLIP achieves more robust long-context understanding. In particular, it yields up to 19.5% improvement in long-text cross-modal retrieval under textual perturbations over the best prior method. We also show HyFL-CLIP can be seamlessly integrated into other model frameworks by applying it to Stable Diffusion XL (SDXL).

We introduce Einstein Fields, a neural representation that is designed to compress computationally intensive four-dimensional numerical relativity simulations into compact implicit neural network weights. By modeling the metric, which is the core tensor field of general relativity, Einstein Fields enable the derivation of physical quantities via automatic differentiation. However, unlike conventional neural fields (e.g., signed distance, occupancy, or radiance fields), Einstein Fields are Neural Tensor Fields with the key difference that when encoding the spacetime geometry of general relativity into neural field representations, dynamics emerge naturally as a byproduct. Einstein Fields show remarkable potential, including continuum modeling of 4D spacetime, mesh-agnosticity, storage efficiency, derivative accuracy, and ease of use. We address these challenges across several canonical test beds of general relativity and release an open source JAX-based library, paving the way for more scalable and expressive approaches to numerical relativity. Code is made available at https://github.com/AndreiB137/EinFields

Our knowledge of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) and their relation to their host galaxies is still limited, and there are only around 150 SMBHs that have their masses directly measured and confirmed. Better black hole mass scaling relations will help us reveal the physics of black holes, as well as predict black hole masses that are not yet measured. Here, we apply symbolic regression, combined with random forest to those directly-measured black hole masses and host galaxy properties, and find a collection of higher-dimensional (N-D) black hole mass scaling relations. These N-D black hole mass scaling relations have scatter smaller than any of the existing black hole mass scaling relations. One of the best among them involves the parameters of central stellar velocity dispersion, bulge-to-total ratio, and density at the black hole's sphere-of-influence with an intrinsic scatter of epsilon=0.083, dex, significantly lower than epsilon sim 0.3, dex for the M-sigma relation. These relations will inspire black hole physics, test black hole models implemented in simulations, and estimate unknown black hole masses on an unprecedented precision.

We allow the Higgs field Phi to interact with a dilaton field chi of the background spacetime via the coupling chi^2,Phi^daggerPhi. Upon spontaneous gauge symmetry breaking, the Higgs VEV becomes proportional to chi. While traditionally this linkage is employed to make the Planck mass and particle masses dependent on chi, we present an textit alternative mechanism: the Higgs VEV will be used to construct Planck's constant hbar and speed of light c. Specifically, each open set vicinity of a given point x^* on the spacetime manifold is equipped with a replica of the Glashow-Weinberg-Salam action operating with its own effective values of hbar_* and c_* per hbar_*proptochi^{-1/2}(x^*) and c_*proptochi^{1/2}(x^*), causing these ``fundamental constants'' to vary alongside the dynamical field chi. Moreover, in each open set around x^*, the prevailing value chi(x^*) determines the length and time scales for physical processes occurring in this region as lproptochi^{-1}(x^*) and tauproptochi^{-3/2}(x^*). This leads to an textit anisotropic relation tau^{-1}propto l^{-3/2} between the rate of clocks and the length of rods, resulting in a distinct set of novel physical phenomena. For late-time cosmology, the variation of c along the trajectory of light waves from distant supernovae towards the Earth-based observer necessitates modifications to the Lema\^itre redshift relation and the Hubble law. These modifications are capable of: (1) Accounting for the Pantheon Catalog of SNeIa through a declining speed of light in an expanding Einstein--de Sitter universe, thus avoiding the need for dark energy; (2) Revitalizing Blanchard-Douspis-Rowan-Robinson-Sarkar's CMB power spectrum analysis that bypassed dark energy [A&A 412, 35 (2003)]; and (3) Resolving the H_0 tension without requiring a dynamical dark energy component.

In 1936, Albert Einstein wrote a brief article where he suggested the possibility that a massive object acted as a lens, amplifying the brightness of a star. As time went by, this phenomenon, known as gravitational lensing, has become a powerful research tool in astrophysics. The simplest and symmetrical expression of a gravitational lens is known as Einstein ring. This model has recently allowed the measurement of the mass of a star, the white dwarf Stein 2051 B. The purpose of this work is to show an accessible and uptodate introduction to the effect of gravitational lensing, focused on the Einstein ring and the measurement of the mass of Stein 2051 B. The intended audience of this article are non-graduate students of physics and similar fields of study, and requires only basic knowledge of classical physics, modern physics, algebra and trigonometry.

In the momentarily comoving frame of a cosmological fluid, the determinant of the energy-momentum tensor (EMT) is highly sensitive to its pressure. This component is significant during radiation-dominated epochs and becomes naturally negligible as the universe transitions to the matter-dominated era. Here, we investigate the cosmological consequences of gravity sourced by the determinant of the EMT. Unlike Azri and Nasri, Phys. Lett. B 836, 137626 (2023), we consider the most general scenario in which the second order variation of the perfect-fluid Lagrangian does not vanish. We analyze the dynamics of the power-law case and explore the cosmological implications of the scale-free model characterized by dimensionless couplings to photons and neutrinos. We show that, unlike various theories based on the EMT, the present setup, which leads to enhanced gravitational effects of radiation (EGER), does not alter the time evolution of the energy density of particle species. Using current cosmological observations, we constrain the model parameters and show that EGER may offer a viable mechanism for alleviating the Hubble tension. Although it exhibits a phenomenological analogy to tightly-coupled relativistic fluid scenarios, EGER remains purely gravitational in origin and yields distinguishable signatures in the small-scale anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background. The radiation-gravity couplings we propose here are expected to yield testable cosmological and astrophysical signatures, probing whether gravity distinguishes between relativistic and nonrelativistic species in the early universe.

Correlation does not imply causation, but patterns of statistical association between variables can be exploited to infer a causal structure (even with purely observational data) with the burgeoning field of causal discovery. As a purely observational science, astrophysics has much to gain by exploiting these new methods. The supermassive black hole (SMBH)--galaxy interaction has long been constrained by observed scaling relations, that is low-scatter correlations between variables such as SMBH mass and the central velocity dispersion of stars in a host galaxy's bulge. This study, using advanced causal discovery techniques and an up-to-date dataset, reveals a causal link between galaxy properties and dynamically-measured SMBH masses. We apply a score-based Bayesian framework to compute the exact conditional probabilities of every causal structure that could possibly describe our galaxy sample. With the exact posterior distribution, we determine the most likely causal structures and notice a probable causal reversal when separating galaxies by morphology. In elliptical galaxies, bulge properties (built from major mergers) tend to influence SMBH growth, while in spiral galaxies, SMBHs are seen to affect host galaxy properties, potentially through feedback in gas-rich environments. For spiral galaxies, SMBHs progressively quench star formation, whereas in elliptical galaxies, quenching is complete, and the causal connection has reversed. Our findings support theoretical models of hierarchical assembly of galaxies and active galactic nuclei feedback regulating galaxy evolution. Our study suggests the potentiality for further exploration of causal links in astrophysical and cosmological scaling relations, as well as any other observational science.

E. T. Whittaker produced two papers in 1903 and 1904 that, although sometimes considered mere mathematical statements (Barrett, 1993), held important implications for physical theory. The Whittaker 1903 paper united electrostatic and gravitational attraction as resulting from longitudinal waves - waves whose wavefronts propagate parallel to their direction. The Whittaker 1904 paper showed that electromagnetic waves resulted from the interference of two such longitudinal waves or scalar potential functions. Although unexplored, the implications of these papers are profound: gravitational lensing, gravitational waves, the Aharonov-Bohm effect, the existence of a hyperspace above or behind normal space, the elimination of gravitational and point charge singularities, MOND, and the expansion of the universe. This last implication can be related to the recent finding that black holes with posited vacuum energy interior solutions alongside cosmological boundaries have a cosmological coupling constant of k=3, meaning that black holes gain mass-proportional to a3 in a parameterization equation within a Robertson-Walker cosmology and are a cosmological accelerated expansion species (Farrah et al., 2023). This expansion and many features of General Relativity can be explained by the mass-proportionality and preferred direction of the longitudinal waves within the two underlying non-local Whittaker potentials (Titleman, 2022). Whittaker potential theory also offers a simple explanation for expansion of the universe - it is produced as longitudinal motion within the Whittaker potentials only when dynamic electromagnetism is separate from time-static gravity in intergalactic space.

In this work we investigate neutron stars (NS) in f(R,L_m) theory of gravity for the case f(R,L_m) = R + L_m + sigmaRL_m, where R is the Ricci scalar and L_m the Lagrangian matter density. In the term sigmaRL_m, sigma represents the coupling between the gravitational and particles fields. For the first time the hydrostatic equilibrium equations in the theory are solved considering realistic equations of state and NS masses and radii obtained are subject to joint constrains from massive pulsars, the gravitational wave event GW170817 and from the PSR J0030+0451 mass-radius from NASA's Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer ({it NICER}) data. We show that in this theory of gravity, the mass-radius results can accommodate massive pulsars, while the general theory of relativity can hardly do it. The theory also can explain the observed NS within the radius region constrained by the GW170817 and PSR J0030+0451 observations for masses around 1.4~M_{odot}.

We propose a general correspondence between gravity and spin models, inspired by the well-known IR equivalence between lattice gauge theories and the spin models. This suggests a connection between continuous type Hawking-phase transitions in gravity and the continuous order-disorder transitions in ferromagnets. The black-hole phase corresponds to the ordered and the graviton gas corresponds to the disordered phases respectively. A simple set-up based on Einstein-dilaton gravity indicates that the vicinity of the phase transition is governed by a linear-dilaton CFT. Employing this CFT we calculate scaling of observables near T_c, and obtain mean-field scaling in a semi-classical approximation. In case of the XY model the Goldstone mode is identified with the zero mode of the NS-NS two-form. We show that the second speed of sound vanishes at the transition also with the mean field exponent.

Adopting general frameworks for quantum-classical dynamics, we analyze the interaction between quantum matter and a classical gravitational field. We point out that, assuming conservation of momentum or energy, and assuming that the dynamics obeys Hamiltonian formalism or a particular decomposition property set out in the paper, the classical gravitational field cannot change the momentum or energy of the quantum system, whereas the quantum gravitational field can do so. Drawing upon the fundamental relationship between conservation laws and the quantum properties of objects, our analysis offers new perspectives for the study of quantum gravity and provides a novel interpretation of existing experimental observations, such as free fall.

