With the aim of continuing the exploration of near-horizon charges in higher-curvature gravity, searching for sectors leading to universal behaviors, we first provide a thorough revision and formulae of the covariant phase-space method applied to arbitrary gravitational theories containing up to quartic terms in the Riemann tensor in arbitrary dimension. These results can be applied in diverse setups, in particular in the context of $\alpha'$ corrections to String Theory, where it is known that in Type II theories, the first correction to the Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian goes as $\alpha'^3 \mathcal{R}^4$. Then, we test these formulae for near horizon asymptotic symmetries of the rotating BTZ spacetime where the first law of black hole thermodynamics is consistently recovered. It was recently realized that a subset of these higher curvature gravities do admit black holes with gravitational hair, whose entropy can be microscopically accounted for, as is the case of New Massive Gravity. In this case, the four maximally symmetric vacua of the theory coincide, and the theory acquires an extra gauge symmetry when linearized around such a vacuum. We study the near-horizon asymptotic symmetries and compute the associated charges, both in the static and rotating hairy black holes, extending up to $\mathcal{R}^4$, a work that was previously done only up to a quadratic term. In order to allow for a continuous lecture on the work, we report the explicit expressions of the general Lagrangians in the appendices.

In this comment, we demonstrate that the claim by Spavieri et al., asserting that Wang et al.'s interferometric experiment disproves the special theory of relativity by revealing that simultaneity must be an absolute concept independent of the observer's state of motion, is based on circular reasoning and therefore constitutes a logical fallacy.

The discovery of the SU(3) symmetry was fundamental as to establishing an ordering principle in particle physics. We already studied how to couple the SU(3) symmetry to the gravitational field in four-dimensional curved Lorentzian spacetimes. The multiplets of equal quantum numbers are translated through natural elements in Riemannian geometry into local multiplets of equal gravitational field. As quark physics developed since the seventies, it was necessary to incorporate new symmetries to the models, that ensued in the incorporation of new quantum numbers like Charm, for example. Charm is an additive quantum number like isospin T3 and hypercharge Y and the standard T3-Y diagrams were extended onto another third axis. Then, instead of the fundamental triplet we have a quartet {u; d; s; c} as the smallest representation of the symmetry group, leading to the introduction of SU(4) as the new group of symmetries. In this paper we will not restrict ourselves exclusively to the symmetry group SU(4) and we will set out to analyze the coupling of the SU(N) symmetry to the gravitational field. To this end new tetrads will be introduced as we did for the SU(3) x SU(2) x U(1) case. These tetrads have outstanding properties that enable these constructions. New theorems will be proved regarding the isomorphic nature of these local symmetry gauge groups and tensor products of groups of local tetrad transformations. This is a paper about grand field uni?fication in four-dimensional curved Lorentzian spacetimes.

Loop quantum cosmology based on Thiemann's regularization procedure leads to the resolution of the big bang singularity and bounce in the isotropic setting. A key distinction from standard loop quantum cosmology is that, in this framework, either the pre-bounce or post-bounce epoch is necessarily characterized by an emergent Planckian de Sitter phase. In this work we explore the Planckian physics of Thiemann regularized loop quantization of the Bianchi-I spacetimes. We show that as in the isotropic model, there exists an emergent de Sitter phase which naturally dampens anisotropic shear and removes cosmic hair. However, this isotropization comes at a steep price: although a macroscopic post-bounce regime is achieved, the universe never becomes truly classical. We further demonstrate that this isotropization mechanism is non-generic. These results help clarify and reinterpret recent results by Gan et al. [1] that, in anisotropic Thiemann regularized loop quantum cosmology, quantum gravity effects generically damp anisotropic shear in a way that is independent of initial conditions and the matter content, and that this anisotropic shear damping mechanism arises from a novel quantum gravity effect. Our work explains the origin of this mechanism and its limitations.

We propose a Robinson-Trautman evolution in $(2+1)$-dimensional spacetime that retains key structural features of the four-dimensional case. We consider a recently studied exact family of metrics to select a nonstationary geometry with a cosmological constant, sourced by a null fluid. The metric is completely determined by a single positive function $P(u,\phi)$, while the corresponding matter content is encoded in a null-fluid density. Motivated by the role of the area-preserving Calabi flow in four dimensions, we introduce a fourth-order length-preserving evolution equation for $P(u,\phi)$ whose stationary configurations correspond, for negative cosmological constant, to boosted BTZ black holes. Numerical solutions strongly support the relaxation of generic regular initial data $P(0,\phi)$ toward the stationary sector. The resulting system provides a simple toy model for dissipative dynamics driven by null radiation in lower-dimensional gravity, with several structural similarities to phenomena associated with genuine gravitational radiation.

Spacetime is foamy due to quantum fluctuations. Various gedanken experiments show that distances fluctuate by amounts consistent with the holographic principle, hence the name "holographic quantum foam" (HQF). One important prediction of HQF is that necessarily there exists a dark sector in the universe. The resulting cosmology is found (at least qualitatively) to be consistent with observations. Interestingly the quanta of the dark sector are found not to obey the familiar (fermionic or bosonic) statistics, but the exotic statistics known as infinite statistics (or quantum Boltzmann statistics). The most important challenge now is to check if HQF is consistent with experiments/observations. One way is to look for observational evidence of blurred distant point-sources due to physics at the Planck scale. For over two decades it has been debated whether those tiny inherent uncertainties in time and path-length can accumulate in transiting electromagnetic wavefronts from quasars and Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). But a recent event is special: GRB221009A was extremely bright and energetic. That allowed follow-up across the whole spectrum from the optical/near-infrared through to X-rays, and including the highest-ever-recorded energy gamma-rays; all consistent with blurring by HQF. Those data, and a calculation of the HQF-widened point-spread function (PSF) for real telescopes viewing a GRB are presented.

