General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc)

Abstract: We introduce a novel extension to the Klinkahmer-vacuum defect model by incorporating a fifth spatial coordinate, resulting in a comprehensive five-dimensional wormhole space-time. This extension preserves its status as a vacuum solution to the field equations in five-dimensions. We delve into the behavior of geodesic equations in the proximity of this wormhole, shedding light on its intriguing properties.

Abstract: In this thesis, we use numerical relativity to investigate gravitational waves from binary black holes in extensions of GR. We first study spherically symmetric gravitational collapse in cubic Horndeski theories of gravity. By varying the coupling constants and the initial amplitude of the scalar field, we determine the region in the space of couplings and amplitudes for which it is possible to construct global solutions to the Horndeski theories. Furthermore, we identify the regime of validity of effective field theory (EFT) as the sub-region for which a certain weak coupling condition remains small at all times. We study black hole binary mergers in these cubic Horndeski theories of gravity, treating them fully non-linearly. In the regime of validity of EFT, the mismatch of the gravitational wave strain between Horndeski and GR (coupled to a scalar field) can be larger than $30\%$ in the Advanced LIGO mass range. Initial data and coupling constants are chosen so the theory always remains in the weakly coupled regime. We observe that the waveform in Horndeski theories is shifted by an amount much larger than the smallness parameter that controls initial data. This effect is generic and may be present in other theories of gravity involving higher derivatives. We explore a higher-order curvature correction of GR. Guided by toy models, we develop systems capable of reproducing the low energy behaviour of many such theories with a fully nonlinear/non-perturbative approach. We evolve binary black holes, observing a shift in phase accumulated over time which is not statistically significant when compared to GR, for the methods and coupling used. Finally, we present AHFinder, a flexible multi-purpose tool to find apparent horizons in the open-source numerical relativity code GRChombo.

Abstract: In Ref. [S. Jalalzadeh, Phys. Lett. B 829 (2022) 137058], Jalalzadeh established that the thermodynamical entropy of a quantum-deformed black hole with horizon area $A$ can be written as $S_q=\pi\sin\left(\frac{A}{8G\mathcal N} \right)/\sin\left(\frac{\pi}{2\mathcal N} \right)$, where $\mathcal N=L_q^2/L_\text{P}^2$, $L_\text{P}$ being the Planck length and $L_q$ denoting, generically, the q-deformed cosmic event horizon distance $L_q$. Motivated by this, we now extend the framework constructed in [S. Jalalzadeh, Phys. Lett. B 829 (2022) 137058] towards the Friedmann and Raychaudhuri equations describing spatially homogeneous and isotropic universe dynamics. Our procedure in this paper involves a twofold assumption. On the one hand, we take the entropy associated with the apparent horizon of the Robertson-Walker universe in the form of the aforementioned expression. On the other hand, we assume that the unified first law of thermodynamics, $dE=TdS+WdV$, holds on the apparent horizon. Subsequently, we find a novel modified cosmological scenario characterized by quantum-deformed (q-deformed) Friedmann and Raychaudhuri equations containing additional components that generate an effective dark energy sector. Our results indicate an effective dark energy component, which can explain the Universe's late-time acceleration. Moreover, the Universe follows the standard thermal history, with a transition redshift from deceleration to acceleration at $z_\text{tran}=0.5$. More precisely, according to our model, at a redshift of $z = 0.377$, the effective dark energy dominates with a de Sitter universe in the long run. We include the evolution of luminosity distance, $\mu$, the Hubble parameter, $H(z)$, and the deceleration parameter, $q(z)$, versus redshift. Finally, we have conducted a comparative analysis of our proposed model with others involving non-extensive entropies.

Abstract: Once a gravitational wave signal is detected, the measurement of its source parameters is important to achieve various scientific goals. This is done through Bayesian inference, where the analysis cost increases with the model complexity and the signal duration. For typical binary black hole signals with precession and higher-order modes, one has 15 model parameters. With standard methods, such analyses require at least a few days. For strong gravitational wave lensing, where multiple images of the same signal are produced, the joint analysis of two data streams requires 19 parameters, further increasing the complexity and run time. Moreover, for third generation detectors, due to the lowered minimum sensitive frequency, the signal duration increases, leading to even longer analysis times. With the increased detection rate, such analyses can then become intractable. In this work, we present a fast and precise parameter estimation method relying on relative binning and capable of including higher-order modes and precession. We also extend the method to perform joint Bayesian inference for lensed gravitational wave signals. Then, we compare its accuracy and speed to those of state-of-the-art parameter estimation routines by analyzing a set of simulated signals for the current and third generation of interferometers. Additionally, for the first time, we analyze some real events known to contain higher-order modes with relative binning. For binary black hole systems with a total mass larger than $50\, M_{\odot}$, our method is about 2.5 times faster than current techniques. This speed-up increases for lower masses, with the analysis time being reduced by a factor of 10 on average. In all cases, the recovered posterior probability distributions for the parameters match those found with traditional techniques.

