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At least 595 records · Page 33
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DOE OSTI2025

First Look at Quartic-in-Spin Binary Dynamics at Third Post-Minkowskian Order

We compute the conservative and radiation-reaction contributions to classical observables in the gravitational scattering between a spinning and a spinless black hole to the fourth order in spin and third order in the gravitational constant. The conservative results are obtained from two-loop amplitudes for the scattering process of a massive scalar with a massive spin-𝑠 field (𝑠=0, 1, 2) minimally coupled to gravity, employing the recently introduced spin interpolation method to resolve all spin-Casimir terms. The two-loop amplitude exhibits a spin-shift symmetry in both probe limits, which we conjecture to be a sign of yet unknown integrability of Kerr orbits through the quartic order in spin and to all orders in the gravitational constant. We obtain the radial action from the finite part of the amplitude and use it to compute classical observables, including the impulse and spin kick. This is done using the recently introduced covariant Dirac brackets, which allow for the computation of classical scattering observables for general (nonaligned) spin configurations. Finally, employing the radiation-reaction amplitude proposed by Alessio and Di Vecchia, together with the Dirac brackets, we obtain radiation-reaction contributions to observables at all orders in spin and beyond the aligned-spin limit. We find agreement with known results up to the quadratic order in spin for both conservative and radiation-reaction contributions. Our results advance the state of the art in the understanding of spinning binary dynamics in general relativity and demonstrate the power and simplicity of the Dirac bracket formalism for relating scattering amplitudes to classical observables.

general relativity↗
DOE OSTI2019

Dyonic and magnetic black holes with nonlinear arcsin-electrodynamics

Dyonic and magnetic black holes solutions with spherically symmetric configurations in general relativity are obtained. Black holes possessing electric and magnetic charges are studied where the source of the gravitational field is electromagnetic fields obeying the arcsin-electrodynamics. We find corrections to Coulomb’s law and Reissner–Nordström solutions. The principles of causality and unitarity are investigated. We obtain the Hawking temperature and it was shown that at some event horizons there are second-order phase transitions.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Polarization whorls from M87* at the event horizon telescope

The event horizon telescope (EHT) is anticipated to soon produce polarimetric images of the supermassive black hole at the centre of the neighbouring galaxy M87. There are indications that this black hole is rapidly spinning. General relativity predicts that such a high-spin black hole has an emergent conformal symmetry near its event horizon. In this paper, we use this symmetry to analytically predict the polarized near-horizon emissions to be seen at the EHT and find a distinctive pattern of whorls aligned with the spin.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Geodesic Models of Quasi-periodic-oscillations as Probes of Quadratic Gravity

Future very-large-area X-ray instruments (for which the effective area is larger than >3 m{sup 2}) will be able to measure the frequencies of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) observed in the X-ray flux from accreting compact objects with sub-percent precision. If correctly modeled, QPOs can provide a novel way to test the strong-field regime of gravity. By using the relativistic precession model and a modified version of the epicyclic resonance model, we develop a method to test general relativity against a generic class of theories with quadratic curvature corrections. With the instrumentation being studied for future missions such as eXTP, LOFT, or STROBE-X, a measurement of at least two QPO triplets from a stellar mass black hole can set stringent constraints on the coupling parameters of quadratic gravity.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

NEW TWO-DIMENSIONAL MODELS OF SUPERNOVA EXPLOSIONS BY THE NEUTRINO-HEATING MECHANISM: EVIDENCE FOR DIFFERENT INSTABILITY REGIMES IN COLLAPSING STELLAR CORES

The neutrino-driven explosion mechanism for core-collapse supernovae in its modern flavor relies on the additional support of hydrodynamical instabilities in achieving shock revival. Two possible candidates, convection and the so-called standing accretion shock instability (SASI), have been proposed for this role. In this paper, we discuss new successful simulations of supernova explosions that shed light on the relative importance of these two instabilities. While convection has so far been observed to grow first in self-consistent hydrodynamical models with multi-group neutrino transport, we here present the first such simulation in which the SASI grows faster while the development of convection is initially inhibited. We illustrate the features of this SASI-dominated regime using an explosion model of a 27 M{sub Sun} progenitor, which is contrasted with a convectively dominated model of an 8.1 M{sub Sun} progenitor with subsolar metallicity, whose early post-bounce behavior is more in line with previous 11.2 M{sub Sun} and 15 M{sub Sun} explosion models. We analyze the conditions discriminating between the two different regimes, showing that a high mass-accretion rate and a short advection timescale are conducive for strong SASI activity. We also briefly discuss some important factors for capturing the SASI-driven regime, such as general relativity, the progenitor structure, a nuclear equation of state leading to a compact proto-neutron star, and the neutrino treatment. Finally, we evaluate possible implications of our findings for two-dimensional and three-dimensional supernova simulations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Cosmological tests using redshift space clustering in BOSS DR11