In this work we contrast the behaviour of two spherically symmetric matter models in a class of spherically symmetric spacetimes which feature a weak null singularity. This class in particular contains spherically symmetric perturbations of subextremal Reissner-Nordström under the Einstein--Maxwell--scalar field system, a system for which a $C^2$ formulation of the strong cosmic censorship conjecture was proved by Luk-Oh, arXiv:1702.05715 and Dafermos, arXiv:1201.1797. Firstly, we consider the Cauchy problem of spherically symmetric dust falling into the weak null singularity (WNS) where the initial dust velocity is normal to a smooth spacelike curve with certain properties. We prove that the flow of the dust velocity does not experience any shell-crossing before or at the singularity, the velocity vector remains timelike, and that the dust energy density remains bounded as matter approaches the singularity. Secondly, we consider the characteristic initial value problem for stiff perfect fluid falling into the WNS. By relating the stiff fluid velocity and energy density to a scalar field satisfying the homogeneous linear wave equation, we prove that this energy density becomes infinite as we approach the weak null singularity. Furthermore, we show that the ingoing component of the stiff fluid velocity blows up while the outgoing component approaches zero at the singularity. Therefore the velocity vector approaches an ingoing null vector tangent to the singular hypersurface.

Do black holes possess entropy or do they create it? The dominant assumption is that they possess entropy, and a they evaporate that entropy is emitted and decreases. In this paper I use a model of a linear amplifier, in which I argue that the amplifier has not entropy and yet it emits entropy in the process of it operation. This model is closely related to behaviour of black holes, resulting in answer the question of that title that black holes do not have entropy, but nevertheless them create and emit entropy with the total entropy emitted being the same as the usual expression proportional to the square of the mas of the black hole.

We investigate multipartite quantum correlations by analyzing the mutual information of N-partite states for both free bosonic and fermionic fields in the background of a Garfinkle-Horowitz-Strominger (GHS) dilaton black hole. Focusing on multipartite GHZ and W states, we examine how the Hawking effect influences the N-partite mutual information when one observer hovers near the event horizon while the remaining observers stay in the asymptotically flat region. By tracing over the inaccessible modes inside the event horizon, we derive analytical expressions for the N-partite mutual information in dilaton spacetime for both bosonic and fermionic fields. Our results show that fermionic mutual information is larger than its bosonic counterpart under the influence of the dilaton black hole, whereas the fermionic relative entropy of coherence (REC) is smaller than the bosonic REC. Moreover, the mutual information of GHZ states is consistently larger than that of W states, while the REC of GHZ states is smaller than that of W states in curved spacetime. These findings indicate that the choice of quantum resources should be tailored to the particle species and state structure in relativistic quantum information tasks to optimize their operational efficiency.

We investigate the spontaneous scalarization of charged Taub-NUT black holes within the framework of Einstein-Maxwell-scalar-Gauss-Bonnet gravity. By selecting a suitable coupling function, the theory admits the analytic charged Taub-NUT geometry as a solution. We demonstrate that this scalar-free background becomes unstable within specific parameter regimes, leading to the bifurcation of a new branch of hairy charged Taub-NUT black holes. These solutions are characterized by a two-dimensional parameter space spanned by the electric charge and the NUT parameter. We conduct a systematic study of their properties, specifically the scalar charge, temperature, and entropy. Our analysis reveals that the entropy of the scalarized solutions exhibits particularly compelling features. Two universal characteristics emerge: first, the entropy of the hairy black hole is strictly greater than that of its scalar-free counterpart; second, the entropy reaches a local maximum precisely at the bifurcation point. Notably, when the electric charge is fixed, this maximum entropy value remains universal across a specific range of the mass parameter.

We investigate exact plane-fronted gravitational wave (pp-wave) solutions within the framework of shift-symmetric quadratic-order higher-order scalar--tensor (HOST) theories. These solutions represent fully nonlinear radiative spacetimes that extend beyond the linearized approximation. We demonstrate that under the algebraic conditions on the coupling functions, the gravitational field equations reduce to a two-dimensional Laplace equation for the wave profile, recovering the structural form of vacuum general relativity (GR). By adopting a scalar field ansatz that depends linearly on transverse coordinates and arbitrarily on the retarded null coordinate, we maintain a constant kinetic term of the scalar field. This configuration allows for a \emph{stealth pp-wave} solution, where a nontrivial scalar field profile coexists with the gravitational wave without backreacting on the spacetime geometry. We further show that these stealth configurations are fully compatible with the degeneracy conditions of Class-Ia DHOST theories and satisfy current observational constraints. Finally, we examine the behavior of these solutions under disformal transformations, revealing that while the Brinkmann form is preserved, the stealth property is generically lost due to the mixing of scalar and tensor degrees of freedom. These results establish the robustness of pp-wave solutions in viable DHOST frameworks and highlight their utility for probing nonlinear effects in modified gravity.