The construction of a theory of quantum gravity is an outstanding problem that can benefit from better understanding the laws of nature that are expected to hold in regimes currently inaccessible to experiment. Such fundamental laws can be found by considering the classical counterparts of a quantum theory. For example, conservation laws in a quantum theory often stem from conservation laws of the corresponding classical theory. In order to construct such laws, this thesis is concerned with the interplay between symmetries and conservation laws of classical field theories and their application to asymptotically flat spacetimes. This work begins with an explanation of symmetries in field theories with a focus on variational symmetries and their associated conservation laws. Boundary conditions for general relativity are then formulated on three-dimensional asymptotically flat spacetimes at null infinity using the method of conformal completion. Conserved quantities related to asymptotic symmetry transformations are derived and their properties are studied. This is done in a manifestly coordinate independent manner. In a separate step a coordinate system is introduced, such that the results can be compared to existing literature. Next, asymptotically flat spacetimes which contain both future as well as past null infinity are considered. Asymptotic symmetries occurring at these disjoint regions of three-dimensional asymptotically flat spacetimes are linked and the corresponding conserved quantities are matched. Finally, it is shown how asymptotic symmetries lead to the notion of distinct Minkowski spaces that can be differentiated by conserved quantities.

Modifying the fundamental commutation relation of quantum mechanics to reflect the influence of gravity is an important approach to reconcile the contradiction between quantum field theory and general relativity. In the past two decades, researchers have conducted extensive research on geometric phase problems in non-commutative spaces, but few have mentioned the correction of geometric phase problems using the Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP). This paper is the first to study the phase correction of Aharonov-Bohm (AB) effect by GUP.

Some results of author's work in a non-geometrical approach to quantum gravity are reviewed here, among them: a quantum mechanism of classical gravity giving a possibility to compute the Newton constant; asymptotic freedom at short distances; interaction of photons with the graviton background leading to the important cosmological consequences; the time delay of photons due to interactions with gravitons; deceleration of massive bodies in the graviton background which may be connected with the Pioneer anomaly and with the problem of dark matter.

A new class of solutions describing the composition of compact stars has been proposed, assuming that the fluid distribution inside the star is anisotropic. This is achieved by assuming the appropriate metric potential and then solving Einstein's field equations using Karmarkar conditions [Karmarkar K. R., Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. 27 (1948) 56] to derive the expressions for star density, the radial and tangential pressures in terms of the constants A, B, a paramter `a' and the curvature parameter R. The equations thus obtained have been passed through rigorous conditional analysis. It is further shown that the model is physically viable and mathematically well-behaved, fulfilling the requisite conditions viz., regularity condition, strong energy condition, causality condition, etc. Observed star candidates including EXO 1785-248, SMC X-1, SAXJ1808.43658(SS2), HER X-1, 4U 1538-52, Cen X-3 and LMC X-4 were found to conform to a good approximation through the outcome of this model for a=0.5.

We investigate Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet (EGB) 4D massive gravity coupled to nonlinear electrodynamics (NED) in an Anti-de-Sitter (AdS) background and find an exact magnetically charged black hole solution. The metric function was analyzed for different values of massive gravity parameters. We verified the first law of black hole thermodynamics and the generalized Smarr formula, treating the cosmological constant as thermodynamic pressure. Vacuum polarization is defined as the conjugate to the NED parameter. To analyze the local stability of the black hole, we compute specific heat. We investigated the Van der Waals-like/reentrant phase transition of the black holes and estimated the critical points. We observed small/large black hole (SBH/LBH) and small/intermediate/large black hole (SBH/IBH/LBH) phase transitions. The Joule-Thomson coefficient, inversion, and isenthalpic curves are discussed. Finally, the minimum inversion temperature and the corresponding event horizon radius are obtained using numerical techniques.

Entropic cosmology with the Rényi entropy of the apparent horizon S_R=(1/α)ln(1+αS_{BH}), where S_{BH} is the Bekenstein--Hawking entropy, is studied. By virtue of the thermodynamics-gravity correspondence a model of dark energy is investigated. The generalised Friedmann equations for the Friedmann--Lemaître--Robertson--Walker spatially flat universe with the barotropic matter fluid are obtained. We compute the dark energy density ρ_D, pressure p_D and the deceleration parameter q of the universe. At some model parameters the normalized density parameter of the matter Ω_{m0}approx 0.315 and the deceleration parameter q_0approx -0.535 for the current epoch, which are in the agreement with the Planck data, are found. Making use of the thermodynamics-gravity correspondence, we describe the late time of the universe acceleration. The entropic cosmology considered is equivalent to cosmology based on the teleparallel gravity with the definite function F(T). The Hubble parameters are in approximate agreement (within 5 percents) with the observational Hubble data for redshifts 0.07leq z leq 1.75 at the entropy parameter αapprox 0.305~GH_0^2.

We develop a novel way to probe subgalactic-scale matter distribution with diffractive lensing on gravitational waves. Five-year observations from Einstein Telescope and DECIGO are expected to probe k= 10^5sim 10^8 ,{rm Mpc}^{-1} down to P(k) = 10^{-16} sim 10^{-14} ,{rm Mpc}^3 level. These results can be interpreted in terms of primordial black holes in the range M_{rm PBH} gtrsim 10^{-3}M_odot down to f_{rm PBH} = 10^{-6} level, or QCD axion minihalos in the range m_a = 10^{-3} sim 10^{-12} ,{rm eV}. A key result of the paper is the approximate relation between the scale k and the gravitational wave frequency f, derived in an ensemble of `multi-lensing' events. This relation enables direct measurement of the power spectrum at specific scales, with sensitivities characterized by model-independent kernels delta P(k). Additionally, we delineate the statistical properties of `multi-lensing' based on the `Fresnel number' N_F. When N_F cal O(1), the statistical significance can be approximately calculated by Variance of lensing effects, which is directly related to the power spectrum among other moments of matter distribution.

We calculate the motion of binary mass systems in gravity up to the sixth post--Newtonian order to the G_N^3 terms ab initio using momentum expansions within an effective field theory approach based on Feynman amplitudes in harmonic coordinates. For these contributions we construct a canonical transformation to isotropic and to EOB coordinates at 5PN and agree with the results in the literature Bern:2019nnu,Damour:2019lcq. At 6PN we compare to the Hamiltonians in isotropic coordinates either given in Bern:2019nnu or resulting from the scattering angle. We find a canonical transformation from our Hamiltonian in harmonic coordinates to Bern:2019nnu, but not to Damour:2019lcq. This implies that we also agree on all observables with Bern:2019nnu to the sixth post--Newtonian order to G_N^3.

Between 1972 and 1975, Jacob Bekenstein proposed that black holes possess entropy proportional to their horizon area, and Stephen Hawking derived this relationship from semiclassical quantum field theory in curved spacetime, predicting thermal radiation from black holes. These developments established black hole thermodynamics as a formal framework connecting general relativity, quantum mechanics, and statistical physics. However, this synthesis rests on approximations whose validity remains unproven in regimes where quantum gravitational effects become important. This article provides a detailed overview of the historical development from 1972 to 1975 and surveys modern proposals, such as the holographic principle and gravitational path integrals. We highlight persistent theoretical challenges, including the information paradox, the trans-Planckian problem, backreaction effects, and the absence of experimental verification. The work concludes by identifying which aspects of black hole thermodynamics are well-established and which remain speculative or fundamentally incomplete.

The basic premise of using HII starburst galaxies (HIIGs) as cosmic "standard candels" is that there is a significant correlation between the Hbeta luminosity (L) and the velocity dispersion (sigma) of the ionized gas from HIIGs measurements, which can be called as the empirical L - sigma relation. However, the scaling L - sigma relation well-calibrated with the lower-redshift HIIGs is unfitted for the higher-redshift HIIGs. To solve this problem, we explore new relational expression for the L - sigma relation which should be suitable for both lower-redshift and higher-redshift HIIGs. After reconstructing the Hubble diagram with the Gaussian process (GP) method from the Pantheon+ supernovae Ia sample, we examine and compare six different revised formulas of L - sigma relation. Furthermore, we use the Bayesian evidence to compare the revised L - sigma relations with the analysis of a joint sample of 36 giant extragalactic HII regions (GEHRs) and 145 HIIGs. It turns out that the redshift-dependent bilinear correction and the quadratic sigma based correction are significantly better than the others. Moreover, a quadratic sigma based correction is the most supported one. It suggests that the appropriate corrections to the L - sigma relation should be considered when the HIIGs are used as a kind of cosmological probes.

JWST has detected many overmassive galactic systems at z > 4, where the mass of the black hole, M_bullet, is 10-100 times larger than expected from local relations, given the host's stellar mass, M_star. This Letter presents a model to describe these overmassive systems in the high-z Universe. We suggest that the black hole mass is the main driver of high-z star formation quenching. SMBHs globally impact their high-z galaxies because their hosts are physically small, and the black holes have duty cycles close to unity at z > 4. In this regime, we assume that black hole mass growth is regulated by the quasar's output, while stellar mass growth is quenched by it and uncorrelated to the global properties of the host halo. We find that the ratio M_bullet/M_star controls the average star formation efficiency: if M_bullet/M_star > 8times 10^{18} (n Lambda/f_{edd})[(Omega_b M_h)/(Omega_m M_star) - 1], then the galaxy is unable to form stars efficiently. Once this ratio exceeds the threshold, a runaway process brings the originally overmassive system towards the local M_bullet - M_star relation. Furthermore, the M_bullet - M_star relation evolves with redshift as propto (1+z)^{5/2}. At z sim 5, we find an overmassive factor of sim 55, in excellent agreement with current JWST data and the high-z relation inferred from those. Extending the black hole horizon farther in redshift and lower in mass will test this model and improve our understanding of the early co-evolution of black holes and galaxies.

Given two homogeneous spaces of the form G_1/K and G_2/K, where G_1 and G_2 are compact simple Lie groups, we study the existence problem for G_1xG_2-invariant Einstein metrics on the homogeneous space M=G_1xG_2/K. For the large subclass C of spaces having three pairwise inequivalent isotropy irreducible summands (12 infinite families and 70 sporadic examples), we obtain that existence is equivalent to the existence of a real root for certain quartic polynomial depending on the dimensions and two Killing constants, which allows a full classification and the possibility to weigh the existence and non-existence pieces of C.

Time in relativity theory has a status different from that adopted by standard quantum mechanics, where time is considered as a parameter measured with reference to an external absolute Newtonian frame. This status strongly restricts its role in the dynamics of systems and hinders any formulation to merge quantum mechanics with general relativity, specifically when considering quantum gravity. To overcome those limitations, several authors tried to construct an operator which is conjugate to the Hamiltonian of quantum systems implementing some essential features of the relativistic time. These formulations use the concept of internal or intrinsic time instead of the universal coordinate time used in textbooks. Furthermore, recently it is remarked that the consideration of time with relativistic features could enhance the analysis techniques in quantum information processing and have an impact on its status in causal orders and causal structures of quantum information. The role of clocks, their accuracy and stability has become an important issue in quantum information processing. This article present a substantiative review of recent works which reflect the possibility of utilizing quantum time, measured by quantum clock devised according to Page-Wootters scheme, to stand as a resource for quantum information processing.