We analyze the clustering of large scale structure in the Universe in a model independent method, accounting for anisotropic effects along and transverse to the line of sight. A large sample of 690,000 galaxies from The Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopy Survey Data Release 11 are used to determine the Hubble expansion H, angular distance D{sub A}, and growth rate G{sub Θ} at an effective redshift of z=0.57. After careful bias and convergence studies of the effects from small scale clustering, we find that cutting transverse separations below 40 Mpc/h delivers robust results while smaller scale data leads to a bias due to unmodelled nonlinear and velocity effects. The converged results are in agreement with concordance ΛCDM cosmology, general relativity, and minimal neutrino mass, all within the 68% confidence level. We also present results separately for the northern and southern hemisphere sky, finding a slight tension in the growth rate --- potentially a signature of anisotropic stress, or just covariance with small scale velocities --- but within 68% CL.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Constraining possible variations of the fine structure constant in strong gravitational fields with the Kα iron line

In extensions of general relativity and in theories aiming at unifying gravity with the forces of the Standard Model, the value of the ''fundamental constants'' is often determined by the vacuum expectation value of new fields, which may thus change in different backgrounds. Variations of fundamental constants with respect to the values measured today in laboratories on Earth are expected to be more evident on cosmological timescales and/or in strong gravitational fields. In this paper, I show that the analysis of the Kα iron line observed in the X-ray spectrum of black holes can potentially be used to probe the fine structure constant α in gravitational potentials relative to Earth of Δφ ≈ 0.1. At present, systematic effects not fully under control prevent to get robust and stringent bounds on possible variations of the value of α with this technique, but the fact that current data can be fitted with models based on standard physics already rules out variations of the fine structure constant larger than some percent.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2010

Cosmographic constraints on a class of Palatini f(R) gravity

Modified gravity, known as f(R) gravity, has presently been applied to cosmology as a realistic alternative to dark energy. For this kind of gravity the expansion of the Universe may accelerate while containing only baryons and dark matter. The aim of the present investigation is to place cosmographic constraints on the class of theories of the form f(R)=R-{alpha}/R{sup n} within the Palatini approach. Although extensively discussed in recent literature, cosmological tests are inconclusive about the true signal of n. This is particularly important to define which kind of corrections (infrared or high-energy) to general relativity this class of theory represents. We shed some light on this question by examining the evolution of the deceleration parameter for these theories. We find that for a large range of {alpha}, these models can only have positive values for n, placing thus a broad restriction on this class of gravity.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Analytic Solutions in Nonlinear Massive Gravity

We study spherically symmetric solutions in a covariant massive gravity model, which is a candidate for a ghost-free nonlinear completion of the Fierz-Pauli theory. There is a branch of solutions that exhibits the Vainshtein mechanism, recovering general relativity below a Vainshtein radius given by (r{sub g}m{sup 2}){sup 1/3}, where m is the graviton mass and r{sub g} is the Schwarzschild radius of a matter source. Another branch of exact solutions exists, corresponding to de Sitter-Schwarzschild spacetimes where the curvature scale of de Sitter space is proportional to the mass squared of the graviton.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2017

The Eccentric Kozai–Lidov Mechanism for Outer Test Particle

The secular approximation of the hierarchical three body systems has been proven to be very useful in addressing many astrophysical systems, from planets to stars to black holes. In such a system, two objects are on a tight orbit and the tertiary is on a much wider orbit. Here, we study the dynamics of a system by taking the tertiary mass to zero and solve the hierarchical three body system up to the octupole level of approximation. We find a rich dynamics that the outer orbit undergoes due to gravitational perturbations from the inner binary. The nominal result of the precession of the nodes is mostly limited for the lowest order of approximation; however, when the octupole level of approximation is introduced, the system becomes chaotic, as expected, and the tertiary oscillates below and above 90°, similarly to the non-test particle flip behavior. We provide the Hamiltonian of the system and investigate the dynamics of the system from the quadrupole to the octupole level of approximations. We also analyze the chaotic and quasi-periodic orbital evolution by studying the surfaces of sections. Furthermore, including general relativity, we showcase the long-term evolution of individual debris disk particles under the influence of a far-away interior eccentric planet. We show that this dynamics can naturally result in retrograde objects and a puffy disk after a long timescale evolution (a few Gyr) for initially aligned configuration.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2010

Field Equations for Abelian Vector Fields in the Bianchi Type I Metric in the Framework of Teleparallel Gravity

Gauge theory, under the framework of quantum field theory, has successfully described three fundamental interactions: electromagnetic, weak, and strong interactions. Problems of describing the gravitational interaction in a similar manner has not been satisfied yet until now. Teleparallel gravity (TG) is one proposal describing gravitational field as a gauge field. This theory is quite new and it is equivalent to Einstein's general relativity. But as gravitational field in TG is expressed by torsion, rather than curvature, it gives an alternative framework for solving problems on gravity. This paper will present solution of the dynamical equation of abelian vector fields under the framework of TG in the Bianchi type I spacetime.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Conformal holonomy in MacDowell-Mansouri gravity

The MacDowell-Mansouri formulation of general relativity is based on a gauge theory whose gauge algebra depends on the sign of the cosmological constant. In this article, we show that the gauge algebra is uniquely determined by the conformal structure of spacetime itself. Specifically, we show that in vacuum: the spacetime conformal holonomy algebra coincides with the MacDowell-Mansouri gauge algebra for both signs of the cosmological constant, in both Lorentzian and Euclidean metric signatures.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

In what sense a neutron star-black hole binary is the holy grail for testing gravity?

