No Arabic abstract
In the context of ghost-free, infinite derivative gravity, we will provide a quantum mechanical framework in which we can describe astrophysical objects devoid of curvature singularity and event horizon. In order to avoid ghosts and singularity, the gravitational interaction has to be nonlocal, therefore, we call these objects as nonlocal stars. Quantum mechanically a nonlocal star is a self-gravitational bound system of many gravitons interacting nonlocally. Outside the nonlocal star the spacetime is well described by the Schwarzschild metric, while inside we have a non-vacuum spacetime metric which tends to be conformally flat at the origin. Remarkably, in the most compact scenario the radius of a nonlocal star is of the same order of the Buchdahl limit, therefore slightly larger than the Schwarzschild radius, such that there can exist a photosphere. These objects live longer than a Schwarzschild blackhole and they are very good absorbers, due to the fact that the number of available states is larger than that of a blackhole. As a result nonlocal stars, not only can be excellent blackhole mimickers, but can also be considered as dark matter candidates. In particular, nonlocal stars with masses below $10^{14}$g can be made stable compared to the age of the Universe.
Motivated by the lack of rotating solutions sourced by matter in General Relativity as well as in modified gravity theories, we extend a recently discovered exact rotating solution of the minimal Einstein-scalar theory to its counterpart in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity coupled to a Born-Infeld scalar field. This is accomplished with the implementation of a well-developed mapping between solutions of Ricci-Based Palatini theories of gravity and General Relativity. The new solution is parametrized by the scalar charge and the Born-Infeld coupling constant apart from the mass and spin of the compact object. Compared to the spacetime prior to the mapping, we find that the high-energy modifications at the Born-Infeld scale are able to suppress but not remove the curvature divergence of the original naked null singularity. Depending on the sign of the Born-Infeld coupling constant, these modifications may even give rise to an additional timelike singularity exterior to the null one. In spite of that, both of the naked singularities before and after the mapping are capable of casting shadows, and as a consequence of the mapping relation, their shadows turn out to be identical as seen by a distant observer on the equatorial plane. Even though the scalar field induces a certain oblateness to the appearance of the shadow with its left and right endpoints held fixed, the closedness condition for the shadow contour sets a small upper bound on the absolute value of the scalar charge, which leads to observational features of the shadow closely resembling those of a Kerr black hole.
We study the impact of the limit on $|dot{G}|/G$ from Lunar Laser Ranging on nonlocal gravity, i.e. on models of the quantum effective action of gravity that include nonlocal terms relevant in the infrared, such as the RR and RT models proposed by our group, and the Deser-Woodard (DW) model. We elaborate on the analysis of Barreira et al. [1] and we confirm their findings that (under plausible assumptions such as the absence of strong backreaction from non-linear structures), the RR model is ruled out. We also show that the mechanism of perfect screening for free suggested for the DW model actually does not work and the DW model is also ruled out. In contrast, the RT model passes all phenomenological consistency tests and is still a viable candidate.
We remind that the ring down features observed in the LIGO GWs resulted from trembling of photon spheres (Rp=3M) of newly formed compact objects and not from the trembling of their event horizons (R=2M). Further, the tentative evidences for late time echoes in GWs might be signatures of horizonless compact objects rather than vacuum black holes (BHs). Similarly, even for an ideal BH, the radius of its shadow is R_shad = sqrt{3}Rp is actually the gravitationally lensed shadow of its photon sphere. Accordingly any compact object having R geq R = 3M would generate similar shadow. Thus, no observation has ever detected any event horizon or any exact BH. Also note that the magnetic field embedded in the accreting plasma close to the compact object is expected to have a radial pattern of B sim 1/r while the stronger BHM dipole magnetic field should fall off as B sim 1/r3. Accordingly it has been suggested that one may try to infer the true nature of the so-called astrophysical BHs by studying the radial pattern of the magnetic field in their vicinity. But here we highlight that close to the surface of BHMs, the magnetic field pattern differs significantly from the same for non-relativistic dipoles. In particular, we point out that for ultra-compact BHMs, the polar field is weaker than the equatorial field by an extremely large factor of sim z_s/lnz_s, where z_s>>1 is the surface gravitational redshift. We suggest that by studying the of radial variation as well as significant angular asymmetry of magnetic field structure near the compact object, future observations might differentiate a theoretical black hole from a astrophysical BH mimicker. This study also shows that even if some BHMs would be hypothesized to possess magnetic fields even stronger than that of magnetars, in certain cases, they may effectively behave as atoll type neutron stars possessing extremely low magnetic fields.
The cosmological constant $Lambda$ is usually interpreted as Dark Energy (DE) or modified gravity (MG). Here we propose instead that $Lambda$ corresponds to a boundary term in the action of classical General Relativity. The action is zero for a perfect fluid solution and this fixes $Lambda$ to the average density $rho$ and pressure $p$ inside a primordial causal boundary: $Lambda = 4pi G <rho+3p>$. This explains both why the observed value of $Lambda$ is related to the matter density today and also why other contributions to $Lambda$, such as DE or MG, do not produce cosmic expansion. Cosmic acceleration results from the repulsive boundary force that occurs when the expansion reaches the causal horizon. This universe is similar to the $Lambda$CDM universe, except on the largest observable scales, where we expect departures from homogeneity/isotropy, such as CMB anomalies and variations in cosmological parameters indicated by recent observations.
Under the assumption that a dynamical scalar field is responsible for the current acceleration of the Universe, we explore the possibility of probing its physics in black hole merger processes with gravitational wave interferometers. Remaining agnostic about the microscopic physics, we use an effective field theory approach to describe the scalar dynamics. We investigate the case in which some of the higher derivative operators, that are highly suppressed on cosmological scales, instead become important on typical distances for black holes. If a coupling to the Gauss-Bonnet operator is one of them, a non-trivial background profile for the scalar field can be sourced in the surroundings of the black hole, resulting in a potentially large amount of hair. In turn, this can induce sizeable modifications to the spacetime geometry or a mixing between the scalar and the gravitational perturbations. Both effects will ultimately translate into a modification of the quasi-normal mode spectrum in a way that is also sensitive to other operators besides the one sourcing the scalar background. The presence of deviations from the predictions of general relativity in the observed spectrum can therefore serve as a window onto dark energy physics.