Video generators are increasingly evaluated as potential world models, which requires them to encode and understand physical laws. We investigate their representation of a fundamental law: gravity. Out-of-the-box video generators consistently generate objects falling at an effectively slower acceleration. However, these physical tests are often confounded by ambiguous metric scale. We first investigate if observed physical errors are artifacts of these ambiguities (e.g., incorrect frame rate assumptions). We find that even temporal rescaling cannot correct the high-variance gravity artifacts. To rigorously isolate the underlying physical representation from these confounds, we introduce a unit-free, two-object protocol that tests the timing ratio t_1^2/t_2^2 = h_1/h_2, a relationship independent of g, focal length, and scale. This relative test reveals violations of Galileo's equivalence principle. We then demonstrate that this physical gap can be partially mitigated with targeted specialization. A lightweight low-rank adaptor fine-tuned on only 100 single-ball clips raises g_{eff} from 1.81,m/s^2 to 6.43,m/s^2 (reaching 65% of terrestrial gravity). This specialist adaptor also generalizes zero-shot to two-ball drops and inclined planes, offering initial evidence that specific physical laws can be corrected with minimal data.

Singular regular points often arise in differential equations describing physical phenomena such as fluid dynamics, electromagnetism, and gravitation. Traditional numerical techniques often fail or become unstable near these points, requiring the use of semi-analytical tools, such as series expansions and perturbative methods, in combination with numerical algorithms; or to invoke more sophisticated methods. In this work, we take an alternative route and leverage the power of machine learning to exploit Physics Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) as a modern approach to solving ordinary differential equations with singular points. PINNs utilize deep learning architectures to approximate solutions by embedding the differential equations into the loss function of the neural network. We discuss the advantages of PINNs in handling singularities, particularly their ability to bypass traditional grid-based methods and provide smooth approximations across irregular regions. Techniques for enhancing the accuracy of PINNs near singular points, such as adaptive loss weighting, are used in order to achieve high efficiency in the training of the network. We exemplify our results by studying four differential equations of interest in mathematics and gravitation -- the Legendre equation, the hypergeometric equation, the solution for black hole space-times in theories of Lorentz violating gravity, and the spherical accretion of a perfect fluid in a Schwarzschild geometry.

Riemannian four-manifolds in which the triple contraction of the curvature tensor against itself yields a functional multiple of the metric are called weakly Einstein. We focus on weakly Einstein K\"ahler surfaces. We provide several conditions characterizing those K\"ahler surfaces which are weakly Einstein, classify weakly Einstein K\"ahler surfaces having some specific additional properties, and construct new examples.

Formulating a quantum theory of gravity lies at the heart of fundamental theoretical physics. This collection of lecture notes encompasses a selection of topics that were covered in six mini-courses at the Nordita PhD school "Towards Quantum Gravity". The scope was to provide a coherent picture, from its foundation to forefront research, emphasizing connections between different areas. The lectures begin with perturbative quantum gravity and effective field theory. Subsequently, two ultraviolet-complete approaches are presented: asymptotically safe gravity and string theory. Finally, elements of quantum effects in black hole spacetimes are discussed.

We study the electromagnetic field equations on an arbitrary quantum curved background in the semiclassical approximation of Loop Quantum Gravity. The effective interaction hamiltonian for the Maxwell and gravitational fields is obtained and the corresponding field equations, which can be expressed as a modified wave equation for the Maxwell potential, are derived. We use these results to analyze electromagnetic wave propagation on a quantum Robertson-Walker space time and show that Lorentz Invariance is not preserved. The formalism developed can be applied to the case where back reaction effects on the metric due to the electromagnetic field are taken into account, leading to non covariant field equations.

We study a kinematical consequence of the Hopf-algebraic momentum composition law in κ-Minkowski spacetime. The same curved momentum space can be described in different coordinates. In the bicrossproduct basis the ordered-plane-wave labels are the translation-generator eigenvalues, so the relevant map is one-to-one. In the classical basis, instead, the translation eigenvalues P_μ are nonlinearly related to the ordered-plane-wave labels p_μ. This relation can fail to be globally one-to-one in a high-momentum region. When a given classical-basis four-momentum admits more than one real auxiliary preimage, the branch-sensitive quantity P_+equiv P_0+P_4=κe^{p_0/κ} enters the coproduct and resolves the branches in two-particle states. Imposing the vanishing total-momentum constraint therefore gives branch-dependent κ-deformed back-to-back momentum correlations. In a single-branch regime this is just a deformed correlated product, while in a multibranch regime a state specified only by P_μ can be expanded into distinct auxiliary branches. If P_μ are taken as the directly meaningful momenta, the physical content is the resulting deformed correlation pattern. If the auxiliary variables p_μ are assigned operational meaning, the same constrained state can be interpreted as a superposition over different auxiliary branches. We also compare this structure with standard regular self-adjoint nonrelativistic minimal-length models and find no analogous smooth local two-real-branch inversion on their physical domains.

We explain how the so-called Einstein locality is to be understood in the Schr\"odinger picture of quantum mechanics. This notion is perfectly compatible with the Bell non-locality exhibited by entangled states. Contrary to some beliefs that quantum mechanics is incomplete, it is, in fact, its overcompleteness as exemplified by different pictures of quantum physics, that points to the same underlying reality.

Recent results in relativistic quantum information and quantum thermodynamics have independently shown that in the quantum regime, a system may fail to thermalise when subject to quantum-controlled application of the same, single thermalisation channel. For example, an accelerating system with fixed proper acceleration is known to thermalise to an acceleration-dependent temperature, known as the Unruh temperature. However, the same system in a superposition of spatially translated trajectories that share the same proper acceleration fails to thermalise. Here, we provide an explanation of these results using the framework of quantum field theory in relativistic noninertial reference frames. We show how a probe that accelerates in a superposition of spatial translations interacts with incommensurate sets of field modes. In special cases where the modes are orthogonal (for example, when the Rindler wedges are translated in a direction orthogonal to the plane of motion), thermalisation does indeed result, corroborating the here provided explanation. We then discuss how this description relates to an information-theoretic approach aimed at studying quantum aspects of temperature through quantum-controlled thermalisations. The present work draws a connection between research in quantum information, relativistic physics, and quantum thermodynamics, in particular showing that relativistic quantum effects can provide a natural realisation of quantum thermodynamical scenarios.

We present the first high-precision model for the group-scale strong lensing system CASSOWARY 19 (CSWA19), utilising images from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Sixteen member galaxies identified via the red-sequence method, and the main halo, all modelled as the dual Pseudo Isothermal Elliptical profile (dPIE), are incorporated into a parametric lens model alongside an external shear field. To model the system, we adopt the PyAutoLens software package, employing a progressive search chain strategy for realizing the transition of source model from multiple S\'ersic profiles to a brightness-adaptive pixelization, which uses 1000 pixels in the source plane to reconstruct the background source corresponding to 177,144 image pixels in the image plane. Our results indicate that the total mass within the Einstein radius is M_{theta_E} approx 1.41times10^{13}M_{odot} and the average slope of the total mass density rho (r)propto r^{-gamma} is gamma=1.33 within the effective radius. This slope is shallower than those measured in galaxies and groups but is closer to those of galaxy clusters. In addition, our approach successfully resolves the two merging galaxies in the background source and yields a total magnification of mu=103.18^{+0.23}_{-0.19}, which is significantly higher than the outcomes from previous studies of CSWA19. In summary, our research demonstrates the effectiveness of the brightness-adaptive pixelization source reconstruction technique for modelling group-scale strong lensing systems. It can serve as a technical reference for future investigations into pixel-level modelling of the group- and cluster-scale strong lensing systems.

In this work, we investigate hot, isentropic compact stars in the limiting cases of static and maximally rotating configurations, focusing on how variations in the symmetry energy of the equation of state derived from covariant density functional theory affect stellar properties. We consider both nucleonic and hyperonic matter with systematically varied symmetry energy slopes, fixed entropies per baryon s / k_B=1 and 3, and electron fractions Y_e=0.1 and Y_e=0.4, representative of conditions in binary neutron star mergers and proto-neutron stars. We compute and analyze mass--radius and moment--of--inertia--mass relations, as well as the dependence of the Keplerian (mass-shedding) frequency on mass, angular momentum, and the ratio of kinetic to gravitational energy. Furthermore, we show that several universal relations between global properties remain valid across both nucleonic and hyperonic equations of state with varying symmetry energy, both in the static and Keplerian limit, and for various combinations of the fixed entropy and electron fraction.

The stellar initial mass function is of great significance for the study of star formation and galactic structure. Observations indicate that the IMF follows a power-law form. This work derived that when the expected number of stars formed from a spherical molecular cloud is much greater than 1, there is a relationship between the slope alpha of the IMF and r^n in the radius-density relation of spherically symmetric gas clouds, given by alpha = 3/(n+3) (Gamma_{IMF} = n/(n+3)). This conclusion is close to the results of numerical simulations and observations, but it is derived from a pure probabilistic model, which may have underlying reasons worth pondering.

We investigate in more detail the holographic model of a superconductor recently found by Hartnoll, Herzog, and Horowitz [Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 031601], which is constructed from a condensate of a charged scalar field in AdS_4-Schwarzschild background. By analytically studying the perturbation of the gravitational system near the critical temperature T_c, we obtain the superconducting coherence length proportional to 1/1-T/T_c via AdS/CFT correspondence. By adding a small external homogeneous magnetic field to the system, we find that a stationary diamagnetic current proportional to the square of the order parameter is induced by the magnetic field. These results agree with Ginzburg-Landau theory and strongly support the idea that a superconductor can be described by a charged scalar field on a black hole via AdS/CFT duality.

These lectures give an introduction to the theory of holographic superconductors. These are superconductors that have a dual gravitational description using gauge/gravity duality. After introducing a suitable gravitational theory, we discuss its properties in various regimes: the probe limit, the effects of backreaction, the zero temperature limit, and the addition of magnetic fields. Using the gauge/gravity dictionary, these properties reproduce many of the standard features of superconductors. Some familiarity with gauge/gravity duality is assumed. A list of open problems is included at the end.

We provide a well-defined variational principle for 3-dimensional flat space Einstein gravity by adding one half of the Gibbons-Hawking-York boundary term to the bulk action. We check the 0-point function, recovering consistency with thermodynamics of flat space cosmologies. We then apply our result to calculate the 1-point functions in flat space Einstein gravity for the vacuum and all flat space cosmologies. The results are compatible with the ones for the zero mode charges obtained by canonical analysis.

