We investigate the construction of regular compact objects in the recently proposed lower-dimensional Einstein--Gauss--Bonnet (EGB) gravity obtained through regularized dimensional reduction. Unlike the standard BTZ black hole, the corresponding vacuum EGB solution develops a genuine curvature singularity at the origin, providing an interesting setting in which higher-curvature corrections deteriorate the ultraviolet behavior of spacetime. To address this issue, we reconstruct matter sectors capable of restoring regularity while preserving the BTZ-like asymptotic structure. First, we derive regular black-hole solutions supported by nonlinear electrodynamics and determine the corresponding electromagnetic Lagrangians directly from the field equations. We then extend the analysis to Simpson--Visser black-bounce geometries, obtaining smooth throat configurations with finite curvature invariants throughout the spacetime. As an alternative regularization mechanism, we formulate a unimodular extension of lower-dimensional EGB gravity and show that standard Maxwell fields can support regular geometries through a dynamical exchange between the vacuum and matter sectors mediated by a spacetime-dependent cosmological function. We further investigate the thermodynamic properties of the regular black-hole and black-bounce solutions, showing that the matter sector modifies the evaporation process, allows for remnant formation, and produces nontrivial phase transitions. In the black-bounce case, the thermodynamic quantities smoothly recover the EGB-BTZ behavior in the appropriate limit. These results demonstrate that lower-dimensional EGB gravity provides a useful laboratory for exploring the interplay between higher-curvature corrections, regular compact objects, nonlinear electrodynamics, and unimodular gravity. less

We develop an affine-null characteristic formulation of the Einstein-Maxwell system coupled to a charged complex scalar field in $n$-dimensional spherical symmetry. By introducing suitable auxiliary variables, the main field equations are cast into a hierarchical system of radial hypersurface equations, supplemented by a transport equation for the scalar field. We discuss the associated characteristic initial-boundary value problem for asymptotic, vertex and null-boundary configurations, and derive the corresponding asymptotic quantities and balance laws. As a consistency check, we recover the scalar-free Reissner-Nordström-Tangherlini family, including both the non-extremal and extremal branches, directly from the hierarchy. The resulting framework provides a systematic setting for the study of charged scalar dynamics and exact black-hole solutions in higher-dimensional affine-null coordinates. less

We formulate a local geometric criterion for weak cosmic censorship in black hole overcharging and overspinning thought experiments. Under the null convergence and generic conditions, matter injection turns a horizon cross section into a closed trapped surface. Any final spacetime unable to accommodate this surface is ruled out. This trapped surface criterion excludes superextremal Reissner-Nordström, Reissner-Nordström-de Sitter, and Kerr-Newman final states, as well as Weyl-class naked singularities. Our criterion does not rely on asymptotic charges or on an extremal condition characterizing naked singularities. less

This paper develops an epistemological constraint on quantum gravity grounded in the empirical meaning of general relativity. The central claim is that a complete recovery of general relativity requires an effective metric, a continuum limit, or Einstein-like dynamics together with the physical conditions under which relational geometrical quantities can be objectively determined. These conditions concern the dynamical stability of measuring devices and reference systems, causal accessibility among physical systems, record formation, and invariance under admissible descriptions. In classical general relativity, they are usually implicit in the use of clocks, rods, light signals, freely falling bodies, detectors, and gauge-invariant observables. In quantum gravity, however, they become non-trivial because spacetime geometry may be emergent, effective, thermodynamic, relational, or frame-dependent. This claim is developed through four cases: Rindler horizons and the Unruh effect, black-hole thermodynamics and Jacobson's equation-of-state derivation, gravitational-wave detection, and Weyl and conformal gravity. The latter is discussed as a critical limiting case in which conformal invariance raises a sharp question about whether scale-dependent measurements of space and time can be physically fixed. Implications for quantum gravity are also discussed using emergent gravity and quantum reference frames as examples. The perspective developed in the study suggests a general epistemological constraint on quantum gravity: any viable approach must recover the physical possibility of objective geometrical measurement together with geometry itself. less

