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We numerically calculate the spacetime describing the formation and evaporation of a regular black hole in 2D dilaton gravity. The apparent horizons evaporate smoothly in finite time to form a compact trapped region. We nevertheless see rich dynamics; an anti-trapped region forms alongside the black hole, and additional compact trapped and anti-trapped regions are formed by backreaction effects as the mass radiates away. The spacetime is asymptotically flat at future null infinity and is free of singularities and Cauchy horizons. These results suggest that the evaporation of regular 2D black holes is unitary., Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, REVTex 4.2

To create high-fidelity cosmic microwave background maps, current component separation methods rely on availability of information on different foreground components, usually through multi-band frequency coverage of the instrument. Internal linear combination (ILC) methods provide an unbiased estimators for CMB which are easy to implement, but component separation quality crucially depends on the signal to noise ratio of the input maps. In the present paper, we develop an efficient non-linear filter along the lines of non-local means used in digital imaging research which significantly improves signal to noise ratio for astrophysical foreground maps, while having minimal signal attenuation, and evaluate it performance in map and spectral domains. Noise reduction is achieved by averaging ``similar'' pixels in the map. We construct the rotationally-invariant feature vector space and compute the similarity metric on it for the case of non-Gaussian signal contaminated by an additive Gaussian noise. The proposed filter has two tuneable parameters, and with minimal tweaking achieves a factor of two improvement in signal to noise spectral density in Planck dust maps. A particularly desirable feature is that signal loss is extremely small at all scales., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures

HEALPix by G\'orski et. al. (2005) is de-facto standard for Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data storage and analysis, and is widely used in current and upcoming CMB experiments. Almost all the datasets in Legacy Archive for Microwave Background Data Analysis (LAMBDA) use HEALPix as a format of choice. Visualizing the data plays important role in research, and several toolsets were developed to do that with HEALPix maps, most notably original Fortran facilities and Python integration with healpy. With the current state of GPU performance, it is now possible to visualize extremely large maps in real time on a laptop or a tablet. HEALPix Viewer described here is developed for macOS, and takes full advantage of GPU acceleration to handle extremely large datasets in real time. It compiles natively on Intel and Arm64 architectures, and uses Metal framework for high-performance GPU computations. The aim of this project is to reduce the effort required for interactive data exploration, as well as time overhead for producing publication-quality maps. Drag and drop integration with Keynote and Powerpoint makes creating presentations easy. The main codebase is written in Swift, a modern and efficient compiled language, with high-performance computing parts delegated entirely to GPU, and a few inserts in C interfacing to cfitsio library for I/O. Graphical user interface is written in SwiftUI, a new declarative UI framework based on Swift. Most common spherical projections and colormaps are supported out of the box, and the available source code makes it easy to customize the application and to add new features if desired. Overall performance improves on the current Python software stack by a factor of 3-180x depending on the task at hand., Comment: 18 pages; 12 figures; 1 table

In this paper we discuss mechanical systems with inequality constraints. We demonstrate how such constraints can be taken into account by proper modification of the action which describes the original unconstrained dynamics. To illustrate this approach we consider a harmonic oscillator in the model with limiting velocity. We compare the behavior of such an oscillator with the behavior of a relativistic oscillator and demonstrated that when an amplitude of the oscillator is large the properties of both type of oscillators are quite similar. We also briefly discuss inequality constraints which contain higher derivatives., Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures

This Snowmass 2021 White Paper describes the Cosmic Microwave Background Stage 4 project CMB-S4, which is designed to cross critical thresholds in our understanding of the origin and evolution of the Universe, from the highest energies at the dawn of time through the growth of structure to the present day. We provide an overview of the science case, the technical design, and project plan., Comment: Contribution to Snowmass 2021. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1908.01062, arXiv:1907.04473