We investigate the thermodynamic properties of the Kerr-Bertotti-Robinson black hole, an exact Petrov type D solution of Einstein-Maxwell theory describing a rotating black hole immersed in an external electromagnetic field. While the conserved angular momentum and electric charge can be computed straightforwardly, the conserved mass cannot be obtained through standard integrability methods due to the nontrivial asymptotically uniform external electromagnetic field. To overcome this difficulty, we adopt the Christodoulou-Ruffini mass relation as a thermodynamic definition of the conserved mass, and identify the associated generator, thereby fixing the ambiguity in defining this conserved mass and constructing the thermodynamic potentials. These thermodynamic quantities naturally satisfy the first law of black-hole thermodynamics as well as the Smarr formula.

Using an expansion beyond the eikonal regime, we derive relatively compact and accurate analytic expressions for the gravitational quasinormal modes of an asymptotically flat black hole supported by a Dehnen-type dark-matter halo. The spacetime admits a simple analytic metric describing a supermassive black hole embedded in a galactic environment, with the lapse function $f(r)=1-\frac{2 M r^{2}}{(r+a)^{3}}.$ The parameter $a$ sets the characteristic scale of the surrounding halo and controls the regularization of the central region. The axial gravitational sector splits into two distinct channels, referred to as the "up" and "down" perturbations, which are not isospectral.

We investigate the shadows, accretion disks, and observational images of rotating Ayón-Beato-García black holes characterized by mass $ M $ , spin $ a $ , and electric charge $ \zeta $ . Our analysis reveals that the shadow size decreases with increasing $ \zeta $, and in near-extremal configurations (e.g., $ a = 0.95 $), the shadow adopts a distinctive ``D''-shaped morphology. For the accretion disk, we extend its inner edge to the event horizon and account for distinct particle dynamics inside and outside the innermost stable circular orbit (ISCO). We find that the correlation between $ (a, \zeta) $ and the observer's inclination angle significantly influences image asymmetry and inner shadow distortion. At higher inclinations, the direct and lensed images separate, forming a hat-like structure. Additionally, we compute the redshift distribution of the disk's direct and lensed emissions under varying parameters and viewing angles. By comparing theoretical shadow diameters with the Event Horizon Telescope observations of M87 $^{*}$ and Sgr A $^{*}$--using inclination angles of $17^{\circ} $, $ 50^{\circ} $, and $ 90^{\circ} $--we constrain the viable parameter space, yielding the joint bound $0.132811\,M < \zeta < 0.213607\,M$ consistent with both sources.

In this paper, the dynamical behavior of the accelerated expansion of the universe is studied within the framework of $f(T)$ gravity by considering a well-motivated functional form of $f(T)$. A specific form of the Hubble parameter is assumed, which under two different cases, leads to two distinct cosmological models expressed in terms of the redshift parameter $H(z)$, providing insights into cosmic dynamics. These models are employed to explore the expansion history of the universe and the evolution of several cosmological parameters. Using Bayesian statistical techniques based on the $\chi^{2}$-minimization method, the median values of the model parameters are determined for both the cosmic chronometer (CC) and the joint (CC + Pantheon) datasets. The evolution of the deceleration parameter, energy density, pressure and the equation of state parameter for dark energy is analyzed. Additionally, the validity of the energy conditions and the nature of the statefinder diagnostic are examined. The present age of the universe is also estimated for the proposed models.

The worldwide LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA network of gravitational-wave (GW) detectors continues to increase in sensitivity, thus increasing the quantity and quality of the detected GW signals from compact binary coalescences. These signals allow us to perform ever-more sensitive tests of general relativity (GR) in the dynamical and strong-field regime of gravity. This paper is the first of three, where we present the results of a suite of tests of GR using the binary signals included in the fourth GW Transient Catalog (GWTC-4.0), i.e., up to and including the first part of the fourth observing run of the detectors (O4a). We restrict our analysis to the 91 confident signals, henceforth called events, that were measured by at least two detectors, and have false alarm rates $\le 10^{-3} \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$. These include 42 events from O4a. This first paper presents an overview of the methods, selection of events and GR tests, and serves as a guidemap for all three papers. Here we focus on the four general tests of consistency, where we find no evidence for deviations from our models. Specifically, for all the events considered, we find consistency of the residuals with noise. The final mass and final spin as inferred from the low- and high-frequency parts of the waveform are consistent with each other. We also find no evidence for deviations from the GR predictions for the amplitudes of subdominant GW multipole moments, or for non-GR modes of polarization. We thus find that GR, without new physics beyond it, is still consistent with these GW events. The results of the two additional papers in this trio also find overall consistency with vacuum GR, with more than 90% of the events being consistent with GR at the 90% credible level. While one of the ringdown analyses finds the GR value in the tails for its combined results, this may be due in part to catalog variance.

In this second of three papers on tests of general relativity (GR) applied to the compact binary coalescence signals in the fourth Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog (GWTC-4.0), we present the results of the parameterized tests of GR and constraints on line-of-sight acceleration. We include events up to and including the first part of the fourth observing run (O4a) of the LIGO Virgo KAGRA detectors. As in the other two papers in this series, we restrict our analysis to the 42 confident signals, measured by at least two detectors, that have false alarm rates $\le 10^{-3} \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$ from O4a, in addition to the 49 such events from previous observing runs. This paper focuses on the eight tests that constrain parameterized deviations from the expected GR (or unaccelerated) values. These include modifications of post-Newtonian (PN) parameters, spin-induced quadrupole moments different from those of a binary black hole, and possible dispersive or birefringent propagation effects. Overall, we find no evidence for physics beyond GR, for spin-induced quadrupole moments different from those of a Kerr black hole in GR, or for line of sight acceleration, with more than 90% of the events including the null result (no deviation) within their 90% credible intervals. We discuss possible systematics affecting the other events and tests, even though they are statistically not surprising, given noise. We improve the bounds on deviations from the GR PN coefficients by factors of 1.2-5.5 and provide illustrative translations to constraints on some modified theories. Also, we update the bound on the mass of the graviton, at 90% credibility, to $m_g \leq 1.92\times 10^{-23} \mathrm{eV}/c^2$. Thus, we see that GR holds, and many of the bounds on possible deviations derived from our events are the best to date.