We study the ability of the upcoming Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) to constrain gas torques acting on extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs) when these are embedded in accretion disks, using recently developed relativistic models for the binary-disk interaction. Using a fully Bayesian setup, we find that, contrary to previous forecasts based on Newtonian results, these observations can provide simultaneous estimates of the disk surface density and the accretion rate (or, equivalently, its total luminosity) without the need for an electromagnetic counterpart. Our analysis also indicates that simpler measurement constraints based on the linear-signal (Fisher matrix) approximation are not valid for these systems. For typical EMRI observations, the torque amplitude can be constrained to within ~10%, strengthening the prospect of probing accretion physics at (sub)microparsec scales, deep in the strong-field gravity regime and complementing electromagnetic observations. This also strengthens LISA's ability to help answering questions such as how massive black holes grow and coevolve with their host galaxies and, by helping to identify the EMRI's host galaxy through cross-correlation with AGN catalogues, to improve the use of these sources as (dark) sirens for cosmology. less

Gravitational wave (GW) observations provide an unprecedented laboratory for testing general relativity (GR) in the strong-field, highly dynamic, and relativistic regimes. Within the parameterized post-Newtonian (PN) formalisms, waveform generation tests have conventionally been limited to constraining inspiral coefficients up to the 3.5PN order. Leveraging the recent theoretical breakthrough that extended the analytical compact binary phasing to the 4.5PN order, we present the first observational constraints on these higher-order effects. Our analysis utilizes two exceptional events detected by the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA (LVK) network: GW250114\_082203, which boasts the highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) recorded to date, and GW230627\_015337, which features a uniquely prolonged inspiral phase and the highest inspiral phase SNR to date. By performing Bayesian inference on the dimensionless deviation parameters ($δφ_i$) associated with the 4PN and 4.5PN coefficients, we find that our results are fully consistent with the predictions of GR. While the current 90\% credible intervals for the four deviation parameters are of order $\mathcal{O}(1) \text{-} \mathcal{O}(10)$, the general relativistic null values ($δ\hatφ_a= 0$) are entirely encapsulated within the bounds. This investigation establishes the first empirical baseline for 4PN and 4.5PN inspiral tests of GR, paving the way for high-precision null tests of GR with current and next-generation GW detectors. less

Gravitational waves from extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (EMRI) provide a direct probe of the strong-field geometry of black holes. Motivated by this, we study the motion of test particles and the resulting gravitational wave emission in the spacetime of a charged black hole inspired by loop quantum gravity (LQG), where the classical singularity is replaced by a smooth transition surface arising from the LQG polymerization, in which its radius is set by the LQG area gap condition. As a result, the polymerization parameter $δ_b$ is uniquely determined by the mass $M$ and charge parameter $Q$, so that all cases examined in this work contain LQG correction. By constructing the effective potential, the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO) and the marginally bound orbit (MBO) are determined. Periodic orbits are classified using the Levin-Perez-Giz zoom-whirl taxonomy, showing how the orbit topology shapes the waveform, so that each closed trajectory is labeled by the triple integer $(z, w, v)$ and located through the rational frequency ratio $q = ω_φ/ω_r - 1$. Within the quadrupole approximation, the gravitational waveforms for an EMRIs are estimated, and the resulting polarizations are obtained in the time-domain and frequency-domain. The resulting polarizations in the time-domain exhibit a zoom-whirl morphology, with the waveform amplitude and phase dependent on the LQG parameter. The characteristic strain peaks in the millihertz band for all values of the charge parameter $Q$, and they exceed the projected sensitivities of LISA, Taiji, and TianQin, suggesting that future observations could place meaningful constraints on the LQG polymerization parameter in the strong-field regime. less

The origin of cosmic acceleration remains a central problem in cosmology, commonly attributed to a cosmological constant within the $Λ$CDM model or to dynamical dark energy. Here, we develop an alternative approach in which acceleration emerges from quantum post-selection, a standard feature of quantum theory that is not usually incorporated into cosmological modelling. While quantum theory admits both pre-selected and post-selected ensembles, quantum cosmological models are almost exclusively formulated in terms of initial conditions. Building on previous work on post-selected quasiclassical dynamics, we construct a minimal predictive cosmological model in which post-selection and coarse-graining generate effective late-time acceleration without introducing a cosmological constant, dark energy, or modifications of general relativity. The resulting expansion history is highly constrained theoretically and depends on at most two parameters beyond standard Friedmann evolution. Confrontation with type Ia supernova and cosmic chronometer data yields statistically competitive fits while naturally avoiding the coincidence problem. The model also reproduces the standard radiation- and matter-dominated behaviour at early times and predicts a present-day jerk parameter significantly different from the $Λ$CDM value. These results suggest that cosmic acceleration may arise as a macroscopic quantum cosmological effect rather than from additional cosmological fluids or modified gravitational dynamics. less