Observing in six frequency bands from 27 to 280 GHz over a large sky area, the Simons Observatory (SO) is poised to address many questions in Galactic astrophysics in addition to its principal cosmological goals. In this work, we provide quantitative forecasts on astrophysical parameters of interest for a range of Galactic science cases. We find that SO can: constrain the frequency spectrum of polarized dust emission at a level of $\Delta\beta_d \lesssim 0.01$ and thus test models of dust composition that predict that $\beta_d$ in polarization differs from that measured in total intensity; measure the correlation coefficient between polarized dust and synchrotron emission with a factor of two greater precision than current constraints; exclude the non-existence of exo-Oort clouds at roughly 2.9$\sigma$ if the true fraction is similar to the detection rate of giant planets; map more than 850 molecular clouds with at least 50 independent polarization measurements at 1 pc resolution; detect or place upper limits on the polarization fractions of CO(2-1) emission and anomalous microwave emission at the 0.1% level in select regions; and measure the correlation coefficient between optical starlight polarization and microwave polarized dust emission in $1^\circ$ patches for all lines of sight with $N_{\rm H} \gtrsim 2\times10^{20}$ cm$^{-2}$. The goals and forecasts outlined here provide a roadmap for other microwave polarization experiments to expand their scientific scope via Milky Way astrophysics., Comment: Submitted to AAS journals. 33 pages, 10 figures

We derive new variants of the quantitative Borel--Cantelli lemma and apply them to analysis of statistical properties for some dynamical systems. We consider intermittent maps of $(0,1]$ which have absolutely continuous invariant probability measures. In particular, we prove that every sequence of intervals with left endpoints uniformly separated from zero is the strong Borel--Cantelli sequence with respect to such map and invariant measure.

Observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) are an incredibly fertile source of information for studying the origins and evolution of the Universe. Canadian digital research infrastructure (DRI) has played a key role in reducing ever-larger quantities of raw data into maps of the CMB suitable for scientific analysis, as exemplified by the many scientific results produced by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) over the past decade. The Simons Observatory (SO), due to start observing in 2023, will be able to measure the CMB with about an order of magnitude more sensitivity than ACT and other current telescopes. In this White Paper we outline how Canadian DRI under the New Digital Research Infrastructure Organization (NDRIO) could build upon the legacy of ACT and play a pivotal role in processing SO data, helping to produce data products that will be central to the cosmology community for years to come. We include estimates of DRI resources required for this work to indicate what kind of advanced research computing (ARC) would best support an SO-like project. Finally, we comment on how ARC allocations could be structured for large collaborations like SO and propose a research data management (RDM) system that makes public data releases available not only for download but also for direct analysis on Canadian DRI., Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures. Response to call for White Papers from the New Digital Research Infrastructure Organization (NDRIO); same version as posted on https://engagedri.ca/white-paper-submissions

CMB-S4---the next-generation ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment---is set to significantly advance the sensitivity of CMB measurements and enhance our understanding of the origin and evolution of the Universe, from the highest energies at the dawn of time through the growth of structure to the present day. Among the science cases pursued with CMB-S4, the quest for detecting primordial gravitational waves is a central driver of the experimental design. This work details the development of a forecasting framework that includes a power-spectrum-based semi-analytic projection tool, targeted explicitly towards optimizing constraints on the tensor-to-scalar ratio, $r$, in the presence of Galactic foregrounds and gravitational lensing of the CMB. This framework is unique in its direct use of information from the achieved performance of current Stage 2--3 CMB experiments to robustly forecast the science reach of upcoming CMB-polarization endeavors. The methodology allows for rapid iteration over experimental configurations and offers a flexible way to optimize the design of future experiments given a desired scientific goal. To form a closed-loop process, we couple this semi-analytic tool with map-based validation studies, which allow for the injection of additional complexity and verification of our forecasts with several independent analysis methods. We document multiple rounds of forecasts for CMB-S4 using this process and the resulting establishment of the current reference design of the primordial gravitational-wave component of the Stage-4 experiment, optimized to achieve our science goals of detecting primordial gravitational waves for $r > 0.003$ at greater than $5\sigma$, or, in the absence of a detection, of reaching an upper limit of $r < 0.001$ at $95\%$ CL., Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures, 9 tables, submitted to ApJ. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1907.04473

We derive new upper and lower bounds for probabilities that $r$ or at least $r$ from $n$ events occur. These bounds can turn to equalities. The method is discussed as well. It works for measurable space and measures with sign, too. We also discuss variants of the results for conditional probability of above events given $\sigma$-field. Taking expectations from both parts of inequalities for conditional probabilities can yield better bounds for unconditional ones.