This is the third paper of the set recording the results of the suite of tests of general relativity (GR) performed on the signals from the fourth Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog (GWTC-4.0), where we focus on the remnants of the binary mergers. We examine for the first time 42 events from the first part of the fourth observing run of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA detectors, alongside events from the previous observation runs, restricting our analysis to the confident signals, which were measured in at least two detectors and that have false alarm rates $\le 10^{-3} \mathrm{yr}^{-1}$. This paper focuses on seven tests of the coalescence remnants. Three of these are tests of the ringdown and its consistency with the expected quasinormal mode spectrum of a Kerr black hole. Specifically, two tests analyze just the ringdown in the time domain, and the third test analyzes the entire signal in the frequency domain. Four tests allow for the existence of possible echoes arriving after the end of the ringdown, which are not expected in GR. We find overall consistency of the remnants with GR. When combining events by multiplying likelihoods (hierarchically), one analysis finds that the GR prediction lies at the boundary of the $98.6^{+1.4}_{-9.4}\%$ ($99.3^{+0.7}_{-4.5}\%$) credible region, an increase from $93.8^{+6.1}_{-20.0}\%$ ($94.9^{+4.4}_{-18.2}\%$) for GWTC-3.0. Here the ranges of values comes from bootstrapping to account for the finite number of events analyzed and suggest that some of the apparently significant deviation could be attributed to variance due to the finite catalog. Since the significance also decreases to 92.2% (96.2%) when including the more recent very loud event GW250114, there is no strong evidence for a GR deviation. We find no evidence for post-merger echoes in the events that were analyzed. (Abridged)

We investigate the thermodynamic properties of charged anti-de Sitter black holes surrounded by a cloud of strings in bumblebee gravity. In this framework, the cloud-of-strings parameter $\alpha$ and the Lorentz-violating parameter $\ell$ modify the horizon structure, the Hawking temperature, the free energies, the specific heat, and the critical behavior in the extended phase-space description. We derive the corresponding equation of state and show that the system exhibits a small--large black-hole phase transition of Van der Waals type. In particular, the critical quantities are deformed by both the cloud of strings and the bumblebee background, while the universal ratio is explicitly altered by Lorentz symmetry breaking. We also examine the Joule--Thomson expansion and analyze the associated inversion and isenthalpic curves, showing how the deformation parameters shift the boundary between heating and cooling regions. In addition, we extend the thermodynamic analysis to a Tsallis entropy-based framework and show that the non-extensive parameter $\delta$ significantly changes the temperature profile, stability windows, critical volume, free energies, and sparsity of Hawking radiation. Our results reveal that the combined effects of the string cloud, Lorentz violation, and non-extensive entropy lead to a substantially richer thermodynamic structure than that of the standard Reissner--Nordström--AdS black hole.

In this study, we examine the role of a scalar field in the evolution of the Universe within the framework of a Bianchi type-I cosmological model with Lyra's geometry. Previous research has explored the nonlinear spinor field in various anisotropic and isotropic cosmological models. In our current study, we and dynamical restrictions for Lyra parameters and violation of stress-energy tensor conservation within Lyra geometry. We shown that in considering cases behavior of Lyra's parameter corresponds to relative in?uence in early universe and absence of Lyra geometry in present universe.

We investigate the phenomenon of black hole superradiance in the presence of torsion within the framework of Poincaré gauge theory. In particular, in contrast to the classical approach of General Relativity, we show that the inclusion of torsion in the space-time geometry enables the energy extraction from rotating black holes by Dirac fermions via chiral asymmetry, while preserving the Pauli exclusion principle.

The universal phase $\rev{\ii}^{D+2}$ of the Euclidean de Sitter path integral obstructs a straightforward state-counting interpretation of the Gibbons--Hawking entropy. Building on Maldacena's proposal that specific black-hole observers can reorganize this phase, we derive a general constraint on when such ``real observers'' can succeed. By distinguishing \emph{gravitational observers} from \emph{topological spectators}, we show that any sector whose \emph{infrared effective} action is metric independent at the de Sitter saddle factorizes in the path integral, $\Ztot = \Zgrav^{(\text{obs})}\Ztop$, so the imaginary phase persists regardless of the sector's information-processing capabilities. Using confining $\SU(3)$ gauge theory and topological orders as examples, we demonstrate that an information-bearing clock is necessary but insufficient: only observers whose fluctuations share the negative modes of the conformal factor belong to the special class that can remove the de Sitter phase.