We present the analytic evaluation of the gravitational energy and of the angular momentum flux with tidal effects for inspiraling compact binaries, at next-to-next-to-leading post-Newtoian (2PN) order, within the effective field theory diagrammatic approach. We first compute the stress-energy tensor for a binary system, that requires the evaluation of two-point Feynman integrals, up to two loops. Then, we extract the multipole moments of the system, which we present for generic orbits in center-of-mass coordinates, and which are needed for the evaluation of the total gravitational energy and the angular momentum flux, for generic orbits. Finally, we provide the expression of gauge invariant quantities such as the fluxes, and the mode amplitudes and phase of the emitted gravitational wave, for circular orbits. Our findings are useful to update earlier theoretical studies as well as related phenomenological analyses, and waveform models

We verify a recent prediction (Eq. 3.50 in G. L. Eyink, Phys. Rev. X 11, 031054 (2021)) for the drag on an object moving through a fluid. In this prediction the velocity field is decomposed into a nonvortical (potential) and vortical contribution, and so is the associated drag force. In the Josephson-Anderson relation the vortical contribution of the drag force follows from the flux of vorticity traversing the streamlines of the corresponding potential flow. The potential component is directly determined by the plate acceleration and its added mass. The Josephson-Anderson relation is derived from the quantum description of superfluids, but remarkably applies to the classical fluid in our experiment. In our experiment a flat plate is accelerated through water using a robotic arm. This geometry is simple enough to allow analytic potential flow streamlines. The monitored plate position shows an oscillatory component of the acceleration, which adds an additional test of the Josephson-Anderson relation. The instantaneous velocity field is measured using particle image velocimetry. It enables us to evaluate Eq. 3.50 from [1] and compare its prediction to the measured drag force. We find excellent agreement, and, most remarkably find that the added mass contribution to the drag force still stands out after the flow has turned vortical. We finally comment on the requirements on the experimental techniques for evaluating the Josephson-Anderson relation.

We derive bounds on the lifetime of an evaporating black hole. The bound follows from energy conservation and purification, within the framework of `asymptotically semiclassical spacetimes'. We use the recently derived expression for the Bondi flux of Hawking radiation, together with the expression for the entanglement entropy of Hawking radiation at null infinity, to investigate the purification phase after the last semiclassical ray. We discuss the energy-cost of entanglement purification and we find a lower bound on the purification time of the black hole, which scales as M_0^4/hbar^{3/2}, where M_0 is the initial black hole mass. Additionally, motivated by quantum gravity considerations, we include the additional assumption that a Planck mass black hole is metastable. With this assumption, we find that the the purification time is extended to be exponential in the square of the initial black hole mass, i.e. in its initial area. We find that the redshift exponent is negative in this purification phase, which indicates the existence of a white-hole remnant which releases information slowly. We comment on phenomenological implications for primordial black hole remnants.

We investigate thermodynamics of static and spherically symmetric black holes (BHs) in the Horndeski theories. Because of the presence of the higher-derivative interactions and the nonminimal derivative couplings of the scalar field, the standard Wald entropy formula may not be directly applicable. Hence, following the original formulation by Iyer and Wald, we obtain the differentials of the BH entropy and the total mass of the system in the Horndeski theories, which lead to the first-law of thermodynamics via the conservation of the Hamiltonian. Our formulation covers the case of the static and spherically symmetric BH solutions with the static scalar field and those with the linearly time-dependent scalar field in the shift-symmetric Horndeski theories. We then apply our results to explicit BH solutions in the Horndeski theories. In the case of the conventional scalar-tensor theories and the Einstein-scalar-Gauss-Bonnet theories, we recover the BH entropy obtained by the Wald entropy formula. In the shift-symmetric theories, in the case of the BH solutions with the static scalar field we show that the BH entropy follows the ordinary area law even in the presence of the nontrivial profile of the scalar field. On the other hand, in the case of the BH solutions where the scalar field linearly depends on time, i.e., the stealth Schwarzschild and Schwarzschild-(anti-) de Sitter solutions, the BH entropy also depends on the profile of the scalar field. By use of the entropy, we find that there exists some range of the parameters in which Schwarzschild-(AdS) BH with non-trivial scalar field is thermodynamically stable than Schwarzschild-(AdS) BH without scalar field in general relativity.

In this Essay, we will look at the relation between the No Transmission principle and the Strong cosmic censorship (SCC), which we will highlight in the background of quantum gravity. We show that taking quantum gravity into account, one can provide a complete picture of the instability of the inner horizon and the principle that two independent CFTs, under the gauge-gravity duality, imply that the dual bulks must also be independent in that there must not exist a way to transmit a signal between the two spacetimes. We show that this can simply be interpreted as SCC, and that the inner horizon must be unstable (at either linear or nonlinear orders) to be in accordance with holographic quantum gravity.

We build slowly rotating anisotropic neutron stars using the Hartle-Thorne formalism, employing three distinct anisotropy models--Horvat, Bowers-Liang, and a covariant model--to characterize the relationship between radial and tangential pressure. We analyze how anisotropy influences stellar properties such as the mass-radius relation, angular momentum, moment of inertia, and binding energy. Our findings reveal that the maximum stable mass of non-rotating stars depends strongly on the anisotropy model, with some configurations supporting up to 60% more mass than their isotropic counterparts with the same central density. This mass increase is most pronounced in the models where the anisotropy grows toward the star's surface, as seen in the covariant model. Furthermore, slowly rotating anisotropic stars adhere to universal relations for the moment of inertia and binding energy, regardless of the chosen anisotropy model or equation of state.

The binding energies of the five bound rotational levels J=0-4 in the highest vibrational level v=14 in the X^1Sigma_g^+ ground electronic state of H_2 were measured in a three-step ultraviolet-laser experiment. Two-photon UV-photolysis of H_2S produced population in these high-lying bound states, that were subsequently interrogated at high precision via Doppler-free spectroscopy of the F^1Sigma_g^+ - X^1Sigma_g^+ system. A third UV-laser was used for detection through auto-ionizing resonances. The experimentally determined binding energies were found to be in excellent agreement with calculations based on non-adiabatic perturbation theory, also including relativistic and quantum electrodynamical contributions. The s-wave scattering length of the H + H system is derived from the binding energy of the last bound J=0 level via a direct semi-empirical approach, yielding a value of a_s = 0.2724(5) a_0, in good agreement with a result from a previously followed theoretical approach. The subtle effect of the malpha^4 relativity contribution to a_s was found to be significant. In a similar manner a value for the p-wave scattering volume is determined via the J=1 binding energy yielding a_p = -134.0000(6) a_0^3. The binding energy of the last bound state in H_2, the (v=14, J=4) level, is determined at 0.023(4) cm^{-1}, in good agreement with calculation. The effect of the hyperfine substructure caused by the two hydrogen atoms at large internuclear separation, giving rise to three distinct dissociation limits, is discussed.

Is there more to Dirac's gamma matrices than meets the eye? It turns out that gamma zero can be factorized into a product of three operators. This revelation facilitates the expansion of Dirac's space-time algebra to Clifford algebra Cl(0,6). The resultant rich geometric structure can be leveraged to establish a combined framework of the standard model and gravity, wherein a gravi-weak interaction between the extended vierbein field and the extended weak gauge field is allowed. In conjunction with the composite Higgs model, we examine the vierbein field as a Cooper-pair-like fermion-antifermion condensation. Quantum gravity is realized indirectly via the quantized standard model spinor fields which underlie the composite space-time metric. We propose that the fundamental energy scales of the universe including the Planck scale are emergent and resulted from quantum condensations, thus possibly addressing the cosmological constant problem through an unconventional multi-scale renormalization procedure for multiplications of divergent Feynman integrals. The Clifford algebra approach also permits a weaker form of charge conjugation without particle-antiparticle interchange, leading to a Majorana-type mass that conserves lepton number. Additionally, with reshuffling the traditional quark-lepton pairing pattern of three generations of fermions, we explore a three-Higgs-doublet model with Higgs VEVs 246 GeV, 42 GeV and 2.5 GeV which could explain the mass hierarchies of fermions.

In this work, we compute multi-field core and halo properties in wave Dark Matter models. We focus on the case where Dark Matter consists of two light (real) scalars, interacting gravitationally. As in the single-field Ultra Light Dark Matter (ULDM) case, the scalar field behaves as a coherent BEC with a definite ground state (at fixed total mass), often referred to in the literature as a gravitational soliton. We establish an efficient algorithm to find the ground and excited states of such two-field systems. We then use simulations to investigate the gravitational collapse and virialization, starting from different initial conditions, into solitons and surrounding halo. As in the single-field case, a virialized halo forms with a gravitational soliton (ground state) at the center. We find some evidence for an empirical relation between the soliton mass and energy and those of the host halo. We use this to then find a numerical relation between the properties of the two. Finally, we use this to address the issue of alleviating some of the tensions that single-field ULDM has with observational data, in particular, the issue of how a galaxy's core and radius are related. We find that if galaxies of different masses have similar percentages of the two species, then the core-radius scaling tension is not addressed. However, more general possibilities occur if the relative abundance of species in each halo correlates with the total mass of the galaxy. If this is the case, the model predicts several other phenomenological signatures.

The dynamical realisation of the equation of state p +rho =0 is studied. A non-pathological dynamics for the perturbations of such a system mimicking a dynamical cosmological constant (DCC) requires to go beyond the perfect fluid paradigm. It is shown that an anisotropic stress must be always present. The Hamiltonian of the system in isolation resembles the one of a Pais-Uhlenbeck oscillator and linear stability requires that it cannot be positive definite. The dynamics of linear cosmological perturbations in a DCC dominated Universe is studied in detail showing that when DCC is minimally coupled to gravity no dramatic instability is present. In contrast to what happens in a cosmological constant dominated Universe, the non-relativistic matter contrast is no longer constant and exhibits an oscillator behaviour at small scales while it grows weakly at large scales. In the gravitational waves sector, at small scales, the amplitude is still suppressed as the inverse power of the scale factor while it grows logarithmically at large scales. Also the vector modes propagate, though no growing mode is found.

We demonstrate that the unitarity of quantum field theory, through the positivity of spectral functions, underlies thermodynamic irreversibility for a subsystem separated by a horizon, in direct analogy with the irreversibility of renormalization-group flows. To this end, we explicitly find the shear and bulk viscosities -- the entanglement viscosities -- for thermal radiation in Rindler space using the universal spectral representation. A direct consequence of the obtained general formulas is the relationship between the acceleration-induced shear viscosity in flat space and the conformal quantum anomaly in curved space, pointing to a possible novel probe of the conformal anomaly in systems with extreme acceleration. Moreover, for conformal field theories, we explicitly show that globally entanglement viscosity saturates the Kovtun-Son-Starinets bound.

A major outstanding challenge in cosmology is the persistent discrepancy between the Hubble constant obtained from early and late universe measurements -- the Hubble tension. Examining cosmological evolution through the lens of information growth within a black hole we show the appearence of two fractal growing processes characterizing the early and late ages. These fractals induce space growth rates of 62.79pm5.59 km/s/Mpc and 70.07pm0.09 km/s/Mpc; close to the current values of the Hubble constants involved in the tension. These results strongly suggest that the Hubble tension is not given by unexpected large-scale structures or multiple, unrelated errors but by innate properties underlying the universe dynamics.