Pulsars in binary systems have been very successful to test the validity of general relativity in the strong field regime [1-4]. So far, such binaries include neutron star-white dwarf (NS-WD) and neutron star-neutron star (NS-NS) systems. It is commonly believed that a neutron star-black hole (NS-BH) binary will be much superior for this purpose. But in what sense is this true? Does it apply to all possible deviations?.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Stability of Schwarzschild-like solutions in f(R,G) gravity models

We study linear metric perturbations around a spherically symmetric static spacetime for general f(R,G) theories, where R is the Ricci scalar and G is the Gauss-Bonnet term. We find that, unless the determinant of the Hessian of f(R,G) is zero, even-type perturbations have a ghost for any multipole mode. In order for these theories to be plausible alternatives to general relativity, the theory should satisfy the condition that the ghost is massive enough to effectively decouple from the other fields. We study the requirement on the form of f(R,G) which satisfies this condition. We also classify the number of propagating modes both for the odd-type and the even-type perturbations and derive the propagation speeds for each mode.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2013

On the null trajectories in conformal Weyl gravity

In this work we find analytical solutions to the null geodesics around a black hole in the conformal Weyl gravity. Exact expressions for the horizons are found, and they depend on the cosmological constant and the coupling constants of the conformal Weyl gravity. Then, we study the radial motion from the point of view of the proper and coordinate frames, and compare it with that found in spacetimes of general relativity. The angular motion is also examined qualitatively by means of an effective potential; quantitatively, the equation of motion is solved in terms of wp-Weierstrass elliptic function. Thus, we find the deflection angle for photons without using any approximation, which is a novel result for this kind of gravity.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

ISOTHERMAL DISTRIBUTIONS IN MONDian GRAVITY AS A SIMPLE UNIFYING EXPLANATION FOR THE UBIQUITOUS{rho}{proportional_to}r {sup -3} DENSITY PROFILES IN TENUOUS STELLAR HALOS

That the stellar halo of the Milky Way has a density profile which, to first approximation, satisfies{rho}{proportional_to}r {sup -3} and has been known for a long time. More recently, it has become clear that M31 also has such an extended stellar halo, which approximately follows the same radial scaling. Studies of distant galaxies have revealed the same phenomenology. Also, we now know that the density profiles of the globular cluster systems of our Galaxy and Andromeda to first approximation follow{rho}{proportional_to}r {sup -3},{Sigma}{proportional_to}R {sup -2} in projection. Recently, diffuse populations of stars have been detected spherically surrounding a number of Galactic globular clusters, extending much beyond the Newtonian tidal radii, often without showing any evidence of tidal features. Within the standard Newtonian and general relativity scenario, numerous and diverse particular explanations have been suggested, individually tailored to each of the different classes of systems described above. Here we show that in a MONDian gravity scenario any isothermal tenuous halo of tracer particles forming a small perturbation surrounding a spherically symmetric mass distribution will have an equilibrium configuration which to first approximation satisfies a{rho}{proportional_to}r {sup -3} scaling.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Scalar-tensor extension of the ΛCDM model

We construct a cosmological scalar-tensor-theory model in which the Brans-Dicke type scalar Φ enters the effective (Jordan-frame) Hubble rate as a simple modification of the Hubble rate of the ΛCDM model. This allows us to quantify differences between the background dynamics of scalar-tensor theories and general relativity (GR) in a transparent and observationally testable manner in terms of one single parameter. Problems of the mapping of the scalar-field degrees of freedom on an effective fluid description in a GR context are discused. Data from supernovae, the differential age of old galaxies and baryon acoustic oscillations are shown to strongly limit potential deviations from the standard model.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2010

Consistent matter couplings for Plebanski gravity

We develop a scheme for the minimal coupling of all standard types of tensor and spinor field matter to Plebanski gravity. This theory is a geometric reformulation of vacuum general relativity in terms of two-form frames and connection one-forms, and provides a covariant basis for various quantization approaches. Using the spinor formalism we prove the consistency of the newly proposed matter coupling by demonstrating the full equivalence of Plebanski gravity plus matter to Einstein-Cartan gravity. As a by-product we also show the consistency of some previous suggestions for matter actions.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