Extreme mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs), comprising a stellar-mass compact object (CO) orbiting a supermassive black hole (BH), are key targets for future space-based gravitational-wave (GW) observatories. Incorporating the spin of the secondary body into waveform models not only enhances measurement precision but also offers insight into the spin distribution of stellar-mass objects. In this work, we construct the flux and waveform for an EMRI with a spinning secondary in a Kerr background under the linear-spin approximation. Using the radiative prescription (half-retarded minus half-advanced field), we derive orbit-averaged evolution equations for the fundamental constants of motion, including the energy, angular momentum, Carter-like constant, and the parallel spin component. This framework provides a tractable route to generating waveforms that incorporate the secondary spin, with the potential for further simplification in future work.

In this study, the behavior of high-frequency quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) is investigated around a Kerr black hole immersed in a uniform Bertotti-Robinson magnetic field. The motion of the test particle is analyzed by determining the geodesic equations and evaluating the corresponding orbital, radial, and vertical epicyclic frequencies. These fundamental frequencies are used to construct the theoretical framework of QPO models based on parametric and forced resonance mechanisms. Observational data obtained from several black hole X-ray binaries (GRO J1655-40, XTE J1550-564, XTE J1859+226, GRS 1915+105, H1743-322, M82~X-1, and Sgr~A$^{*}$) are used to constrain the black hole parameters through Bayesian inference and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) analyses. For the X-ray binaries GRO J1655-40, GRS 1915+105, H1743-322, and M82~X-1, nonzero values of the dimensionless parameter $b=Bm$ are obtained at the $68\%$ confidence level within the framework of the parametric resonance model, while only upper bounds at the $90\%$ confidence level are obtained for the remaining sources. In contrast, in the case of the forced resonance model, only an upper bound at the $90\%$ confidence interval is obtained for the magnetic field parameter for all considered X-ray binary sources. The analysis indicates that the value of the magnetic field parameter is small but not negligible, producing minor modifications to particle dynamics and epicyclic frequencies. The influence of the magnetic field is further examined through the properties of the innermost stable circular orbit and the radiative properties of the thin accretion disk, including the energy flux and temperature profiles, within the allowed parameter range inferred from the MCMC analysis.

We propose the idea that our Universe is a realization among different possible branches, which can be observationally tested through the modified dispersion relation of the gravitational waves. We achieve this through a framework of spatially constrained vector fields. We show that the simplest realizations of such theories in flat and cosmological spacetimes do not introduce new propagating modes, but they give rise to tensor perturbations that differ from those of standard general relativity. We further show that such theories admit stealth black hole solutions, and we recover weak gravitational potentials, thus passing the solar system experiments. Finally, we discuss the implications of such theories and propose further generalizations.

Tentative evidence suggests that the cores of massive neutron stars consist of deconfined quark matter. We argue that the formation of such a quark matter core during a galactic supernova could be accompanied by the emission of gravitational waves in the MHz band. These signals constitute a new target for high-frequency gravitational wave detectors, demonstrating that such detectors may offer unique opportunities for testing quantum chromodynamics in an otherwise inaccessible regime.

The Schwarzian theory, which governs the universal low-energy dynamics of near-extremal black holes and the SYK model, can be characterised as an integral over a particular coadjoint orbit of the Virasoro group. We describe and solve a complete classification of all possible generalised Schwarzian theories, defined by integrals over any Virasoro coadjoint orbit, including new classes of theories with qualitatively novel features. The classification of coadjoint orbits coincides with the moduli space of constant positive curvature two-dimensional Lorentzian geometries, and the associated Schwarzian theories govern associated wavefunctions in asymptotically near-dS$_2$ gravity (Jackiw-Teitelboim gravity in particular). The novel theories are inherently Lorentzian, defined by oscillatory path integrals weighted by $e^{iI}$ and force consideration of varying `coupling functions' (renormalised dilaton) which may not have definite sign. The definition of the theories involves an ambiguity, arising because the operator describing quadratic fluctuations at one loop fails to be essentially self-adjoint. This requires a choice of boundary condition, and also forces us to allow certain singularities in configurations and classical solutions. The choice is justified from the realisation in JT gravity, which naturally regulates these singularities. The path integral remains one-loop exact via fermionic localisation, but this requires additional input beyond the Duistermaat-Heckman theorem. This allows an exact computation of the path integral for all theories and all couplings, including new results for the original Schwarzian theory.

In metric-affine geometry, autoparallels are generically non-variational, i.e., they are not extremals of any action integral. The existence of a parameter-invariant action principle for autoparallels is a longstanding open problem, which is equivalent to the so-called Finsler metrizability of the connection, i.e., to the fact that these autoparallels can be interpreted as Finsler geodesics. In this article, we address this problem for the class of torsion-free affine connections with vectorial nonmetricity, which includes, as notable subcases, Weyl and Schrödinger connections. For this class, we determine the necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a Finsler Lagrangian that metrizes the connection and depends only algebraically on it. In the cases where such a Finsler Lagrangian exists, we construct it explicitly. In particular, we show that a broad class of such connections is Finsler metrizable.

We study the neutral scalar perturbations of asymptotically flat extremal Reissner-Nordström black holes via the quantum geometry of $\mathcal{N}=2$ $\mathrm{SU(2)}$ gauge theory with $N_f=2$ flavors. The master equation, given by a double confluent Heun equation, is mapped to the quantum Seiberg-Witten curve in the Nekrasov-Shatashvili limit. We compute the quasinormal mode frequencies non-perturbatively using the quantization condition derived from the Nekrasov-Shatashvili free energy. Our analytical results accurately reproduce the numerical benchmarks for massless fields, and capture the quasi-resonance behavior of massive probes at the strict extremal limit.