In the present work, we study the dynamical evolution of an homogeneous and anisotropic, noncommutative (NC) Bianchi I (BI) model coupled to a radiation perfect fluid. Our first motivation is determining if the present model tends to an homogeneous and isotropic NC Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) model, during its evolution. In order to simplify our task, we use the Misner parametrization of the BI metric. In terms of that parametrization the BI metric has three metric functions: the scale factor a(t) and the two parameters beta_pm (t), which measure the spatial anisotropy of the model. Our second motivation is trying to describe the present accelerated expansion of the universe using noncommutativity (NCTY). The NCTY is introduced by two nontrivial Poisson brackets between some geometrical as well as matter variables of the model. We recover the description in terms of commutative variables by introducing some variables transformations that depend on the NC parameter. Using those variables transformations, we rewrite the total NC Hamiltonian of the model in terms of commutative variables. From the resulting Hamiltonian, we obtain the dynamical equations for a generic perfect fluid. In order to solve these equations, we restrict our attention to a model where the perfect fluid is radiation. We solve, numerically, these equations and compare the NC solutions to the corresponding commutative ones. The comparison shows that the NC model may be considered as a possible candidate for describing the accelerated expansion of the universe. Finally, we obtain estimates for the NC parameter and compare the main results of the NC BI model coupled to radiation with the same NC BI model coupled to other perfect fluids. As our main result, we show that the solutions, after some time, produce an isotropic universe.

The observed cosmological constant may originate as the minimum value U_{min} of a scalar field potential, where the scalar field is frozen due to a large mass. If this vacuum is metastable, it may decay to a true vacuum either at present or in the future. Assuming its decay rate Gamma is comparable to the Hubble expansion rate H_0, we estimate the scale of true vacuum bubbles and analyze their evolution. We find that their initial formation scale is sub-millimeter and their tension causes rapid collapse if m gtrsim 1.7 cdot 10^{-3}, eV. For smaller masses, the bubbles expand at the speed of light. We extend our analysis to scalar-tensor theories with non-minimal coupling, finding that the nucleation scale of gravitational constant bubbles remains consistent with the sub-millimeter regime of General Relativity. The critical mass scale remains around 10^{-3},eV. A theoretical estimate at redshift z_{obs} sim 0.01 suggests an observable bubble radius of sim 50 Mpc, implying a gravitational transition triggered sim 300 Myr ago, with a present-day size approaching 100 Mpc. Additionally, we explore mass ranges (m < 10^{-3},eV) and non-minimal coupling xi ranges (10^{-8},eV^{2-n} - 10^{-1},eV^{2-n}) that lead to a variation Delta G/G_N within the 1%-7% range. We assume non-minimal coupling of the form F(phi)=1/kappa - xi phi^n, with kappa=8pi G_N and 2 leq n leq 9. Finally, we review various local physics or/and transition based proposed solutions to the Hubble tension, including ultra-late-time transitional models (z sim 0.01), screened fifth-force mechanisms, and the Lambda_{rm s}CDM model, which features a transition at z sim 2. We discuss observational hints supporting these scenarios and the theoretical challenges they face.

We study lensing of gravitational waves by a black hole in the deep wave optics regime, i.e. when the wavelength is much larger than the black hole Schwarzschild radius. We apply it to triple systems, with a binary of stellar mass objects in the inspiraling phase orbiting around a central massive black hole. We describe the full polarisation structure of the wave and derive predictions for the polarisation modes of the scattered wave measured by the observer. We show that lensing in the wave optics regime is not helicity preserving, as opposed to lensing in the geometric optics regime. The amplitude of the total wave is modulated due to interference between the directly transmitted and lensed components. The relative amplitude of the modulation is fixed by the lensing geometry and can reach unity in the most favourable settings. This indicates that wave optics lensing is potentially detectable by LISA for sufficiently high SNR systems. Our findings show that in the wave optics regime it is necessary to go beyond the usual lensing description where the amplification factor is assumed to be the same for both helicity modes. While motivated by GW190521 and the AGN formation scenario, our results apply more broadly to stellar-mass binaries orbiting a third body described as a Schwarzschild black hole, with a period comparable to the GW observation time.

In the present paper we study the singularity structure of the exterior field of neutron stars with the aid of the four-parameter exact solution of the Einstein-Maxwell equations. The complete analysis of this problem in the generic case becomes possible due to the implementation of the novel analytical approach to the resolution of the singularity condition, and it shows the absence of the ring singularities off the symmetry axis in the positive mass case, as well as the possibility of the removal of the ring singularity by a strong magnetic field in the negative mass case. The solution takes an extraordinarily simple form in the equatorial plane, very similar to that of the Kerr solution, which makes it most suitable for astrophysical applications as the simplest model of a rotating magnetized deformed mass. It also provides a nontrivial example confirming a recent claim that the varphi component of the electromagnetic four-potential has features inconsistent with the intrinsic properties of the electrovac metric, while the magnetic field is represented correctly by the t component of the dual electromagnetic four-potential.

We study the inflationary phenomenology of a rescaled Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity. In this framework, the gravitational constant of the Einstein-Hilbert term is rescaled due to effective terms active in the high curvature era. Basically, the total theory is an F(R,G,phi) theory with the Gauss-Bonnet part contributing only a non-minimal coupling to the scalar field, so it is a theory with string theory origins and with a non-trivial F(R) gravity part. The F(R) gravity part in the high curvature regime contributes only a rescaled Einstein-Hilbert term and thus the resulting theory is effectively a rescaled version of a standard Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet theory. We develop the formalism of rescaled Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity, taking in account the GW170817 constraints on the gravitational wave speed. We show explicitly how the rescaled theory affects directly the primordial scalar and tensor perturbations, and how the slow-roll and observational indices of inflation are affected by the rescaling of the theory. We perform a thorough phenomenological analysis of several models of interest and we show that is it possible to obtain viable inflationary theories compatible with the latest Planck data. Also among the studied models there are cases that yield a relatively large blue tilted tensor spectral index and we demonstrate that these models can lead to detectable primordial gravitational waves in the future gravitational wave experiments. Some of the scenarios examined, for specific values of the reheating temperature may be detectable by SKA, LISA, BBO, DECIGO and the Einstein Telescope.

In this work, we embark on the thermodynamic investigation concerning a family of primary charged black holes within the context of shift and parity symmetric Beyond Horndeski gravity. Employing the Euclidean approach, we derive the functional expression for the free energy and derive the first thermodynamic law, offering a methodology to address the challenge of extracting the thermal quantities in shift-symmetric scalar tensor theories characterized by linear time dependence in the scalar field. Following the formal analysis, we provide some illustrative examples focusing on the thermal evaporation of these fascinating objects.

We show that a simple gravitational theory can provide a holographically dual description of a superconductor. There is a critical temperature, below which a charged condensate forms via a second order phase transition and the (DC) conductivity becomes infinite. The frequency dependent conductivity develops a gap determined by the condensate. We find evidence that the condensate consists of pairs of quasiparticles.

We revisit Hawking's original derivation of the evaporation process in a non-stationary spacetime, presenting it in a clear and pedagogical manner, with a focus on the spherical collapse of a star into a black hole. Our analysis highlights the underlying assumptions in the calculations, clarifying their physical significance, potential implications, and the limitations of this approach.

In this paper, we aim to examine the electric Penrose process (PP) around a charged black hole in 4D Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet (EGB) gravity and bring out the effect of the Gauss-Bonnet (GB) coupling parameter alpha and black hole charge on the efficiency of the energy extraction from the black hole. This research is motivated by the fact that electrostatic interactions significantly influence the behavior of charged particles in the vicinity of a charged static black hole. Under this interaction, decaying charged particles can have negative energies, causing energy to be released from black holes with no ergosphere. We show that the GB coupling parameter has a significant impact on the energy efficiency of the electric PP, but the efficiency can be strongly enhanced by the black hole charge due to the Coulomb force. Finally, we consider the accretion disk around the black hole and investigate in detail its radiation properties, such as the electromagnetic radiation flux, the temperature, and the differential luminosity. We show that the GB coupling parameter can have a significant impact on the radiation parameters, causing them to increase in the accretion disk in the vicinity of the black hole. Interestingly, it is found that the 4D EGB charged black hole is more efficient and favorable for the accretion disk radiation compared to a charged black hole in Einstein gravity.

Strong gravitational lensing of variable sources, such as quasars or supernovae, can be used to constrain cosmological parameters through a technique known as "time-delay cosmography''. Competitive constraints on the Hubble constant have been achieved with electromagnetic observations of lensed quasars and lensed supernovae. Gravitational wave (GW) astronomy may open up a new channel for time-delay cosmography with GW signal replacing the electromagnetic (EM) one. We highlight the similarities of using GW signals to be applied to time-delay cosmography compared to EM signal. We then discuss key differences between GW and EM signals and their resulting advantages and inconveniences from the angle of the current state-of-the-art using quasars and lensed supernovae for time-delay cosmography. We identify the astrometric precision requirement of the images as a key challenge to overcome and highlight the potentially significant impact that near-perfect time-delay measurements of lensed GWs can bring to the table.

In this work, we study the black hole light echoes in terms of the two-photon autocorrelation and explore their connection with the quasinormal modes. It is shown that the above time-domain phenomenon can be analyzed by utilizing the well-known frequency-domain relations between the quasinormal modes and characteristic parameters of null geodesics. We found that the time-domain correlator, obtained by the inverse Fourier transform, naturally acquires the echo feature, which can be attributed to a collective effect of the asymptotic poles through a weighted summation of the squared modulus of the relevant Green's functions. Specifically, the contour integral leads to a summation taking over both the overtone index and angular momentum. Moreover, the dominant contributions to the light echoes are from those in the eikonal limit, consistent with the existing findings using the geometric-optics arguments. For the Schwarzschild black holes, we demonstrate the results numerically by considering a transient spherical light source. Also, for the Kerr spacetimes, we point out a potential difference between the resulting light echoes using the geometric-optics approach and those obtained by the black hole perturbation theory. Possible astrophysical implications of the present study are addressed.

A universal class of light-ray operators formed from null integrals of the stress tensor is constructed in generic interacting Lorentzian conformal field theories in four spacetime dimensions. This class of light-ray operators generates the wedge algebra of {rm w}_{1+infty}, which was recently identified among the asymptotic symmetries of asymptotically flat spacetimes. In four-dimensional conformal field theories with an additional spin-one conserved current, a second universal class of light-ray operators is constructed and shown to generate the ''S algebra,'' the gauge-theoretic analog of {rm w}_{1+infty}. Finally, a precise relation is established between the one-point functions of these light-ray operators in scalar states and the universal soft factors in the infinite tower of soft graviton theorems. The results presented in this paper will be accompanied by detailed calculations and proofs in a longer forthcoming work.

It has been shown that a gravitational dual to a superconductor can be obtained by coupling anti-de Sitter gravity to a Maxwell field and charged scalar. We review our earlier analysis of this theory and extend it in two directions. First, we consider all values for the charge of the scalar field. Away from the large charge limit, backreaction on the spacetime metric is important. While the qualitative behaviour of the dual superconductor is found to be similar for all charges, in the limit of arbitrarily small charge a new type of black hole instability is found. We go on to add a perpendicular magnetic field B and obtain the London equation and magnetic penetration depth. We show that these holographic superconductors are Type II, i.e., starting in a normal phase at large B and low temperatures, they develop superconducting droplets as B is reduced.

