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Results for “Alternative gravity theories”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Implications of the weak gravity conjecture for tidal Love numbers of black holes

The weak gravity conjecture indicates that extremal black holes in the low-energy effective field theory should be able to decay. This criterion gives rise to nontrivial constraints on the coefficients of higher-order derivative corrections to gravity. In this paper, we investigate the tidal deformability of neutral black holes due to higher-order derivative corrections. As a proof of concept, we consider a correction of cubic order in the Riemann curvature tensor. The tidal Love numbers of neutral black holes receive leading-order corrections from higher-order derivative terms, since black holes in pure General Relativity have vanishing tidal Love number. We conclude that the interplay between the tidal deformability of black holes and the weak gravity conjecture provides useful information about the effective field theory.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Halo formation from Yukawa forces in the very early Universe

If long-range attractive forces exist and are stronger than gravity then cosmic halo formation can begin in the radiation-dominated era. We study a simple realization of this effect in a system where dark matter fermions have Yukawa interactions mediated by scalar particles, analogous to the Higgs boson in the standard model. We develop a self-consistent description of the system including exact background dynamics of the scalar field, and precise modeling of the fermion density fluctuations. For the latter, we provide accurate approximations for the linear growth as well as quantitative modeling of the nonlinear evolution using N-body simulations. We find that halo formation occurs exponentially fast and on scales substantially larger than simple estimates predict. Here, the final fate of these halos remains uncertain, but could be annihilation, dark stars, primordial black holes, or even the existence of galaxy-sized halos at matter-radiation equality. More generally, our results demonstrate the importance of mapping scalar-mediated interactions onto structure formation outcomes and constraints for beyond the standard model theories.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

How do spherical black holes grow monopole hair?

Black holes in certain modified gravity theories that contain a scalar field coupled to curvature invariants are known to possess (monopole) scalar hair while non-black-hole spacetimes (like neutron stars) do not. Therefore, as a neutron star collapses to a black hole, scalar hair must grow until it settles to the stationary black hole solution with (monopole) hair. In this paper, we study this process in detail and show that the growth of scalar hair is tied to the appearance and growth of the event horizon (before an apparent horizon forms), which forces scalar modes that would otherwise (in the future) become divergent to be radiated away. We prove this result rigorously in general first for a large class of modified theories, and then we exemplify the results by studying the temporal evolution of the scalar field in scalar Gauss-Bonnet gravity in two backgrounds: (i) a collapsing Oppenheimer-Snyder background, and (ii) a collapsing neutron star background. In case (i), we find an exact scalar field solution analytically, while in case (ii) we solve for the temporal evolution of the scalar field numerically, with both cases supporting the conclusion presented above. Thus, our results suggest that the emission of a burst of scalar field radiation is a necessary condition for black hole formation in a large class of modified theories of gravity.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2023

How do axisymmetric black holes grow monopole and dipole hair?

Here, we study the dynamical formation of scalar monopole and dipole hair in scalar Gauss-Bonnet theory and dynamical Chern-Simons theory. We prove that the spherically symmetric mode of the dipole hair is completely determined by the product of the mass of the spacetime and the value of the monopole hair. We then show that the dynamics of the ℓ = 1 mode of the dipole hair is intimately tied to the appearance of the event horizon during axisymmetric collapse, which results in the radiation of certain modes that could have been divergent in the future of the collapse. We confirm these analytical predictions by simulating the gravitational collapse of a rapidly rotating neutron star in the decoupling limit, both in scalar Gauss-Bonnet and dynamical Chern-Simons theory. Our results, combined with those provide a clear physical picture of the dynamics of scalar monopole and dipole radiation in axisymmetric and spherical gravitational collapse in these theories.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