We review recent progress in the understanding of the preheating stage of Higgs inflation formulated within the Einstein-Cartan framework of gravity. This setup smoothly interpolates between the metric and Palatini formulations of the theory, leading to a distinctive phenomenology in an intermediate regime. Following the end of inflation, the Higgs field undergoes a non-trivial out-of-equilibrium evolution driven by tachyonic instabilities and nonlinear self-interactions, which fragment the inflaton condensate and give rise to well-localized oscillon configurations. While early studies suggested the formation of long-lived oscillons and the possibility of an extended matter-dominated phase, more recent analyses show that self-interactions at small field values render these objects transient, eventually triggering their decay and the onset of radiation domination. We discuss the implications of this dynamics for the thermal history of the Universe, the inflationary observables, and the generation of stochastic gravitational waves.

We investigate a previously constructed stationary solution of the vacuum Einstein equations, which represents a system of two non-extreme black holes with equal masses and opposite NUT charges, connected by a Misner string with tension. For large separations, the inverse square law force measured by this tension is attractive or repulsive, according to the relative values of the masses and NUT charges. For small separations, the force is always repulsive, so that the system cannot collapse to a single black hole. For given values of the black hole masses and NUT charges, there is a unique configuration such that the Misner string is tensionless. This behaves asymptotically as the Kerr solution, but can be overspinning while remaining free from a ring singularity, thus evading the usual black hole uniqueness theorems. All double black hole and string configurations satisfy a generalized first law of black hole mechanics where the two black holes and the Misner string are treated on an equal footing.

We re-analyze the far zone contribution to the two-body conservative dynamics arising from interaction between radiative and longitudinal modes, the latter sourced by mass and angular momentum, which in the mass case is known as tail process. We verify the expected correspondence between two loop self-energy amplitudes and the gluing of two classical (one leading order, one at one loop) emission amplitudes. In particular we show that the factorization of the self-energy amplitude involving the angular momentum is violated when applying standard computation procedures, due to a violation of the Lorentz gauge condition commonly adopted in perturbative computations. We show however that a straightforward fix exists, as the violation corresponds to a consistent anomaly, and it can be re-absorbed by the variation of a suitable action functional.

It is well-known that the unitary nature of black hole evaporation enforces its entropy evolution to follow the Page curve. In this Letter, we find that the quantum speed limit on how fast a quantum system can evolve unitarily, when the maximal information transmission bound is saturated, will slow down the would-be divergent decreasing rate of dynamical black-hole entropy at the very end of the Hawking evaporation, during which the Penrose inequality from cosmic censorship conjecture is exactly saturated. Therefore, an evaporating Schwarzschild black hole is the fastest transmitter of information in nature. Further applying the maximal information transmission bound to an effective-field-theory description of a de Sitter space would roughly reproduce the trans-Planckian censorship conjecture, indicating the de Sitter space as the fastest receiver of information in nature.

We consider spherically symmetric static black hole configurations that obey the vacuum equation of state: $p_{r}=-\rho $, where $p_{r}$ is the radial pressure, $\rho $ being energy density. We find in a closed form the metric for an arbitrary equation of state for tangential pressure $p_{\theta }(\rho )$. The corresponding formulas enable us to embrace compact Schwarzschild-like configurations and dispersed systems. They include metrics with a regular center and singular ones. In a particular case, the metric of the Kiselev black hole is reproduced.

The third law of black hole dynamics states that it is impossible, through any classical perturbation of a stationary configuration, to reduce the surface gravity of a black hole to zero. In this work, we examine the validity of this law for static, spherically symmetric charged black holes in the Lovelock theory of gravity. By studying infinitesimal variations in mass and charge, we derive a set of inequalities that constrain these variations. Our analysis shows that as the surface gravity approaches zero ($\kappa \to 0$), the range of admissible perturbations gradually diminishes, thereby forbidding the attainment of extremality through any finite classical process. The saturation of the inequality is interpreted as the emergence of a dynamical barrier near extremality, which prevents further evolution toward the extremal configuration.

The non-conservation of the energy-momentum tensor in $f(R,T)$ gravity can be interpreted as an effective manifestation of dissipation. Motivated by this, we propose a new formulation of $f(R,T)$ gravity based on the Herglotz variational principle, which extends the usual {Hamilton} variational principle to dissipative systems by allowing the Lagrangian to depend explicitly on the action. The resulting gravitational field equations extend those of $f(R,T)$ gravity by including Herglotz contributions. In the Newtonian limit, these contributions modify the gravitational potential, allowing us to constrain the Herglotz vector through Mercury's perihelion precession and the relativistic light deflection. The Herglotz corrections lead to a scaling law consistent with observations from the Cassini spacecraft. Examining two representative cosmological models, the Herglotz vector effectively reduces to a single function that, under suitable conditions, can play the role of a cosmological constant, providing an alternative mechanism for the Universe's accelerated expansion. Within the Herglotz variational approach, the linear $f(R,T)=R+\alpha T$ model, previously ruled out in the standard formulation due to its fixed deceleration parameter, becomes consistent with observations {for a certain choice of the Herglotz vector.