We provide an overview of the science case, instrument configuration and project plan for the next-generation ground-based cosmic microwave background experiment CMB-S4, for consideration by the 2020 Decadal Survey., Comment: Project White Paper submitted to the 2020 Decadal Survey, 10 pages plus references. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1907.04473

The Simons Observatory (SO) is a ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiment sited on Cerro Toco in the Atacama Desert in Chile that promises to provide breakthrough discoveries in fundamental physics, cosmology, and astrophysics. Supported by the Simons Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, and with contributions from collaborating institutions, SO will see first light in 2021 and start a five year survey in 2022. SO has 287 collaborators from 12 countries and 53 institutions, including 85 students and 90 postdocs. The SO experiment in its currently funded form ('SO-Nominal') consists of three 0.4 m Small Aperture Telescopes (SATs) and one 6 m Large Aperture Telescope (LAT). Optimized for minimizing systematic errors in polarization measurements at large angular scales, the SATs will perform a deep, degree-scale survey of 10% of the sky to search for the signature of primordial gravitational waves. The LAT will survey 40% of the sky with arc-minute resolution. These observations will measure (or limit) the sum of neutrino masses, search for light relics, measure the early behavior of Dark Energy, and refine our understanding of the intergalactic medium, clusters and the role of feedback in galaxy formation. With up to ten times the sensitivity and five times the angular resolution of the Planck satellite, and roughly an order of magnitude increase in mapping speed over currently operating ("Stage 3") experiments, SO will measure the CMB temperature and polarization fluctuations to exquisite precision in six frequency bands from 27 to 280 GHz. SO will rapidly advance CMB science while informing the design of future observatories such as CMB-S4., Comment: Astro2020 Decadal Project Whitepaper. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1808.07445

We present the science case, reference design, and project plan for the Stage-4 ground-based cosmic microwave background experiment CMB-S4., Comment: 287 pages, 82 figures

It has been recently shown that observing pulses isolated from the gravitational radiation transient (also known as echoes) would prove the existence of exotic compact objects (ECOs). Many features of the ringdown signal can be reproduced by simulating a scattering problem instead of the full coalescence of ECOs. In this paper, we study the dynamics of scalar and tensor wavepackets colliding against a spherically symmetric Morris-Thorne wormhole. Our aim is to extract the features of the time-dependent scattering solutions inside and outside the effective potential cavity in addition to their asymptotic behavior. Using the geometrical optics approximation, we show that the amplitude of the echoes is only large enough in a narrow bandwidth of frequency space. Additionally, we show that the cavity modifies the polarization of the asymptotic gravitational wave solutions. The computer code used to produce these results is publicly available for further applications, including scattering and accretion processes., Comment: 13 pages, 18 figures. References added and typos fixed, including the effects of the length of the throat. Accepted for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravity

We investigate asymptotic behaviour of probabilities of large deviations for normalized combinatorial sums. We find a zone in which these probabilities are equivalent to the tail of the standard normal law. Our conditions are similar to the classical Bernstein condition. The range of the zone of the normal convergence can be of power order.

