Advances in gravitational-wave detector sensitivity have increased the rate of transient signal detections, demanding faster automated analysis. We extend MaxWave, a fast maximum likelihood wavelet reconstruction algorithm, to perform coherent multi-detector signal reconstruction and glitch rejection. We coherently search for a common set of wavelets modeling the signal in all detectors. Multi-detector data are aligned using z-statistic time and phase offsets and amplitude scalings relative to the dominant reconstruction, as well as adaptive noise weightings derived from a geometrically averaged noise spectrum. By aligning and weighting individual detectors, we form a synthetic detector that amplifies non-Gaussian features, down-weights noisy detectors, and preserves Gaussian noise statistics. We extract the coherent signal using this synthetic detector, improving sensitivity to weak events while rejecting coincident glitches that lack consistent phase and amplitude evolution. Our algorithm provides real-time, low-latency, model-independent signal reconstructions, safely denoises gravitational wave data without removing transient signals, and can complement existing burst search and reconstruction frameworks through a fundamentally distinct approach, strengthening detection confidence and improving sensitivity to diverse signal morphologies. less

We study the quantum dynamics of the dynamical region of the Reissner--Nordström geometry using a minisuperspace reduction and affine quantization, which is naturally suited for positive-definite geometrical variables. The resulting Wheeler--DeWitt equation becomes separable, yielding Hermite-polynomial modes in one sector and Gaussian-like radial solutions in the other. Affine quantization introduces additional short-distance contributions that modify the small-radius behaviour of the wave function. By constructing normalizable semiclassical wave packets, we analyze the resulting probability distributions in minisuperspace and the role played by the electric charge in the quantum dynamics. Our results extend previous affine-quantization studies of the Schwarzschild case to the charged Reissner--Nordström geometry. less

We study the production of spin-$1/2$ particle-antiparticle pairs in curved spacetimes with nontrivial dependence on more than one coordinate. To this end, we develop two complementary approaches. First, we extend the scattered-wave-function (SWF) method, originally introduced for pair production in electromagnetic backgrounds, to curved spacetime backgrounds. Second, we complete the development of an open-worldline-instanton method by deriving the pre-exponential factor of the pair-production probability. We apply both methods to several two-dimensional metrics and find good agreement between the resulting probabilities. While the SWF approach provides numerically exact results and is particularly efficient for the examples considered here, the instanton approach offers favorable scaling to higher-dimensional backgrounds and more extreme parameter regimes. These methods provide new tools for studying pair production in multidimensional gravitational backgrounds beyond the reach of many existing approaches. less

The gravitational-wave induced freeze-in of Maleknejad and Kopp (2026) produces dark fermions from a stochastic gravitational-wave background, but requires them to acquire mass by separate means. We develop the Quadratic Spinor Lagrangian (QSL) formulation of general relativity, extended to Einstein--Cartan, as a framework that supplies this mass geometrically. The spinor 1-form built from a single Dirac field is purely spin-1/2 -- its gamma-traceless (spin-3/2) part vanishes identically -- so the propagating excitation is a Dirac fermion, the same content as the produced Weyl fermion. A cosmological spinor condensate sources a vectorial trace torsion $K\propto\dotχ/χ$, and an explicit Clifford reduction shows that this torsion gives the fermion a pure Dirac mass $M_{eff}=(1/\sqrt6)\,|\dotχ/χ|$, with no pseudoscalar or cross terms. The mass is not a free parameter but is locked to the Hubble rate at production, $M_{eff}\simeq(c_χ/\sqrt6)H_*$, making the relic abundance a function of essentially the single scale $H_*$ ($Ωh^2\propto H_*^{5/2}$) and supplying the mass the parent mechanism must postulate. Whether promoting the spinor 1-form to an independent field yields a propagating spin-3/2 candidate is a distinct dynamical question; Paper II shows that it does not -- the QSL channels all propagation into the gravitational sector -- so the composite spin-1/2 Dirac fermion is the unique QSL dark-matter candidate. We discuss the resulting dark-matter phenomenology and its link to asymptotically free scalar-field cosmology. less