Accretion of matter and spectra of binary X-ray sources in massive gravity

We study low-mass binary X-ray sources involving stellar mass black holes within massive gravity. Regarding the accretion disk, we adopt the standard model for an optically thick, cool, and geometrically thin disk by Shakura–Sunyaev. For the gravitational field generated by the black hole, we consider the analogue of the Schwarzschild–de Sitter space–time of Einstein’s theory in massive gravity, for which we found an additional term linear in the radial coordinate. Then, we compute the radial velocity, the energy density and the pressure as a function of the radial coordinate, and the X-ray emission’s soft spectral component expected from the disk. We also investigated in detail the impact of this new geometry. Our result indicates that by using observed spectra from confirmed X-ray binaries involving astrophysical black holes, we can put strong constraints on alternative theories of gravity.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

Constraining $\mathcal{f(R)}$ gravity with a $\mathcal{k}$-cut cosmic shear analysis of the Hyper Suprime-Cam first-year data

Here, using Subaru Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) year 1 data, we perform the first k-cut cosmic shear analysis constraining both Λ CDM and f(R) Hu-Sawicki modified gravity. To generate the f(R) cosmic shear theory vector, we use the matter power spectrum emulator trained on COLA (COmoving Lagrangian Acceleration) simulations [Phys. Rev. D 103, 123525 (2021)]. The k-cut method is used to significantly down-weight sensitivity to small scale (k > 1h Mpc -1 ) modes in the matter power spectrum where the emulator is less accurate, while simultaneously ensuring our results are robust to baryonic feedback model uncertainty. We have also developed a test to ensure that the effects of poorly modeled small scales are nulled as intended. For Λ CDM we find S 8 =σ 8 (Ω m /0.3) 0.5 =0.789$^{+0.039}_{-0.022}$, while the constraints on the f(R) modified gravity parameters are prior dominated. In the future, the k-cut method could be used to constrain a large number of theories of gravity where computational limitations make it infeasible to model the matter power spectrum down to extremely small scales.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Lorentz symmetry in ghost-free massive gravity

The role of Lorentz symmetry in ghost-free massive gravity is studied, emphasizing features emerging in approximately Minkowski spacetime. The static extrema and saddle points of the potential are determined and their Lorentz properties identified. Solutions preserving Lorentz invariance and ones breaking four of the six Lorentz generators are constructed. Locally, globally, and absolutely stable Lorentz-invariant extrema are found to exist for certain parameter ranges of the potential. Gravitational waves in the linearized theory are investigated. Deviations of the fiducial metric from the Minkowski metric are shown to lead to pentarefringence of the five wave polarizations, which can include superluminal modes and subluminal modes with negative energies in certain observer frames. The Newton limit of ghost-free massive gravity is explored. The propagator is constructed and used to obtain the gravitational potential energy between two point masses. Here, the result extends the Fierz-Pauli limit to include corrections generically breaking both rotation and boost invariance.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Detecting the stochastic gravitational wave background from massive gravity with pulsar timing arrays

We explore the potential of pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) such as NANOGrav, EPTA, and PPTA to detect the stochastic gravitational wave background in theories of massive gravity. In general relativity, the function describing the dependence of the correlation between the arrival times of signals from two pulsars on the angle between them is known as the Hellings-Downs curve. We compute the analogous overlap reduction function for massive gravity, including the additional polarization states and the correction due to the mass of the graviton, and compare the result with the Hellings-Downs curve. The primary result is a complete analytical form for the analog Hellings-Downs curve, providing a starting point for future numerical studies aimed at a detailed comparison between PTA data and the predictions of massive gravity. We study both the massless limit and the stationary limit as checks on our calculation, and discuss how our formalism also allows us to study the impact of massive spin-2 dark matter candidates on data from PTAs.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2025

Dust stars in the minimal exponential measure model

Here, we report the existence of horizonless compact object solutions supported by dust in the minimal exponential measure (MEMe) model, a theory which modifies the couplings between gravity and matter without introducing dynamical degrees of freedom. For a perfect fluid source, the field equations for the MEMe model can be rewritten as the Einstein field equations sourced by a perfect fluid with a transformed equation of state, which can endow a sufficiently dense cloud of dust with an effective pressure. The resulting dust-supported horizonless compact objects can have masses below ∼10 −11 ⁢𝑀 ⊙ , making them suitable as massive compact halo objects comprising a significant mass fraction for dark matter. A necessary condition for the existence of these compact object solutions is that the single free parameter in the MEMe model is positive valued. Additionally, we find that this positive sign for the parameter can provide a mechanism for suppressing the formation of (primordial) black holes from the gravitational collapse of matter below a certain mass scale.