The Simons Observatory (SO) is a new cosmic microwave background experiment being built on Cerro Toco in Chile, due to begin observations in the early 2020s. We describe the scientific goals of the experiment, motivate the design, and forecast its performance. SO will measure the temperature and polarization anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background in six frequency bands: 27, 39, 93, 145, 225 and 280 GHz. The initial configuration of SO will have three small-aperture 0.5-m telescopes (SATs) and one large-aperture 6-m telescope (LAT), with a total of 60,000 cryogenic bolometers. Our key science goals are to characterize the primordial perturbations, measure the number of relativistic species and the mass of neutrinos, test for deviations from a cosmological constant, improve our understanding of galaxy evolution, and constrain the duration of reionization. The SATs will target the largest angular scales observable from Chile, mapping ~10% of the sky to a white noise level of 2 $\mu$K-arcmin in combined 93 and 145 GHz bands, to measure the primordial tensor-to-scalar ratio, $r$, at a target level of $\sigma(r)=0.003$. The LAT will map ~40% of the sky at arcminute angular resolution to an expected white noise level of 6 $\mu$K-arcmin in combined 93 and 145 GHz bands, overlapping with the majority of the LSST sky region and partially with DESI. With up to an order of magnitude lower polarization noise than maps from the Planck satellite, the high-resolution sky maps will constrain cosmological parameters derived from the damping tail, gravitational lensing of the microwave background, the primordial bispectrum, and the thermal and kinematic Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effects, and will aid in delensing the large-angle polarization signal to measure the tensor-to-scalar ratio. The survey will also provide a legacy catalog of 16,000 galaxy clusters and more than 20,000 extragalactic sources., Comment: This paper presents an overview of the Simons Observatory science goals, details about the instrument will be presented in a companion paper. The author contribution to this paper is available at https://simonsobservatory.org/publications.php (Abstract abridged) -- matching version published in JCAP

Constant-roll inflation was recently introduced by Motohashi, Starobinsky and Yokoyama as a phenomenological way to parametrize deviations from the slow-roll scenarios. In this paper, we investigate the dynamics of both the background and the perturbations in this model, without making any slow-roll assumptions. The perturbation spectra are computed with an efficient and accurate novel method that allowed us to quickly scan the parameter space of constant-roll inflation. We derive the constraints on the model parameters from the cosmic microwave background anisotropy measurements provided by the joint analysis of the Planck Collaboration and the BICEP2/Keck Array data., Comment: REVTeX 4.1. 9 pages, 8 figures, Typos fixed, Improved definitions and discussion on parameter degeneracies in the slow-roll limit. Matches the version approved for publication in JCAP

We study a particular realization of the cosmological bounce scenario proposed recently by Ijjas and Steinhardt. First, we find that their bouncing solution starts from a divergent sound speed and ends with its vanishing. Thus, the solution connects two strongly coupled configurations. These pathologies are separated from the bouncing regime by only a few Planck times. We then reveal the exact structure of the Lagrangian, which reproduces this bouncing solution. This reconstruction allowed us to consider other cosmological solutions of the theory and analyze the phase space. In particular, we find other bouncing solutions and solutions with superluminal sound speed. These stable superluminal states can be continuously transformed into the solution constructed by Ijjas and Steinhardt. We discuss the consequences of this feature for a possible UV-completion., Comment: published version. 16 pages + references, 4 figures, new section on Conformal Transformations, Gauges and Acoustic Geometry, new figure. Corrected typos, added references

It is typically believed that the additional degrees of freedom in any modification of gravity are completely suppressed by the large energy densities coexisting with an astrophysical black hole. In this paper, we find that this might not always be the case. This belief holds for black holes formed via gravitational collapse in very dense environments, whereas the black holes with sufficiently low accretion rates that have low matter densities inside innermost stable circular orbit will generally unscreen chameleons. We develop a novel technique to study the dynamics of accretion of a scalar field onto a Schwarzschild-like black hole which is accurate on both short and long time scales. In particular, we study the behavior of the extra scalar degree of freedom in the Starobinsky and Hu-Sawicki $f(R)$ theories, for the symmetron model, and for the Ratra-Peebles model. Aside from calculating non-trivial static field profiles outside the black hole, we provide the tools to study the (in)stability and evolution towards the equilibrium solution for any generic well behaved set of parameters and initial conditions. Our code is made publicly available for further research and modifications to study other models., Comment: REVTeX 4.1; 18 pages, 24 figures. Minor corrections and references added

