General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)

Abstract: It is believed that gravity may be regarded as a quantum coherent mediator. In this work we propose a plan using the Quantum Gravity Induced Entanglement of Masses (QGEM) experiment to test the extra dimension. The experiment involves two freely falling test masses passing though a Stern-Gerlach-like device. We study the entanglement witness of them in the framework of Randall-Sundrum II model (RS-II). It turns out that the system would reach entangled more rapidly in the presence of extra dimension. In particular, this is more significant for large radius of extra dimension.

Abstract: We study the inflationary scenario in the Tsallis entropy-based cosmology. The Friedmann equations in this setup can be derived by using the first law of thermodynamics. To derive the relations of the power spectra of the scalar and tensor perturbations in this setup, we reconstruct an $f(R)$ gravity model which is thermodynamically equivalent to our model in the slow-roll approximation. In this way, we find the inflationary observables, including the scalar spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio in our scenario. Then, we investigate two different potentials in our scenario, including the quadratic potential and the potential associated with the natural inflation in which the inflaton is an axion or a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson. We examine their observational viability in light of the Planck 2018 CMB data. We show that although the results of these potentials are in tension with the observations in the standard inflationary setting, their consistency with the observations can be significantly improved within the setup of the Tsallis entropy-based inflation. Moreover, we place constraints on the parameters of the considered inflationary models by using the Planck 2018 data.

Abstract: As an extension of a thin-shell, we adopt a single parametric plane-symmetric Kasner-type spacetime to represent an exact thick-plate. This naturally extends the domain wall spacetime to a domain thick-wall case. Physical properties of such a plate with symmetry axis $z$ and thickness $0\leq z\leq z_{0}$ are investigated. Geodesic analysis determines the possibility of a Newtonian-like fall, namely with constant negative acceleration as it is near the Earth's surface. This restricts the Kasner-like exponents to a finely-tuned set, which together with the thickness and energy parameter determine the G-force of the plate. In contrast to the inverse square law, the escape velocity of the thick-shell is unbounded. The metric is regular everywhere but expectedly the energy-momentum of the thick-plate remains problematic.

Abstract: In a work by Visser, Bassett and Liberati (VBL) [Nucl. Phys. B (Proc. Suppl.) 88, 267 (2000)] a relation was suggested between a null energy condition and the censorship of superluminal behaviour. Their result was soon challenged by Gao and Wald [Class. Quantum Grav. 17, 4999, (2000)] who argued that this relation is gauge dependent and therefore lacks physical significance. In this paper, we clear up this controversy by showing that both papers are correct but need to be interpreted in distinct paradigms. In this context, we introduce a new paradigm to interpret gravitational phenomena, which we call the Harmonic Background Paradigm. This harmonic background paradigm starts from the idea that there exists a more fundamental background causality provided by a flat spacetime geometry. One of the consequences of this paradigm is that the VBL relation provides an explanation of why gravity is attractive in all standard weak-field situations.

Abstract: Symmetry assumptions on the geometrical framework have provided successful mechanisms to develop physically meaningful solutions to many problems. In tele-parallel gravity, invariance of the frame and spin-connection under a group of motions defines an affine symmetry group. Here, we assume there exists a three-dimensional group of affine symmetries acting simply transitively on a spatial hypersurface and that this group of symmetry actions defines our affine frame symmetry group. We determine the general form of the co-frame and spin connection for each spatially homogeneous Bianchi type. We then construct the corresponding field equations for $f(T)$ tele-parallel gravity. We show that if the symmetry group is of Bianchi type A ($I$, $II$, $VI_0$, $VII_0$, $VIII$ or $IX$) then there exists a co-frame/spin connection pair that is consistent with the antisymmetric part of the field equations of $f(T)$ tele-parallel gravity. For those geometries having a Bianchi type B symmetry group ($IV$, $V$, $VI_h$, $VII_h$), we find that in general these geometries are inconsistent with the antisymmetric part of the $f(T)$ tele-parallel gravity field equations unless the theory reduces to an analog of General Relativity with a cosmological constant.

Abstract: Exact solutions describing rotating black holes can provide significant opportunities for testing modified theories of gravity, which are motivated by the challenges posed by dark energy and dark matter. Starting with a spherical Kiselev black hole as a seed metric, we construct rotating Kiselev black holes within the $f(R,T)$ gravity framework using the revised Newman-Janis algorithm - the $f(R,T)$ gravity-motivated rotating Kiselev black holes (FRKBH), which encompasses, as exceptional cases, Kerr ($K=0$) and Kerr-Newman ($K=Q^2$) black holes. These solutions give rise to distinct classes of black holes surrounded by fluids while considering specific values of the equation-of-state parameter, $w$, for viable choices for the $f(R,T)$ function. From the parameter space or domain of existence of black holes defined by $a$ and $\gamma$ for FKRBH, we discover that when $a_1<a<a_2$, there is a critical value $\gamma=\gamma_E$ which corresponds to extreme value black holes portrayed by degenerate horizons. When $a<a_1$ ($a>a_2$), we encounter two distinct critical values $\gamma=\gamma_{E1}, \; \gamma_{E2}$ with $\gamma_{E1}>\gamma_{E2}$ (or $\gamma=\gamma_{E3},\; \gamma_{E4}$ with $\gamma_{E3}>\gamma_{E4}$. We delve into the horizon and global structure of FKRBH spacetimes and examine their dependence on parameters $w$ and $\gamma$. This exploration is motivated by the remarkable effects of $f(R,T)$ gravity, which gives rise to diverse and intricate spacetime structures within the domain where black holes exist.

Abstract: Gravity theories that modify General Relativity in the slow-motion regime can introduce nonperturbative corrections to the stochastic gravitational-wave background~(SGWB) from supermassive black-hole binaries in the nano-Hertz band, while remaining perturbative in the highly-relativistic regime and satisfying current post-Newtonian~(PN) constraints. We present a model-agnostic formalism to map such theories into a modified tilt for the SGWB spectrum, showing that negative PN corrections (in particular -2PN) can alleviate the tension in the recent pulsar-timing-array data if the detected SGWB is interpreted as arising from supermassive binaries. Despite being preliminary, current data have already strong constraining power, for example they set a novel (conservative) upper bound on theories with time-varying Newton's constant at least at the level of $\dot{G}/G \lesssim 10^{-5} \text{yr}^{-1}$ for redshift $z=[0.1\div1]$. We also show that NANOGrav data are best fitted by a broken power-law interpolating between a dominant -2PN or -3PN modification at low frequency, and the standard general-relativity scaling at high frequency. Nonetheless, a modified gravity explanation should be confronted with binary eccentricity, environmental effects, nonastrophysical origins of the signal, and scrutinized against statistical uncertainties. These novel tests of gravity will soon become more stringent when combining all pulsar-timing-array facilities and when collecting more data.

Abstract: We provide a mean curvature flow method for numerical cosmology and test it on cases of inhomogenous inflation. The results show (in a proof of concept way) that the method can handle even large inhomogeneities that result from different regions exiting inflation at different times.