We construct the charged Hayward-anti-de Sitter (AdS) black hole (BH) with a cloud of strings (CS) and perfect fluid dark matter (PFDM), and analyze its extended thermodynamic phase structure. The Hayward parameter g replaces the central singularity with a de Sitter (dS) core, while the CS parameter a and the PFDM parameter β encode astrophysically motivated matter content. Treating the cosmological constant as pressure, we derive the thermodynamic quantities, verify the Smarr relation, and establish P--V criticality with a van der Waals (vdW)-like small-large BH phase transition and mean-field critical exponents. The Gibbs free energy (GFE) exhibits the characteristic swallowtail below the critical pressure. The Joule-Thomson (JT) expansion yields T_i^{rm min}/T_c approx 0.247, roughly half the Reissner--Nordström-AdS value. The parameters g and Q contract the cooling region, β expands it, and a reshapes it non-monotonically. A holographic heat engine with a rectangular cycle gives efficiencies η= 0.362--0.396 and Carnot benchmarking ratios η/η_C = 0.625--0.791 across six configurations. The CS parameter improves the engine efficiency by reducing the enthalpy at fixed thermodynamic volume, while the PFDM parameter degrades it by adding gravitational enthalpy without contributing to the mechanical work.

Three dimensional (3d) Carrollian CFTs are potential co-dimension one holographic duals of 4d asymptotically flat spacetimes that live on the whole of the null boundary. In this paper, we show that the local stress tensor of the 3d Carrollian conformal theory (without any additional sources) constructed in terms of the geometric structure at asymptotic null infinity naturally encodes both the leading and subleading soft graviton theorems. We relate the 3d Carroll stress tensor to the 2d Celestial one and show how the 3d version naturally localises the non-local 2d Celestial stress tensor. We also comment on the relation with stress tensors in relativistic 3d CFTs and connections to the flat limit of AdS/CFT.

In detuned optical cavities, the radiation pressure force acting on the mirrors depends on their displacements. This is equivalent to the rigidity (the optical spring), inserted between the mirrors. This effect can be used for optimization of the mechanical susceptibility of probe mirrors in high-precision force sensors. However, in some cases, the use of detuned cavities or even just any high-finesse cavities could be problematic due to technological constraints. We consider a new type of the optical spring that does not require the cavity (but can use a resonance tuned one to increase the optomechanical coupling). Instead, it uses the double interaction of the probing light with the mechanical object. We propose two possible implementation of this concept, suitable, respectively, for the atomic spin ensembles and for the laser gravitational-wave detectors.

We show how imaginary numbers in quantum physics can be eliminated by enlarging the Hilbert Space followed by an imposition of - what effectively amounts to - a superselection rule. We illustrate this procedure with a qubit and apply it to the Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The procedure is somewhat reminiscent of the constrained quantization of the electromagnetic field, where, in order to manifestly comply with relativity, one enlargers the Hilbert Space by quantizing the longitudinal and scalar modes, only to subsequently introduce a constraint to make sure that they are actually not directly observable.

Tracing the water snowline in low-mass young stellar objects (YSOs) is important because dust grain growth is promoted and the chemical composition varies at the water snowline, which influences planet formation and its properties. In protostellar envelopes, the water snowline can be estimated as a function of luminosity using a relation derived from radiative transfer models, and these predictions are consistent with observations. However, accurately estimating the water snowline in protoplanetary disks requires new relations that account for the disk structure. We present the relations between luminosity and water snowline using the dust continuum radiative transfer models with various density structures. We adopt two-dimensional density structures for an envelope-only model (Model E), an envelope+disk+cavity model (Model E+D), and a protoplanetary disk model (Model PPD). The relations between the water snowline, where T_dust = 100 K, and the total luminosity, ranging 0.1-1,000 solar luminosity, are well fitted by a power-law relation, R_snow=a * (L/L_solar)^p au. The factor a decreases with increasing disk density, while the power index p has values around 0.5 in all models. As the disk becomes denser, the water snowline forms at smaller radii even at the same luminosity, since dense dust hinders photon propagation. We also explore the effect of viscous heating on the water snowline. In Model PPD with viscous heating, the water snowline shifts outward by a few au up to 15 au, increasing the factor a and decreasing the power index p. In Model E+D with lower disk mass, the effect of viscous heating is negligible, indicating that the disk mass controls the effect. The discrepancy between our models and direct observations provides insights into the recent outburst event and the presence of a disk structure in low-mass YSOs.

This manuscript presents an historical perspective prepared by Barry Ninham and Colin Pask in 1969 on the connection between quantum electrodynamics theory and nucleon interactions. A new theory of strong interactions based on electromagnetic considerations is proposed. Energy and force range magnitudes are correctly given. A new theory of the pion emerges and the pion mass and lifetime are calculated. No strong interaction coupling constant is required.

We study the dynamics of gravitons in a squeezed vacuum state in a thermal radiation background. Unlike traditional treatments that rely on the Boltzmann equation, we employ the Heisenberg equation and average it over general quantum states. In contrast to the usual Boltzmann-based descriptions, our approach captures the subtleties arising from quantum coherence in different number eigenstates, which is essential for soft graviton modes in the squeezed vacuum state. Our new method successfully reproduces the previous one-loop results within the in-in formalism when the expansion parameter is small and deviates significantly as the parameter increases, indicating that our results extend beyond the one-loop in-in formalism. We examine the implications of graviton emission effects stimulated by quantum coherence in both flat and expanding backgrounds. In the flat background, it is found that backreaction of radiation on the spacetime dynamics is crucial for significant stimulated emission. In the expanding background, to avoid the subtleties associated with superhorizon modes, we investigate the effect of emission within the horizon immediately after reheating and find a significant effect. We examined the IR graviton evolution from a symmetry perspective and propose a regularization prescription to eliminate the secular growth problem.

In this work we study static neutron stars in the context of several inflationary models which are popular in cosmology. These inflationary models are non-minimally coupled scalar theories which yield a viable inflationary phenomenology in both Jordan and Einstein frames. By considering the constraints from inflationary theories, which basically determine the values of the potential strength, usually considered as a free parameter in astrophysical neutron star works, we construct and solve the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations using a solid python-3 LSODA integrator. For our study we consider several popular inflationary models, such as the universal attractors, the R^p attractors (three distinct model values), the induced inflation, the quadratic inflation, the Higgs inflation and the a-attractors (two distinct model values) and for the following popular equations of state the WFF1, the SLy, the APR, the MS1, the AP3, the AP4, the ENG, the MPA1 and the MS1b. We construct the M-R diagram and we confront the resulting theory with theoretical and observational constraints. As we demonstrate, remarkably, all the neutron stars produced by all the inflationary models we considered are compatible with all the constraints for the MPA1 equation of state. It is notable that for this particular equation of state, the maximum masses of the neutron stars are in the mass-gap region with M>2.5M_{odot}, but lower than the 3 solar masses causal limit. We also make the observation that as the NICER constraints are pushed towards larger radii, as for example in the case of the black widow pulsar PSR J0952-0607, it seems that equations of state that produce neutron stars with maximum masses in the mass gap region, with M>2.5M_{odot}, but lower than the 3 solar masses causal limit, are favored and are compatible with the modified NICER constraints.

We reassess the realistic discovery reach of Solar-System experiments for dark energy (DE) and dark matter (DM), making explicit the bridge from cosmology-level linear responses to local, screened residuals. In scalar-tensor frameworks with a universal conformal coupling A(phi) and chameleon/Vainshtein screening, we map cosmological responses {mu(z,k),Sigma(z,k)} inferred by DESI and Euclid to thin-shell or Vainshtein residuals in deep Solar potentials Phi_N. We emphasize a two-branch strategy. In a detection-first branch, a verified local anomaly -- an Einstein equivalence principle (EEP) violation, a Shapiro-delay signal with |gamma-1|simfewtimes 10^{-6}, an AU-scale Yukawa tail, or a ultralight DM (ULDM) line in clocks/atom interferometers in space (AIS) -- triggers a joint refit of cosmology and Solar-System data under a common microphysical parameterization {V(phi),A(phi)}. In a guardrail branch, Solar-System tests enforce constraints (EEP; PPN parameters gamma,beta; and dot G/G) and close unscreened or weakly screened corners indicated by cosmology. We forecast, per conjunction, |gamma-1|lesssim (2-5)times 10^{-6} (Ka-/X-band or optical Shapiro), eta_{EEP}sim (1--10)times 10^{-17} (drag-free AIS), |dot G/G|sim(3-5)times10^{-15},yr^{-1} (sub-mm-class LLR), a uniform ~2x tightening of AU-scale Yukawa/DM-density bounds, and (3-10)times improved ULDM-coupling reach from clocks. For a conformal benchmark, mu_{ lin,0}=0.10 implies chisimeq mu_{lin,0/2} and a Sun thin shell Delta R/Rlesssim (1/3chi)|gamma-1|/2=2.4times 10^{-3} at |gamma-1|=5times 10^{-6}; Vainshtein screening at 1 AU yields |gamma-1|lesssim 10^{-11}, naturally below near-term reach. We recommend a cost-effective guardrail+discovery portfolio with explicit triggers for escalation to dedicated missions.

We investigate the anomaly-induced activation of a gauge-invariant scalar degree of freedom in General Relativity, the conformalon mode, directly at the level of \(2\to2\) scattering amplitudes. The analysis couples anomalous three-point functions of conformal sectors, involving gravitons \((TTT)\) and Abelian gauge currents \((TJJ)\), through single-graviton exchange derived from the quadratic expansion of the Einstein--Hilbert action. Unlike related treatments based on the nonlocal anomaly action, these interactions are suppressed by the Planck scale. We show that the conformalon, invariant under linearized diffeomorphisms, admits an interpretation as an effective scalar correction to scattering amplitudes, both in virtual exchange channels and in effective real-emission processes. Around flat space, this behaviour arises from anomaly-induced nonlocal massless insertions on the external graviton and photon legs of the three-point functions, sewn through the scalar component of the graviton propagator in de Donder gauge. The resulting anomaly-mediated \(4\)-point interaction reduces to contact terms, with the Planck mass setting the suppression scale. The construction consistently matches the spin decomposition of flat-space conformal Ward identities in momentum space, which determine the vertices, with the corresponding spin decomposition of the graviton propagator. In the eikonal limit, these interactions generate contact corrections to the leading logarithmic phase in impact-parameter space. We further show that anomaly-mediated \(2\to2\) graviton amplitudes associated with the virtual exchange of such modes exhibit a characteristic double-copy structure.

In this paper, we deduce a Bochner-type identity for compact gradient Einstein-type manifolds with boundary. As consequence, we are able to show a rigidity result for Einstein-type manifolds assuming the parallel Ricci curvature condition. Moreover, we provide a condition on the norm of the gradient of the potential function in order to classify such structures.