alternative gravity theories↗
DOE OSTI2023

Modelling populations of kilonovae

Abstract The 2017 detection of a kilonova coincident with gravitational-wave emission has identified neutron star mergers as the major source of the heaviest elements and dramatically constrained alternative theories of gravity. Observing a population of such sources has the potential to transform cosmology, nuclear physics, and astrophysics. However, with only one confident multi-messenger detection currently available, modelling the diversity of signals expected from such a population requires improved theoretical understanding. In particular, models that are quick to evaluate and are calibrated with more detailed multi-physics simulations are needed to design observational strategies for kilonovae detection and to obtain rapid-response interpretations of new observations. We use grey-opacity models to construct populations of kilonovae, spanning ejecta parameters predicted by numerical simulations. Our modelling focuses on wavelengths relevant for upcoming optical surveys, such as the Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). In these simulations, we implement heating rates that are based on nuclear reaction network calculations. We create a Gaussian-process emulator for kilonova grey opacities, calibrated with detailed radiative transfer simulations. Using recent fits to numerical relativity simulations, we predict how the ejecta parameters from binary neutron star (BNS) mergers shape the population of kilonovae, accounting for the viewing-angle dependence. Our simulated population of BNS mergers produce peak i-band absolute magnitudes of −20 ≤ Mi ≤ −11. A comparison with detailed radiative transfer calculations indicates that further improvements are needed to accurately reproduce spectral shapes over the full light curve evolution.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Constraints on f ( R ) and normal-branch Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati modified gravity model parameters with cluster abundances and galaxy clustering

In this report we present forecasted cosmological constraints from combined measurements of galaxy cluster abundances from the Simons Observatory and galaxy clustering from a DESI-like experiment on two well-studied modified gravity models, the chameleon-screened Hu-Sawicki f(R) model and the nDGP braneworld Vainshtein model. A Fisher analysis is conducted using σ 8 constraints derived from thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (tSZ) selected galaxy clusters as well as linear and quasilinear redshift-space 2-point galaxy correlation functions. We find that the cluster abundances drive the constraints on the nDGP model while f(R) constraints are led by galaxy clustering. The two tracers of the cosmological gravitational field are found to be complementary, and their combination significantly improves constraints on the f(R) in particular in comparison to each individual tracer alone. For a model of f(R) with a general relativity (GR) fiducial case (f R0 = 0), we find a 2-σ upper limit of f R0 ≤ 5.68 x10 -7 . For the well-studied log-based fiducial parameter value in f(R), log 10 (f R0 ) = -5, paired with the parameter value n = 1, we find combined 1-σ constraints of σ(log 10 (f R0 )) = 0.12 and σ(n) = 0.36. For the nDGP model with fiducial n nDGP = 1 we find σ( n nDGP ) = 0.087. Our results present the exciting potential to utilize upcoming galaxy and CMB survey data available in the near future to discern and/or constrain cosmic deviations from GR.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

Milky Way and M31 rotation curves: Λ CDM versus MOND

We analyze the existing rotation-curve data of the Milky Way and M31 galaxies that extend to very large distances and low accelerations. We find a systematic downward trend in the weak acceleration (large distances) segment of the radial acceleration. A similar downward trend has been noticed in the ΛCDM EAGLE simulation [Phys. Rev. D 96, 124016 (2017).], while the deviation from the generic MOND prediction would need to be ascribed to an external field effect, or possibly a post facto selected acceleration function μ(x).