The real energy spectrum from the $PT$-symmetric Hamiltonian $H = p^2 - (ix)^N$ with $x\in\mathbb{C}$ was examined within one pair of Stokes wedges in 1998 by Bender and Boettcher. For this Hamiltonian we discuss the following three questions. First, since their paper used a Runge-Kutta method to integrate along a path at the center of the Stokes wedges to calculate eigenvalues $E$ with high accuracy, we wonder if the same eigenvalues can be obtained if integrate along some other paths in different shapes. Second, what the corresponding eigenfunctions look like? Should the eigenfunctions be independent from the shapes of path or not? Third, since for large $N$ the Hamiltonian contains many pairs of Stokes wedges symmetric with respect to the imaginary axis of $x$, thus multiple families of real energy spectrum can be obtained. What do they look like? Any relation among them?, Comment: 37 pages, 30 figures

We study the structure of two-point correlators of the inflationary field fluctuations in order to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the existing methods to calculate primordial spectra. We present a description motivated by the separation of the fast and slow evolving components of the spectrum which is based on Cholesky decomposition of the field correlator matrix. Our purpose is to rewrite all the relevant equations of motion in terms of slowly varying quantities. This is important in order to consider the contribution from high-frequency modes to the spectrum without affecting computational performance. The slow-roll approximation is not required to reproduce the main distinctive features in the power spectrum for each specific model of inflation., Comment: REVTeX 4.1; 11 pages, 15 figures; references and a figure added

Some of the most obviously correct physical theories - namely string theory and the multiverse - make no testable predictions, leading many to question whether we should accept something as scientific even if it makes no testable predictions and hence is not refutable. However, some far-thinking physicists have proposed instead that we should give up on the notion of Falsifiability itself. We endorse this suggestion but think it does not go nearly far enough. We believe that we should also dispense with other outdated ideas, such as Fidelity, Frugality, Factuality and other "F" words. And we quote a lot of famous people to support this view., Comment: 2 pages. Submitted on 1st April

We discuss a solution of the Einstein equations, obtained by gluing the external Kerr metric and the internal Weyl metric, describing an axisymmetric static vacuum distorted black hole. These metrics are glued at the null surfaces representing their horizons. For this purpose we use the formalism of massive thin null shells. The corresponding solution is called a "hybrid" black hole. The massive null shell has an angular momentum which is the origin of the rotation of the external Kerr spacetime. At the same time, the shell distorts the geometry inside the horizon. The inner geometry of the "hybrid" black hole coincides with the geometry of the interior of a non-rotating Weyl-distorted black hole. Properties of the "hybrid" black holes are briefly discussed., Comment: 9 pages

A stationary observer in the Kerr spacetime has zero angular momentum if his/her angular velocity $\omega$ has a particular value, which depends on the position of the observer. Worldlines of such zero angular momentum observers (ZAMOs) with the same value of the angular velocity $\omega$ form a three dimensional surface, which has the property that the Killing vectors generating time translation and rotation are tangent to it. We call such a surface a rigidly rotating ZAMO surface. This definition allows a natural generalization to the surfaces inside the black hole, where ZAMO's trajectories formally become spacelike. A general property of such a surface is that there exist linear combinations of the Killing vectors with constant coefficients which make them orthogonal on it. In this paper we discuss properties of the rigidly rotating ZAMO surfaces both outside and inside the black hole and relevance of these objects to a couple of interesting physical problems., Comment: REVTeX 4.0; 11 pages, 9 figures

We obtain new lower and upper bounds for probabilities of unions of events.These bounds are sharp. They are stronger than earlier ones. General bounds maybe applied in arbitrary measurable spaces.We have improved the method that has been introduced in previous papers. We derive new generalizations of the first and second part of the Borel--Cantelli lemma.