Recent studies illustrate the correlation between the angular momenta of cosmic structures and their Lagrangian properties. However, only baryons are observable and it is unclear whether they reliably trace the cosmic angular momenta. We study the Lagrangian mass distribution, spin correlation, and predictability of dark matter, gas, and stellar components of galaxy-halo systems using IllustrisTNG, and show that the primordial segregations between components are typically small. Their protoshapes are also similar in terms of the statistics of moment of inertia tensors. Under the common gravitational potential they are expected to exert the same tidal torque and the strong spin correlations are not destroyed by the nonlinear evolution and complicated baryonic effects, as confirmed by the high-resolution hydrodynamic simulations. We further show that their late-time angular momenta traced by total gas, stars, or the central galaxies, can be reliably reconstructed by the initial perturbations. These results suggest that baryonic angular momenta can potentially be used in reconstructing the parameters and models related to the initial perturbations.

In this article, we consider a newly proposed parameterization of the viscosity coefficient zeta, specifically zeta=zeta_0 {Omega^s_m} H , where zeta_0 = zeta_0{{Omega^s_{m_0}}} within the coincident f(Q) gravity formalism. We consider a non-linear function f(Q)= -Q +alpha Q^n, where alpha and n are arbitrary model parameters, which is a power-law correction to the STEGR scenario. We find an autonomous system by invoking the dimensionless density parameters as the governing phase-space variables. We discuss the physical significance of the model corresponding to the parameter choices n=-1 and n=2 along with the exponent choices s=0, 0.5, and 1.05. We find that model I shows the stable de-Sitter type or stable phantom type (depending on the choice of exponent s) behavior with no transition epoch, whereas model II shows the evolutionary phase from the radiation epoch to the accelerated de-Sitter epoch via passing through the matter-dominated epoch. Hence, we conclude that model I provides a good description of the late-time cosmology but fails to describe the transition epoch, whereas model II modifies the description in the context of the early universe and provides a good description of the matter and radiation era along with the transition phase.

Recently, Fernandes discovered an analytic solution for rotating black holes in semiclassical gravity induced by the trace anomaly. These solutions exhibit some distinctive characteristics, including a non-spherically symmetric event horizon and violations of the Kerr bound. As a crucial assumption to uphold causality in spacetime, we investigate the validity of the weak cosmic censorship conjecture (WCCC) within this class of solutions with type-A trace anomaly by introducing a test particle on the equatorial plane. Our study reveals three distinct mechanisms that can potentially destroy the event horizon, leading to a violation of the WCCC. Our findings indicate that, with the exception of extremal Kerr, static extremal, and static singular black holes, the WCCC may be violated under the first-order perturbation of the test particle. These results suggest the need for further exploration of modifications to the behavior of the test particle under quantum effects in order to address the violation of the WCCC in this system.

I argue that coupling the Abelian Higgs model to gravity plus a negative cosmological constant leads to black holes which spontaneously break the gauge invariance via a charged scalar condensate slightly outside their horizon. This suggests that black holes can superconduct.

To deepen our understanding of Quantum Gravity and its connections with black holes and cosmology, building a common language and exchanging ideas across different approaches is crucial. The Nordita Program "Quantum Gravity: from gravitational effective field theories to ultraviolet complete approaches" created a platform for extensive discussions, aimed at pinpointing both common grounds and sources of disagreements, with the hope of generating ideas and driving progress in the field. This contribution summarizes the twelve topical discussions held during the program and collects individual thoughts of speakers and panelists on the future of the field in light of these discussions.

We present a detailed investigation on the structure of neutron stars, incorporating the presence of hyperons within a relativistic model under the mean-field approximation. Employing coupling constants derived from QCD sum rules, we explore the particle fraction in beta equilibrium and establish the mass-radius relationship for neutron stars with hyperonic matter. Additionally, we compute the stellar Love number (K_{2}) and the tidal deformability parameter (varLambda), providing valuable insights into the dynamical properties of these celestial objects. Through comparison with theoretical predictions and observational data, our results exhibit good agreement, affirming the validity of our approach. These findings contribute significantly to refining the understanding of neutron star physics, particularly in environments containing hyperons, and offer essential constraints on the equation of state governing such extreme astrophysical conditions.

The strong-field gravity in General Relativity (GR) realized in neutron stars (NSs) renders the Equation of State (EOS) P(varepsilon) of supradense neutron star (NS) matter to be essentially nonlinear and refines the upper bound for phiequiv P/varepsilon to be much smaller than the Special Relativity (SR) requirement with linear EOSs, where P and varepsilon are respectively the pressure and energy density of the system considered. Specifically, a tight bound philesssim0.374 is obtained by anatomizing perturbatively the intrinsic structures of the scaled Tolman--Oppenheimer--Volkoff (TOV) equations without using any input nuclear EOS. New insights gained from this novel analysis provide EOS-model independent constraints on properties (e.g., density profiles of the sound speed squared s^2=d P/dvarepsilon and trace anomaly Delta=1/3-phi) of cold supradense matter in NS cores. Using the gravity-matter duality in theories describing NSs, we investigate the impact of gravity on supradense matter EOS in NSs. In particular, we show that the NS mass M_{NS}, radius R and its compactness xiequiv M_{NS}/R scale with certain combinations of its central pressure and energy density (encapsulating its central EOS). Thus, observational data on these properties of NSs can straightforwardly constrain NS central EOSs without relying on any specific nuclear EOS-model.

We study the phases of gravity coupled to a charged scalar and gauge field in an asymptotically Anti-de Sitter spacetime (AdS_4) in the grand canonical ensemble. For the conformally coupled scalar, an intricate phase diagram is charted out between the four relevant solutions: global AdS, boson star, Reissner-Nordstrom black hole and the hairy black hole. The nature of the phase diagram undergoes qualitative changes as the charge of the scalar is changed, which we discuss. We also discuss the new features that arise in the extremal limit.

Axion-like particles (ALPs) are hypothetical pseudoscalar bosons, natural in extensions of the Standard Model. Their interactions with ordinary matter and radiation are suppressed, making it challenging to detect them in laboratory experiments. However, these particles, produced within stellar interiors, can provide an additional mechanism for energy loss, potentially influencing stellar evolution. Prominent methods for searching for such effects involve measuring the properties of red giants and helium-burning stars in globular clusters (GCs). Here we use published catalogs of stars selected as members of seven GCs on the basis of parallaxes and proper motions measured by Gaia (Data Realease 3). Making use of previously derived theoretical relations and the new data, we find the upper limit on the ALP-electron coupling, g_{ae}<5.2*10^{-14} (95% CL), and an indication (3.3 sigma) to nonzero ALP-photon coupling, g_{a\gamma}=(6.5+1.1-1.3)*10^{-11} GeV^{-1}. Given the precision of contemporary observational data, it is imperative to refine ALP constraints through more sophisticated analyses, which will be explored in detail elsewhere.

The possible existence of black holes has fascinated scientists at least since Michell and Laplace's proposal that a gravitating object could exist from which light could not escape. In the 20th century, in light of the general theory of relativity, it became apparent that, were such objects to exist, their structure would be far richer than originally imagined. Today, astronomical observations strongly suggest that either black holes, or objects with similar properties, not only exist but may well be abundant in our universe. In light of this, black hole research is now not only motivated by the fascinating theoretical properties such objects must possess but also as an attempt to better understand the universe around us. We review here some selected developments in black hole research, from a review of its early history to current topics in black hole physics research. Black holes have been studied at all levels; classically, semi-classically, and more recently, as an arena to test predictions of candidate theories of quantum gravity. We will review here progress and current research at all these levels as well as discuss some proposed alternatives to black holes.

We use new cosmic microwave background (CMB) primary temperature and polarization anisotropy measurements from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) Data Release 6 (DR6) to test foundational assumptions of the standard cosmological model and set constraints on extensions to it. We derive constraints from the ACT DR6 power spectra alone, as well as in combination with legacy data from Planck. To break geometric degeneracies, we include ACT and Planck CMB lensing data and baryon acoustic oscillation data from DESI Year-1, and further add supernovae measurements from Pantheon+ for models that affect the late-time expansion history. We verify the near-scale-invariance (running of the spectral index d n_s/dln k = 0.0062 pm 0.0052) and adiabaticity of the primordial perturbations. Neutrino properties are consistent with Standard Model predictions: we find no evidence for new light, relativistic species that are free-streaming (N_{rm eff} = 2.86 pm 0.13, which combined with external BBN data becomes N_{rm eff} = 2.89 pm 0.11), for non-zero neutrino masses (sum m_nu < 0.082 eV at 95% CL), or for neutrino self-interactions. We also find no evidence for self-interacting dark radiation (N_{rm idr} < 0.134), early-universe variation of fundamental constants, early dark energy, primordial magnetic fields, or modified recombination. Our data are consistent with standard BBN, the FIRAS-inferred CMB temperature, a dark matter component that is collisionless and with only a small fraction allowed as axion-like particles, a cosmological constant, and the late-time growth rate predicted by general relativity. We find no statistically significant preference for a departure from the baseline LambdaCDM model. In general, models introduced to increase the Hubble constant or to decrease the amplitude of density fluctuations inferred from the primary CMB are not favored by our data.

In the FLARES (First Light And Reionisation Epoch Simulations) suite of hydrodynamical simulations, we find the high redshift (z>5) intrinsic size-luminosity relation is, surprisingly, negatively sloped. However, after including the effects of dust attenuation we find a positively sloped UV observed size-luminosity relation in good agreement with other simulated and observational studies. In this work, we extend this analysis to probe the underlying physical mechanisms driving the formation and evolution of the compact galaxies driving the negative size-mass/size-luminosity relation. We find the majority of compact galaxies (R_{1/2, star}< 1 pkpc), which drive the negative slope of the size-mass relation, have transitioned from extended to compact sizes via efficient centralised cooling, resulting in high specific star formation rates in their cores. These compact stellar systems are enshrouded by non-star forming gas distributions as much as 100times larger than their stellar counterparts. By comparing with galaxies from the EAGLE simulation suite, we find that these extended gas distributions `turn on' and begin to form stars between z=5 and z=0 leading to increasing sizes, and thus the evolution of the size-mass relation from a negative to a positive slope. This explicitly demonstrates the process of inside-out galaxy formation in which compact bulges form earlier than the surrounding discs.

We study Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton gravity models in four-dimensional anti-de Sitter (AdS) spacetime which admit the Reissner-Nordstrom (RN) black hole solution. We show that below a critical temperature the AdS-RN solution becomes unstable against scalar perturbations and the gravitational system undergoes a phase transition. We show using numerical calculations that the new phase is a charged dilatonic black hole. Using the AdS/CFT correspondence we discuss the phase transition in the dual field theory both for non-vanishing temperatures and in the extremal limit. The extremal solution has a Lifshitz scaling symmetry. We discuss the optical conductivity in the new dual phase and find interesting behavior at low frequencies where it shows a "Drude peak". The resistivity varies with temperature in a non-monotonic way and displays a minimum at low temperatures which is reminiscent of the celebrated Kondo effect.