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Nonlinear evolution of quadratic gravity in 3 + 1 dimensions

We present a numerically stable system of ( 3 + 1 ) evolution equations for the nonlinear gravitational dynamics of quadratic-curvature corrections to General Relativity (quadratic gravity). We also report on the numerical implementation of these evolution equations. We recover a well-known linear instability and gather evidence that—aside from said instability—quadratic gravity exhibits a physically stable Ricci-flat subsector. In particular, we demonstrate that Teukolsky-wave perturbations of a Schwarzschild black hole as well as a full binary inspiral (evolved up to merger) remain Ricci flat throughout evolution. Furthermore, this suggests that, at least in vacuum, classical quadratic gravity can mimic General Relativity, even in the fully nonlinear strong-gravity regime.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Constraining gravity with a new precision 𝐸 𝐺 estimator using Planck + SDSS BOSS data

The 𝐸 𝐺 statistic is a discriminating probe of gravity developed to test the prediction of general relativity (GR) for the relation between gravitational potential and clustering on the largest scales in the observable Universe. We present a novel high-precision estimator for the 𝐸 𝐺 statistic using CMB lensing and galaxy clustering correlations that carefully matches the effective redshifts across the different measurement components to minimize corrections. A suite of detailed tests is performed to characterize the estimator’s accuracy, its sensitivity to assumptions and analysis choices, and the non-Gaussianity of the estimator’s uncertainty is characterized. After finalization of the estimator, it is applied to Planck CMB lensing and SDSS CMASS and LOWZ galaxy data. We report the first harmonic space measurement of 𝐸 𝐺 using the LOWZ sample and CMB lensing and also updated constraints using the final CMASS sample and the latest Planck CMB lensing map. We find $\hat{𝐸}$$^{Planck+CMASS}_{𝐺}$ = 0.3⁢6$^{+0.06}_{−0.05}$⁢(68.27%) and $\hat{𝐸}$$^{Planck+LOWZ}_{𝐺}$ = 0.4⁢0$^{+0.11}_{−0.09}$⁢(68.27%), with additional subdominant systematic error budget estimates of 2% and 3%, respectively. Using Ω m,0 constraints from Planck and SDSS BAO observations, Λ⁢CDM-GR predicts 𝐸$^{GR}_ {𝐺}$⁡(𝑧 =0.555) = 0.401 ± 0.005 and 𝐸$^{GR}_{𝐺}$⁡(𝑧 =0.316) = 0.452 ± 0.005 at the effective redshifts of the CMASS and LOWZ based measurements. We report the measurement to be in good statistical agreement with the Λ⁢CDM-GR prediction and report that the measurement is also consistent with the more general GR prediction of scale independence for 𝐸 𝐺 . Furthermore, this work provides a carefully constructed and calibrated statistic with which 𝐸 𝐺 measurements can be confidently and accurately obtained with upcoming survey data.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Constraining cosmological parameters using the pairwise kinematic Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect with CMB-S4 and future galaxy cluster surveys

We present a forecast of the pairwise kinematic Sunyaev-Zel’dovich (kSZ) measurement that will be achievable with the future CMB-S4 experiment. CMB-S4 is the next stage for ground-based cosmic microwave background experiments, with a planned wide-area survey that will observe approximately 50% of the sky. We construct a simulated sample of galaxy clusters that have been optically selected in a Legacy Survey of Space and Time–like survey and have spectroscopic redshifts. For this cluster sample, assuming the likelihood is Gaussian, we predict that CMB-S4 will reject the null hypothesis of zero pairwise kSZ signal at 36⁢𝜎. We estimate the effects of systematic uncertainties such as scatter in the mass-richness scaling relation and cluster miscentering. We find that these effects can reduce the signal-to-noise ratio of the CMB-S4 pairwise kSZ measurement by 20%. We explore the constraining power of the measured kSZ signal in combination with measurements of the galaxy clusters’ thermal SZ emission on two extensions to the standard cosmological model. The first extension allows the dark energy equation of state 𝑤 to vary. We find the CMB-S4 pairwise kSZ measurement yields a modest reduction in the uncertainty on 𝑤 by a factor of 1.36 over the Planck’s 2018 uncertainty. The second extension tests general relativity by varying the growth index 𝛾. In conclusion, we find that CMB-S4’s pairwise kSZ measurement will yield a 28⁢𝜎 constraint on 𝛾 and strongly constrain alternative theories of gravity.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