We derive new bounds of the remainder in a combinatorial central limit theorem without assumptions on independence and existence of moments of summands. For independent random variables our theorems imply Esseen and Berry-Esseen type inequalities, some other new bounds and a combinatorial central limit theorem in the case of infinite variations.

Spherical scalar collapse in f(R) gravity is studied numerically in double-null coordinates in the Einstein frame. Dynamics in the vicinity of the singularity of the formed black hole is examined via mesh refinement and asymptotic analysis. Before the collapse, the scalar degree of freedom f' is coupled to a physical scalar field, and general relativity is restored. During the collapse, the major energy of the physical scalar field moves to the center. As a result, f' loses the coupling and becomes light, and gravity transits from general relativity to f(R) gravity. Due to strong gravity from the singularity and the low mass of f', f' will cross the minimum of the potential and approach zero. Therefore, the dynamical solution is significantly different from the static solution of the black hole in f(R) gravity---it is not the de Sitter-Schwarzschild solution as one might have expected. f' tries to suppress the evolution of the physical scalar field, which is a dark energy effect. As the singularity is approached, metric terms are dominant over other terms. The Kasner solution for spherical scalar collapse in f(R) theory is obtained and confirmed by numerical results. These results support the Belinskii-Khalatnikov-Lifshitz conjecture well., Comment: Results in the Jordan frame and for the Starobinsky model are added, see Sections V and VI. 27 pages, 14 figures

We derive Esseen type bounds of the remainder in a combinatorial central limit theorem for independent random variables without third moments.

In this paper, we study the cosmological viability conditions, the phase-space dynamics, and the cosmological evolution of f(R) gravity. In contrast to most previous works in the literature, which analyzed the background dynamics of f(R) gravity by means of a dynamical system, we proceed by focusing on the equivalent scalar field description of the theory, which we believe is a more intuitive way of treating the problem. In order to study how the physical solutions evolve in f(R) cosmology, we explore the cosmological dynamics of a range of f(R) models, including models that yield a large hierarchy of scales and are singularity free. We present generic features of the phase-space dynamics in f(R) cosmology. We study the global structure of the phase space in f(R) gravity by compactifying the infinite phase space into a finite space via the Poincare transformation. On the expansion branch of the phase space, the constraint surface has a repeller and a de Sitter attractor; while on the contraction branch, the constraint surface has an attractor and a de Sitter repeller. Generally, the phase currents originate from the repeller and terminate at the corresponding attractor in each space. The trajectories between the repeller and the attractor in the presence of matter density are different from those in the vacuum case. The phase analysis techniques developed in this paper are very general, and can be applied to other similar dynamical systems., Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures. minor change

We derive logarithmic asymptotics of probabilities of small deviations for iterated processes in the space of trajectories. We find conditions under which these asymptotics coincide with those of processes generating iterated processes. When these conditions fail the asymptotics are quite different.

We study the fate of a localized wavepacket in a classical conformal field theory with attractive interaction V(phi) = -lambda/4 phi^4. As potential is unbounded from below, homogeneous field collapses to singularity in finite time. However, finite size wavepacket can disperse before it collapses. Competition between the two outcomes results in a critical behavior, much like the one seen in gravitational collapse. We calculate the critical exponents, and show that there are static regular soliton-like solutions in the theory., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures; REVTeX 4

In this paper, we explore an idea of having Newton's constant change its value depending on the curvature scale involved. Such modification leads to a particular scalar-tensor gravity theory, with the Lagrangian derived from renormalization group (RG) flow arguments. Several of the well-known f(R) modified gravity models have remarkably simple description in terms of the infrared renormalization group, but not the "designer" types in general. We find that de Sitter-like accelerated expansion can be generated even in the absence of cosmological constant term, entirely due to running of the Newton's constant. In hopes of tackling the problem of cosmological constant's smallness, we explore the flows which are capable of generating exponential hierarchy between infrared and ultraviolet scales, and investigate cosmological evolution in the models thus derived., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures; version 2 is substantially expanded