Gravitational waves (GWs) are lensed by matter, offering a unique probe of both the large-scale structure of the Universe and the fundamental properties of GW propagation. GWs can also be affected by wave optics effects when their wavelength is comparable to the size of the lens. While this regime has been well studied in the Newtonian approximation, the role of strong gravitational fields remains largely unexplored. This is particularly relevant for lensing by intermediate and supermassive black holes (BHs), which can occur near active galactic nuclei or in compact triple systems. In this work, we analyze the lensing of GWs by a non-rotating BH and compare our results to the Newtonian point-mass approximation. We construct frequency-dependent amplification factors that incorporate strong-field effects, revealing explicit polarization mixing and absorption by the event horizon. Using a fiducial GW event, we explore key phenomenological signatures of BH lensing, highlighting new observational opportunities to probe strong gravitational fields through GW lensing.

We provide a mapping between past null and future null infinity in three-dimensional flat space, using symmetry considerations. From this we derive a mapping between the corresponding asymptotic symmetry groups. By studying the metric at asymptotic regions, we find that the mapping is energy preserving and yields an infinite number of conservation laws.

Like general relativity, metric-affine gravity should be a viable effective quantum theory, otherwise it is a mathematical curiosity without physical application. Assuming a perturbative quantum field theory, the universal, flat limit of metric-affine gravity offers a good foundation for model-building only when symmetry constraints are themselves sufficient to get rid of ghosts and tachyons in the spectrum of propagating particle states, without requiring any further tuning of the couplings. Using this symmetry-first criterion, we find that for parity-preserving models with a totally symmetric distortion, only massless spin-one and spin-three modes are possible besides the graviton. Moreover, no viable models result from gauge symmetries generated by a scalar field.

Feynman famously asserted that interference is the only real mystery in quantum mechanics (QM). It is concluded that the reason for this mystery, and thereby the related mysteries of complementarity, non-commutativity of observables, the uncertainty principle and violation of Bell's equality, is that the axioms of QM depend vitally on the continuum nature of Hilbert Space, deemed unphysical. We develop a theory of quantum physics - Rational Quantum Mechanics (RaQM) - in which Hilbert Space is gravitationally discretised. The key to solving the mysteries of QM in RaQM is a number-theoretic property of the cosine function, concealed in QM when angles range over the continuum. This number-theoretic property describes mathematically the utter indivisibility of the quantum world and implies that the laws of physics are profoundly holistic. We contrast holism with nonlocality. In theories which embrace the continuum, the violation of Bell's inequality requires the laws of physics to be either nonlocal or not realistic; both incomprehensible concepts. By contrast, holism, as embodied in Mach's Principle or in the fractal geometry of a chaotic attractor, is neither incomprehensible nor unphysical. As part of this, we solve the deepest mystery of all; why nature makes use of complex numbers.

Reduction in effective spacetime dimensionality can occur in field-theory models more general than the widely studied dimensional reductions based on technically consistent truncations. Situations where wavefunction factors depend nontrivially on coordinates transverse to the effective lower dimension can give rise to unusual patterns of gauge symmetry breaking. Leading-order gauge modes can be left massless, but naturally occurring Stueckelberg modes can couple importantly at quartic order and higher, thus generating a "covert" pattern of gauge symmetry breaking. Such a situation is illustrated in a five-dimensional model of scalar electrodynamics in which one spatial dimension is taken to be an interval with Dirichlet/Robin boundary conditions on opposing ends. This simple model illuminates a mechanism which also has been found in gravitational braneworld scenarios.

We compute upper limits on the nanohertz-frequency isotropic stochastic gravitational wave background (GWB) using the 9-year data release from the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) collaboration. We set upper limits for a GWB from supermassive black hole binaries under power law, broken power law, and free spectral coefficient GW spectrum models. We place a 95\% upper limit on the strain amplitude (at a frequency of yr^{-1}) in the power law model of A_{rm gw} < 1.5times 10^{-15}. For a broken power law model, we place priors on the strain amplitude derived from simulations of Sesana (2013) and McWilliams et al. (2014). We find that the data favor a broken power law to a pure power law with odds ratios of 22 and 2.2 to one for the McWilliams and Sesana prior models, respectively. The McWilliams model is essentially ruled out by the data, and the Sesana model is in tension with the data under the assumption of a pure power law. Using the broken power-law analysis we construct posterior distributions on environmental factors that drive the binary to the GW-driven regime including the stellar mass density for stellar-scattering, mass accretion rate for circumbinary disk interaction, and orbital eccentricity for eccentric binaries, marking the first time that the shape of the GWB spectrum has been used to make astrophysical inferences. We then place the most stringent limits so far on the energy density of relic GWs, Omega_gw(f),h^2 < 4.2 times 10^{-10}, yielding a limit on the Hubble parameter during inflation of H_*=1.6times10^{-2}~m_{Pl}, where m_{Pl} is the Planck mass. Our limit on the cosmic string GWB, Omega_gw(f), h^2 < 2.2 times 10^{-10}, translates to a conservative limit of Gmu<3.3times 10^{-8} - a factor of 4 better than the joint Planck and high-l CMB data from other experiments.

We discuss relevant scalar deformations of a holographic theory with a compact boundary. An example of such a theory would be the global AdS_4 with its spatially compact boundary S^2. To introduce a relevant deformation, we choose to turn on a time-independent and spatially homogeneous non-normalizable scalar operator with m^2 = -2. The finite size of a compact boundary cuts down the RG flow at a finite length scale leading to an incomplete RG flow to IR. We discuss a version of {\it incomplete} C-theorem and an {\it incomplete} attractor like mechanism. We discuss the implication of our results for entanglement entropy and geometric quantities like scalar curvature, volume and mass scale of fundamental excitation of the how these quantities increase or decrease (often monotonically) with the strength of the deformation. Thermal physics of a holographic theory defined on a compact boundary is more interesting than its non-compact counterpart. It is well known that with a compact boundary, there is a possibility of a first order Hawking-Page transition dual to a de-confinement phase transition. From a gravity perspective, a relevant deformation dumps negative energy inside the bulk, increasing the effective cosmological constant (Lambda) of the AdS. Dumping more negative energy in the bulk would make the HP transition harder and the corresponding HP transition temperature would increase. However, we have found the size of the BH at the transition temperature decreases.

In this study, we utilize the minimal geometric deformation technique of gravitational decoupling to extend the regular Bardeen black hole, leading to the derivation of new black hole solutions within the framework of Rastall theory. By decoupling the field equations associated with an extended matter source into two subsystems, we address the first subsystem using the metric components of the regular Bardeen black hole. The second subsystem, incorporating the effects of the additional source, is solved through a constraint imposed by a linear equation of state. By linearly combining the solutions of these subsystems, we obtain two extended models. We then explore the distinct physical properties of these models for specific values of the Rastall and decoupling parameters. Our investigations encompass effective thermodynamic variables such as density and anisotropic pressure, asymptotic flatness, energy conditions, and thermodynamic properties including Hawking temperature, entropy, and specific heat. The results reveal that both models violate asymptotic flatness of the resulting spacetimes. The violation of energy conditions indicate the presence of exotic matter, for both models. Nonetheless, the energy density, radial pressure, as well as the Hawking temperature exhibit acceptable behavior, while the specific heat and Hessian matrix suggest thermodynamic stability.

We investigate the thermodynamic and hydrodynamic properties of 4-dimensional gauge theories with finite electric charge density in the presence of a constant magnetic field. Their gravity duals are planar magnetically and electrically charged AdS black holes in theories that contain a gauge Chern-Simons term. We present a careful analysis of the near horizon geometry of these black branes at finite and zero temperature for the case of a scalar field non-minimally coupled to the electromagnetic field. With the knowledge of the near horizon data, we obtain analytic expressions for the shear viscosity coefficient and entropy density, and also study the effect of a generic set of four derivative interactions on their ratio. We also comment on the attractor flows of the extremal solutions.

We consider holographic superconductors whose bulk description consists of gravity minimally coupled to a Maxwell field and charged scalar field with general potential. We give an analytic argument that there is no "hard gap": the real part of the conductivity at low frequency remains nonzero (although typically exponentially small) even at zero temperature. We also numerically construct the gravitational dual of the ground state of some holographic superconductors. Depending on the charge and dimension of the condensate, the infrared theory can have emergent conformal or just Poincare symmetry. In all cases studied, the area of the horizon of the dual black hole goes to zero in the extremal limit, consistent with a nondegenerate ground state.

We report a measurement of the E-mode polarization power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) using 150 GHz data taken from July 2014 to December 2016 with the POLARBEAR experiment. We reach an effective polarization map noise level of 32,μK-arcmin across an observation area of 670 square degrees. We measure the EE power spectrum over the angular multipole range 500 leq ell <3000, tracing the third to seventh acoustic peaks with high sensitivity. The statistical uncertainty on E-mode bandpowers is sim 2.3 μ{rm K}^2 at ell sim 1000 with a systematic uncertainty of 0.5μ{rm K}^2. The data are consistent with the standard ΛCDM cosmological model with a probability-to-exceed of 0.38. We combine recent CMB E-mode measurements and make inferences about cosmological parameters in ΛCDM as well as in extensions to ΛCDM. Adding the ground-based CMB polarization measurements to the Planck dataset reduces the uncertainty on the Hubble constant by a factor of 1.2 to H_0 = 67.20 pm 0.57 {rm km,s^{-1} ,Mpc^{-1}}. When allowing the number of relativistic species (N_{eff}) to vary, we find N_{eff} = 2.94 pm 0.16, which is in good agreement with the standard value of 3.046. Instead allowing the primordial helium abundance (Y_{He}) to vary, the data favor Y_{He} = 0.248 pm 0.012. This is very close to the expectation of 0.2467 from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. When varying both Y_{He} and N_{eff}, we find N_{eff} = 2.70 pm 0.26 and Y_{He} = 0.262 pm 0.015.

The observation of the shadow of the supermassive black hole M87^{*} by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) is sensitive to the spacetime geometry near the circular photon orbit and beyond, and it thus has the potential to test general relativity in the strong field regime. Obstacles to this program, however, include degeneracies between putative deviations from general relativity and both the description of the accretion flow and the uncertainties on "calibration parameters", such as e.g. the mass and spin of the black hole. In this work, we introduce a formalism, based on a principal component analysis, capable of reconstructing the black hole metric (i.e. the "signal") in an agnostic way, while subtracting the "foreground" due to the uncertainties in the calibration parameters and the modelling of the accretion flow. We apply our technique to simulated mock data for spherically symmetric black holes surrounded by a thick accretion disk. We show that separation of signal and foreground may be possible with next generation EHT-like experiments.

Through use of the Pauli-Villars regulator procedure we construct a second- plus fourth-order-derivative theory of gravity that serves as an ultraviolet completion of standard second-order-derivative quantum Einstein gravity that is ghost-free, unitary and power counting renormalizable.