We investigate the thermodynamic properties of static, spherically symmetric Anti-de Sitter (AdS) black holes, focusing on the interplay between characteristic temperatures, as well as on the universality of Ruppeiner scalar curvature at the Hawking-Page (HP) phase transition. In particular, we study the relation between the minimum temperature and the HP phase transition temperature for static, spherically symmetric AdS black holes in pure Lovelock gravity. For the electromagnetically neutral case in Einstein gravity, the minimum temperature in $(d+1)$ dimensions coincides with the HP transition temperature in $d$ dimensions, while in higher pure Lovelock theories this relation is modified by a dimension- and order-dependent factor, reducing to the Einstein result in appropriate limits. For charged AdS black holes, in the grand canonical ensemble, in general relativity, the two temperatures differ by a simple dimension-dependent factor, whereas no universal relation persists in higher curvature pure Lovelock theories. We further analyze the normalized Ruppeiner scalar curvature at the HP transition and show that it is a universal constant depending only on the spacetime dimension for electromagnetically neutral black holes in pure Lovelock theories. The normalized scalar curvature remains a constant, under appropriate conditions, even for the charged static spherically symmetric black holes in the grand canonical ensemble for the Einstein theory case, whereas in general pure Lovelock theories it depends on thermodynamic parameters such as pressure and electrostatic potential, asymptotically approaching a constant in the large-pressure or simultaneous large-potential and large-pressure limits. less

We investigate the critical regime $κ(R,T)=0$ in $κ(R,T)$ gravity. While most studies assume a non-vanishing effective gravitational coupling, the existence of critical hypersurfaces where $κ$ vanishes is a generic feature of many admissible coupling functions. We show that the apparent singularity of the non-conservation equation is an artifact of a rewritten form of the conservation law and that the fundamental equations remain regular at $κ=0$. We further analyze the structure of critical hypersurfaces, derive the associated compatibility condition $(\nabla^μκ)T_{μν}=0$, and discuss their interpretation as gravitational screening surfaces separating attractive and repulsive gravitational phases. The existence of critical coupling hypersurfaces also obstructs a global Einstein-frame description, distinguishing $κ(R,T)$ gravity from theories based solely on algebraic redefinitions of the energy-momentum tensor. Possible cosmological and astrophysical consequences are briefly explored. less

We investigate the critical regime $κ(R,T)=0$ in $κ(R,T)$ gravity. While most studies assume a non-vanishing effective gravitational coupling, the existence of critical hypersurfaces where $κ$ vanishes is a generic feature of many admissible coupling functions. We show that the apparent singularity of the non-conservation equation is an artifact of a rewritten form of the conservation law and that the fundamental equations remain regular at $κ=0$. We further analyze the structure of critical hypersurfaces, derive the associated compatibility condition $(\nabla^μκ)T_{μν}=0$, and discuss their interpretation as gravitational screening surfaces separating attractive and repulsive gravitational phases. The existence of critical coupling hypersurfaces also obstructs a global Einstein-frame description, distinguishing $κ(R,T)$ gravity from theories based solely on algebraic redefinitions of the energy-momentum tensor. Possible cosmological and astrophysical consequences are briefly explored. less

Boson clouds formed via superradiance around spinning black holes offer a novel gravitational-wave probe for weakly interacting ultralight particles. We show that such gravitational atoms can undergo a self-stimulated avalanche: a coherent quadrupolar transition is seeded and then amplified by gravitational radiation feedback. We formulate an effective two-level description, validated by numerical simulations, that captures the logistic population transfer and the resulting delayed gravitational-wave pulse with a characteristic envelope, and assess its detectability with future detectors. As a gravitational analogue of superfluorescence, this cooperative emission mechanism opens a new observational avenue into the ultralight dark sector. less