We present new spherically symmetric solutions of the Einstein-Klein-Gordon equations in a quasi-stationary approximation that describe self-gravitating scalar field configurations around a black hole, including angular momentum number $\ell$. An approach analogous to the one which gives rise to $\ell$-boson stars is used here to construct self-gravitating ``gravitational atoms" with $\ell\ge0$. We refer to these new solutions as {\it noble gravitational atoms}, by analogy with noble atoms, which are characterized by closed electron shells. We show that, in the proper limit, noble gravitational atoms approach $\ell$-boson stars globally, displaying noticeable differences only in a region very close to the event horizon. Noble gravitational atoms with $\ell>0$ sometimes present density maxima located at relatively large radii, with small density close to the horizon for $\ell>1$. Furthermore, they do not always present the typical density spike at the event horizon if $\ell > 0$; on the contrary, they sometimes exhibit a small dip there. When $\ell=0$, a spike can appear, but its contribution to the total mass density is always negligible. The size, density, and lifetime of these objects vary significantly depending on the parameters, being in some cases as large as galaxies, as dilute as dark matter, and as long-lived as the Universe itself.

Two different dynamical system formulations are presented for the generic $f(R,\phi,X)$ family of gravity theories. As illustrative examples, the first and the second formulation is applied to study the phase space of a toy model of the Non-Minimal Derivative Coupling (NMDC) without a potential, and the mixed $R^2$-Higgs inflation model, respectively. The first dynamical system formulation applied to the toy NMDC model, although able to identify several invariant submanifolds, fails to fully investigate the fixed point structure, as all the fixed points turn out to be non-hyperbolic. We, however, discover an interesting feature that the qualitative dynamics are independent of the coupling strength between the Ricci scalar and the scalar field derivative. The second dynamical system formulation applied to the mixed $R^2$-Higgs inflation model performs much better, being able to correctly reduce to the individual phase spaces of the $R^2$ and Higgs inflation separately in special cases, as well as correctly delivering the expected invariant submanifolds and fixed points. For the mixed $R^2$-Higgs case, illustrative phase portraits are provided for a somewhat better understanding of the dynamics.

We study energy extraction and particle acceleration in the rotating Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton-Axion (EMDA) black hole, focusing on the impact of dilaton hair $b\le 0$ on near-horizon energetics relative to Kerr. For the Penrose process we derive analytic expressions for the maximum efficiency and show that negative $b$ can strongly enhance the ideal gain in the extremal regime (e.g., reaching $\sim 91\%$ for $b=-0.3$). We then compute the irreducible mass $M_{\rm irr}$ and the corresponding rotationally extractable energy $\mathcal{E}_{\rm rot}\equiv M-M_{\rm irr}$, finding that $M_{\rm irr}$ decreases monotonically as $b$ becomes more negative while $\mathcal{E}_{\rm rot}$ increases, indicating a larger spin-energy reservoir; at extremality the extracted share from rotation is $\mathcal{E}_{\rm rot}/M\simeq 0.63$ for EMDA, reducing to the Kerr value $\simeq 0.29$ at $b=0$. Kinematic constraints relevant to fragment production are quantified via the Wald and Bardeen--Press--Teukolsky bounds, which are progressively relaxed for more negative $b$. For wave superradiance we obtain the flux balance and the amplification window $0<\beta<k\Omega_H$, with $\Omega_H$ expressed through $\Xi=r_H^{2}+2br_H+a^{2}$; negative $b$ modifies $\Omega_H$ and enlarges the parameter region exhibiting negative horizon flux. Finally, we analyse two-particle collisions and derive $E_{\rm cm}$, showing that the Bañados--Silk--West divergence persists at the horizon when one particle is tuned to the critical angular momentum $L_c=E/\Omega_H$, while $E_{\rm cm}$ remains finite for generic angular momenta. Overall, dilaton hair in EMDA simultaneously amplifies energy-extraction channels and reshapes the near-horizon thresholds governing high-energy collisions.

We study Schwarzschild AdS black holes in conformal Killing gravity, focusing on their thermodynamics and information recovery via the island formula. Treating the cosmological constant as pressure and the conformal Killing gravity parameter as an independent variable, we find that the Bekenstein-Hawking area law holds, while the conformal Killing gravity parameter dramatically affects phase structure. For a positive conformal Killing gravity parameter, black holes admit an extremal limit and exhibit Van der Waals-like criticality with first and second order phase transitions; for a negative conformal Killing gravity parameter, no extremal limit or criticality occurs. Using the island prescription, we show that without islands, the entanglement entropy of Hawking radiation grows unboundedly, violating unitarity, while including islands after Page time restores the Page curve, with late-time entropy saturating at twice the Bekenstein-Hawking value. Page time can be expressed in terms of thermodynamic quantities, displaying critical behavior for positive conformal Killing gravity parameter, whereas in negative conformal Killing gravity small black holes recover information rapidly and large ones more slowly, with pressure reducing Page time. Our results reveal a direct link between black hole thermodynamics, quantum information recovery, and modified gravity.

We derive general formulas for quasi-normal mode (QNM) frequencies of hairy black holes by exploiting the QNM--geodesic correspondence. The black hole hair is treated as an anisotropic fluid perturbatively added to the vacuum black holes (Schwarzschild and Kerr black holes). Under this setting, independent of energy conditions, our formulas offer a systematic method to compute quasi-normal mode frequencies for a broad class of hairy black holes.

