General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)

Abstract: The Friedmann equation, enriched by an additional term that effectively takes on the role of specific dark energy, is demonstrated to serve as an exact solution within the recently proposed gravitational theory named "conformal Killing gravity". This theory does not explicitly incorporate dark energy. This finding suggests that there's no necessity to postulate the existence of dark energy as an independent physical entity. The dark energy effectively arising from this theory is characterized by a specific equation of state parameter, denoted as $\omega$, which is uniquely determined to be $-5/3$, classifying it as phantom energy. If this effective dark energy is present in a moderate amount, typically around 5\% of the total energy density at the present time, and under the assumption of density parameters for matter and the cosmological constant, $\Omega_{\rm m}\sim 0.25$ and $\Omega_\Lambda \sim 0.7$, respectively, the expansion of the universe at low redshifts ($z < 1.5$) can exceed expectations, while the expansion at $z > 1.5$ remains unchanged. This holds the potential to address the Hubble tension problem.

Abstract: We employ the holographic quench technique to drive Einstein-Maxwell-scalar (EMs) black holes out of equilibrium and study the real-time dynamics therein. From the fully nonlinear dynamical simulations, a dynamically unstable Reissner-Nordstr$\ddot{\text{o}}$m anti-de Sitter (RN-AdS) black hole can be scalarized spontaneously after an arbitrarily small quench. On the other hand, a dynamically stable scalarized black hole can be descalarized after a quench of sufficient strength. Interestingly, on the way to descalarization, the scalarized black hole behaves like a holographic superfluid, undergoing a dynamical transition from oscillatory to non-oscillatory decay. Such behaviors are related to the spectrums of quasi-normal modes of scalarized black holes, where the dominant mode migrates toward the imaginary axis with increasing quench strength. In addition, due to the $\mathbb Z_{2}$-symmetry preserved by the model, the ground state is degenerate. We find that there exists a threshold for the quench strength that induces a dynamical transition of the gravitational system from one degenerate ground state to the other. Near the threshold, the gravitational system is attracted to an excited state, that is, a RN-AdS black hole with dynamical instability.

Abstract: By assuming simultaneously the unitarity of the Hawking evaporation and the universality of Bekenstein entropy bound as well as the validity of cosmic censorship conjecture, we have found that the black hole evaporation rate could evolve from the usual inverse square law in black hole mass into a constant evaporation rate near the end of the Hawking evaporation before quantum gravity could come into play, inferring a slightly longer lifetime for lighter black holes.