Abstract: For a rotating black hole to be nonsingular, it means that there are no spacetime singularities at its center. The destruction of the event horizon of such a rotating black hole is not constrained by the weak cosmic censorship conjecture, which may provide possibilities to understand the internal structure of black hole event horizons. In this paper, we investigate the possibility of destroying the event horizon of a rotating Black-Bounce black hole by considering test particles with high angular momentum and scalar fields with large angular momentum, covering the entire range of the rotating Black-Bounce black hole. We analyze the influence of the parameter m on the likelihood of destroying the event horizon in this spacetime. Our analysis reveals that under extreme or near-extreme conditions, the event horizon of this spacetime can potentially be destroyed after the absorption of particles energy and angular momentum, as well as the scattering of scalar fields. Additionally, we find that as the parameter m increases, the event horizon of this spacetime model becomes more susceptible to destruction after the injection of test particles or the scattering of scalar fields.

Abstract: We propose a two-parameter, static and spherically symmetric regular geometry, which, for specific parameter values represents a regular black hole. The matter required to support such spacetimes within the framework of General Relativity (GR), is found to violate the energy conditions, though not in the entire domain of the radial coordinate. A particular choice of the parameters reduces the regular black hole to a singular, mutated Reissner-Nordstr\"om geometry. It also turns out that our regular black hole is geodesically complete. Fortunately, despite energy condition violation, we are able to construct a viable source, within the framework of GR coupled to matter, for our regular geometry. The source term involves a nonlinear magnetic monopole in a chosen version of nonlinear electrodynamics. Finally, we obtain the shadow profile of the regular black hole and try to estimate the metric parameters using some recent observational results from the EHT collaboration.

Abstract: It is believed that dark matter (DM) could accumulate inside neutron stars and significantly change their masses, radii and tidal properties. We study what effect bosonic dark matter, modelled as a massive and self-interacting scalar or vector field, has on neutron stars. We derive equations to compute the tidal deformability of the full Einstein-Hilbert-Klein-Gordon system self-consistently, and probe the influence of the scalar field mass and self-interaction strength on the total mass and tidal properties of the combined system, called fermion boson stars (FBS). We are the first to combine Proca stars with neutron stars to mixed systems of fermions and a vector field in Einstein-Proca theory, which we name fermion Proca stars (FPS). We construct equilibrium solutions of FPS, compute their masses, radii and analyse them regarding their stability and higher modes. We find that FPS tend to be more massive and geometrically larger than FBS for equal boson masses and self-interaction strengths. Both FBS and FPS admit DM core and DM cloud solutions and we find that they can produce degenerate results. Core solutions compactify the neutron star component and lower their tidal deformability, cloud solutions have the inverse effect. Electromagnetic observations of certain cloud-like configurations would appear to violate the Buchdahl limit. The self-interaction strength is found to significantly affect both mass and tidal deformability. We discuss observational constraints and the connection to anomalous detections. We also show how models with an effective equation of state compare to the self-consistent solution of FBS and find the self-interaction strength where both solutions converge sufficiently.

Abstract: Strong lensing of gravitational waves can produce several detectable images as repeated events in the upcoming observing runs, which can be detected with the posterior overlap analysis (Bayes factor). The choice of the binary black hole population plays an important role in the analysis as two gravitational-wave events could be similar either because of lensing or astrophysical coincidence. In this study, we investigate the biases induced by different population models on the Bayes factor. We build up a mock catalogue of gravitational-wave events following a benchmark population and reconstruct it using both non-parametric and parametric methods. Using these reconstructions, we compute the Bayes factor for lensed pair events by utilizing both models and compare the results with a benchmark model. We show that the use of a non-parametric population model gives a smaller bias than parametric population models. Therefore, our study demonstrates the importance of choosing a sufficiently agnostic population model for strong lensing analyses.

Abstract: In this work, we investigate astrophysical systems in a Newtonian regime using anisotropic matter. For this purpose, we considered that both radial and tangential pressures satisfy a generalized Chaplygin-type equation of state. Using this model, we found the Lane--Emden equation for this system and solved it numerically for several sets of parameters. Finally, we explored the mass supported by this physical system and compared it with the Chandrasekhar mass.

Abstract: In this work we study static spherically symmetric solutions of effective field equations related to local and nonlocal higher-derivative gravity models, based on the effective delta source approximation. We discuss several possibilities for the equations of state, and how they influence the solutions. In particular, we present an equation of state such that the solutions match the Newtonian-limit metric in both regimes of large and small $r$. A significant part of the work is dedicated to the study of the regularity of the solutions and the comparison with the linearized solutions. Explicit solutions are presented for some cases of local and nonlocal models. The results obtained here can be regarded as a possible link between the previous researches on linearized higher-derivative gravity and the solutions of the nonlinear complete field equations.