Current proposals to probe the quantum nature of gravity in the low-energy regime predominantly focus on the Newtonian interaction term. In this work, we present a theoretical exploration of gravitationally mediated entanglement arising from a genuinely general relativistic effect: frame dragging. This interaction gives rise to an effective dipolar coupling between the angular momenta of two rotating, spherically symmetric masses, allowing entanglement generation between angular momentum degrees of freedom. We represent the quantum states by angular momentum eigenstates and show that, while the maximal entangling rate is achieved for highly delocalized initial states, non-negligible quantum correlations can still emerge even when the initial states are not prepared in superposition. We then analyze the robustness of the resulting entanglement in the presence of common noise sources, explicitly acknowledging the challenges associated with a potential implementation. We also note that, for spherically symmetric masses, angular momentum degrees of freedom are intrinsically insensitive to Casimir and Coulomb interactions, thereby mitigating key decoherence channels present in existing proposals. Finally, we discuss possible state preparation and detection strategies while framing our results within the broader landscape of gravitationally mediated entanglement schemes, emphasizing the role of this framework as a conceptual avenue for exploring genuinely relativistic quantum gravitational effects.

We prove the existence and uniqueness of global finite energy solutions of the Maxwell-scalar field system in Lorenz gauge on the Einstein cylinder. Our method is a combination of a conformal patching argument, the finite energy existence theorem in Lorenz gauge on Minkowski space of Selberg and Tesfahun, a careful localization of finite energy data, and null form estimates of Foschi-Klainerman type. Although we prove that the energy-carrying components of the solution maintain regularity, due to the incompleteness of the null structure in Lorenz gauge and the nature of our foliation-change arguments we find small losses of regularity in both the scalar field and the potential.

We study the inflationary gravitational wave background induced by Abelian gauge fields generated by non-minimal kinetic and axial couplings to the inflaton. We show that, up to slow-roll corrections, for coupling functions that share the same dependence on conformal time, the gravitational wave spectrum is nearly scale invariant. We also derive its amplitude for generic gauge field coupling parameters, within the slow-roll approximation. The coupling values and the scale of inflation for which the induced gravitational wave background is observable, while ensuring that back-reaction on the inflationary dynamics remains negligible, are calculated. We find that a sizeable axial coupling can boost this secondary gravitational wave signal above the standard inflationary background. In the course of our analysis, we also show how to analytically match tensor perturbations across an arbitrary number of eras with different equations of state.

We present a quantum quadratic gravity inflationary scenario that can accommodate the new cosmological constraints, which have disfavored Starobinsky inflation. The theory is asymptotically free in the ultraviolet, but 1-loop running is found to dynamically lead to slow-roll inflation toward the infrared. When a large number of matter fields contribute to the beta functions, the spectral index and the tensor-to-scalar ratio can be phenomenologically viable. We find that as inflation ends, the theory approaches its strong coupling regime and general relativity must emerge, as an effective field theory, as the universe must reheat and enter its standard radiation era. In order to avoid strong coupling, a minimum tensor-to-scalar ratio of 0.01 is predicted for this theory. Our framework offers a laboratory for connecting a concrete ultraviolet completion (quantum quadratic gravity) with inflationary dynamics, reheating, and precise cosmological observations.

Conventional Lagrangian formulations of gauge and gravity theories emphasize compactness and off-shell symmetry. This often obscures the structure of on-shell physical observables. In this work, we present a constructive framework that elevates gauge-invariant scattering amplitudes to the defining data for quantum field theory actions, including effective field theories. Focusing on double-copy theories, we promote color-dual amplitude numerators to quantum operators. This enables the systematic identification of novel local operator content at each multiplicity and the construction of double-copy-compatible actions. By applying this framework to the well-established double-copy relationship between Einstein gravity and Yang-Mills theory, which holds for all-multiplicity tree-level amplitudes, we demonstrate a systematic path to constructing the operator expansion of $\sqrt{-g}R$ from factorized gauge-theory components. This clarifies how gravitational interactions can be understood as emerging from simpler gauge-theoretic structures at the action level. This formalism extends color-kinematics duality from amplitude data to operator constructions, naturally realizing the double copy at the level of actions and asymptotic quantum states. We illustrate the method with Yang-Mills theory, Einstein gravity, and its application to generating higher-derivative operators inspired by Z-theory and open superstring amplitudes. This work provides a concrete bridge between structured amplitudes and effective actions, offering a physically grounded alternative to traditional EFT basis-building. It reveals at the operator level deep structural connections between gauge theory and gravity (connections long recognized in scattering amplitudes) from fundamental interactions to their quantum state descriptions and higher-derivative extensions.

We develop a four-dimensional gauge-gravity unification based on the $% SL(2N,C)$ gauge theory taken in a universal Yang--Mills type setting. The accompanying tetrads are promoted to dynamical fields whose length, when projected onto the background Minkowskian spacetime, is restricted by a nonlinear sigma-model type constraint. This triggers tetrad condensation and spontaneous symmetry breaking, $SL(2N,C)\rightarrow SL(2,C)\times SU(N)$, lifting all noncompact directions. A special ghost-free curvature-squared Lagrangian provides a consistent quadratic sector, while an Einstein--Cartan linear curvature term is induced radiatively from fermion loops. Below the breaking scale, only a neutral tetrad associated with graviton and $SU(N)$ vector fields remain massless, whereas axial-vector and tensor fields of the entire gauge multiplet acquire heavy masses. The matter sector clearly points to a deeper elementarity of $SL(2N,C)$ spinors, which can be identified with preon constituents whose bound states form the observed quarks and leptons. Anomaly matching between preons and composites singles out $N=8$. The chain $SL(16,C)\rightarrow SL(2,C)\times SU(8)$ then naturally yields three composite quark--lepton families, while filtering out extraneous heavy states.