Born-Infeld New Massive Gravity (BINMG) completes New Massive Gravity to all orders in curvature through the determinant of the metric shifted by the Einstein tensor. We recast it with an independent auxiliary metric $q_{μν}$, whose algebraic equation of motion $q_{μν}=g_{μν}+\fracσ{m^2}G_{μν}(g)$ recovers the determinant action exactly on the regular branch and resums the infinite curvature series into a single relation. In the densitized variable $P^{μν}=\sqrt{-q}\,q^{μν}$ the three-dimensional action is polynomial, with all derivative dependence carried by the coupling $P^{μν}G_{μν}(g)$. The formulation makes known properties follow with substantially less algebra: the unique vacuum follows in one line, and the quadratic action yields a single Pauli-Fierz massive spin-2 field with the Fierz-Pauli tuning generated rather than imposed. On locally AdS backgrounds the conserved charges, BTZ mass and angular momentum, central charge, and entropy reduce to the Einstein results times a common factor. The formulation also isolates the nonlinear degree-of-freedom problem in the right variables, leaving the full Dirac count to separate work. less

We investigate the impact of higher-curvature corrections on photon propagation within an effective field theory framework and explore their observational consequences in strong gravitational fields. In particular, we consider polarization-dependent modifications to photon trajectories induced by higher-order curvature terms and analyze their effects in static and spherically symmetric spacetimes, focusing on Schwarzschild and Reissner-Nordström backgrounds. Using the geometrical optics approximation, we derive the effective metric governing photon propagation and study the resulting shifts in the photon sphere. Based on this modified propagation, we compute the quasinormal modes in the eikonal limit and examine their dependence on the polarization modes. We further analyze gravitational lensing observables, focusing on the deflection angle, incorporating the polarization-dependent corrections. Our results clarify how contributions from beyond-general-relativity effects manifest in both quasinormal mode spectra and strong gravitational lensing observables. These findings further suggest the possibility of placing meaningful constraints on effective field theories. less

We show that higher-curvature Lovelock terms do not restore local cosmic censorship in spherical dust collapse, but instead promote the local visibility of central shell-focusing singularities. On the collapse branch with positive highest-order Lovelock coefficient \(c_N\), the highest nonvanishing Lovelock order \(N\) controls both the near-singularity collapse and the formation of trapped surfaces. In noncritical dimensions, \(D-1-2N>0\), the apparent-horizon curve approaches the singularity curve with trapping exponent \(β_N=(D-1)/(D-1-2N)\). Comparing this scale with the first nonvanishing correction \(r^\ell\) to the singularity curve gives the local-visibility condition \(\ell<β_N\), provided the singularity curve opens outward. Thus increasing \(N\) enlarges the class of inhomogeneous initial data producing outgoing radial null rays from the central singularity. In the critical odd-dimensional branch, \(D=2N+1\), no apparent horizon forms sufficiently close to the center, so any outward opening of the singularity curve gives local visibility. The locally visible singularities are Królak-strong along the emerging null rays, with Tipler strength reached at threshold. For bound and unbound collapse, the noncritical exponents are unchanged: the energy function modifies the opening of the singularity curve, while in the critical branch it enters the leading terminal collapse velocity. less

We investigate the fully relativistic dynamical tidal response of neutron stars up to second order in the frequency. Combining the worldline effective field theory for extended gravitating bodies with perturbation theory of relativistic stellar models, we derive the tidal deformation induced by an external time-dependent field, including a universal logarithmic running term. In the effective theory, we work in dimensional regularization and, through a consistent matching procedure, obtain for the first time the complete leading-order dynamical tidal corrections to both the conservative dynamics and the gravitational-wave signal of compact binaries, including the scheme-dependent finite terms in addition to the running. We show that, in the relativistic regime, dynamical effects cannot be fully captured by mode excitations alone. The magnitude of the additional contribution depends on the stellar compactness, the equation of state, and the running term. Dynamical Love numbers are significantly enhanced with respect to their static counterparts for relatively small compactness. As a result, although they formally enter the gravitational-wave phase at 8th post-Newtonian order, dynamical tidal effects yield a non-negligible contribution during the late inspiral. Using a Fisher-matrix analysis, we show that third-generation detectors such as the Einstein Telescope could measure dynamical Love numbers for a range of neutron-star masses and equations of state. Conversely, neglecting these effects can lead to significant biases in the inference of static Love numbers, and hence on the nuclear equation of state. Our results highlight the importance of dynamical tidal effects for high-precision gravitational-wave modeling with future detectors. less