In this paper I review the theory and numerical simulations of non-linear dynamics of preheating, a stage of dynamical instability at the end of inflation during which homogeneous inflaton explosively decays and deposits its energy into excitation of other matter fields. I focus on preheating in chaotic inflation models, which proceeds via broad parametric resonance. I describe a simple method to evaluate Floquet exponents, calculating stability diagrams of Mathieu and Lame equations describing development of instability in $m^2\phi^2$ and $\lambda\phi^4$ preheating models. I discuss basic numerical methods and issues, and present simulation results highlighting non-equilibrium transitions, topological defect formation, late-time universality, turbulent scaling and approach to thermalization. I explain how preheating can generate large-scale primordial (non-Gaussian) curvature fluctuations manifest in cosmic microwave background anisotropy and large scale structure, and discuss potentially observable signatures of preheating., Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures; review for CQG special issue

A new class of non-Gaussian curvature fluctuations \zeta_{pr} (\bx) \equiv \delta N(\chi_i) arises from the post-inflation preheating behaviour of a non-inflaton field \chi_i. Its billiard-like chaotic dynamics imprints regular log-spaced narrow spikes in the number of preheating e-folds N(\chi_i). We perform highly accurate lattice simulations of SUSY-inspired quartic inflaton and coupling potentials in a separate-universe approximation to compute N(\chi_i) as a function of the (nearly homogeneous) initial condition \chi_i. The super-horizon modes of \chi_i(\bx) result in positive spiky excursions in \zeta_{pr} and hence negative gravitational potential fluctuations added to the usual sign-independent inflaton-induced perturbations, observably manifested in large cosmic structures and as (polarized) temperature CMB cold spots., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures

At the end of inflation, dynamical instability can rapidly deposit the energy of homogeneous cold inflaton into excitations of other fields. This process, known as preheating, is rather violent, inhomogeneous and non-linear, and has to be studied numerically. This paper presents a new code for simulating scalar field dynamics in expanding universe written for that purpose. Compared to available alternatives, it significantly improves both the speed and the accuracy of calculations, and is fully instrumented for 3D visualization. We reproduce previously published results on preheating in simple chaotic inflation models, and further investigate non-linear dynamics of the inflaton decay. Surprisingly, we find that the fields do not want to thermalize quite the way one would think. Instead of directly reaching equilibrium, the evolution appears to be stuck in a rather simple but quite inhomogeneous state. In particular, one-point distribution function of total energy density appears to be universal among various two-field preheating models, and is exceedingly well described by a lognormal distribution. It is tempting to attribute this state to scalar field turbulence., Comment: RevTeX 4.0; 16 pages, 9 figures

In this paper, I point out that there is a curvature singularity problem appearing on non-linear level that generally plagues f(R) models that modify Einstein gravity in the infrared. It is caused by the fact that for the effective scalar degree of freedom, the curvature singularity is at a finite field value and energy level, and can be easily accessed by the field dynamics in the presence of matter. This problem is invisible in linearized analysis, except for the tell-tale growing oscillatory modes it causes. In view of this, viability of many f(R) models in current literature will have to be re-evaluated., Comment: RevTeX 4.0; 5 pages, 2 figures

We study scattering and capture of particles by a rotating black hole in the five-dimensional spacetime described by the Myers-Perry metric. The equations of geodesic motion are integrable, and allow us to calculate capture conditions for a free particle sent towards a black hole from infinity. We introduce a three-dimensional impact parameter describing asymptotic initial conditions in the scattering problem for a given initial velocity. The capture surface in impact parameter space is a sphere for a non-rotating black hole, and is deformed for a rotating black hole. We obtain asymptotic expressions that describe such deformations for small rotational parameters, and use numerical calculations to investigate the arbitrary rotation case, which allows us to visualize the capture surface as extremal rotation is approached., Comment: RevTeX 4.0; 10 pages, 7 figures