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In June 2023, multiple pulsar timing array collaborations provided evidence for the existence of a stochastic gravitational wave background. Scalar induced gravitational waves (SIGWs), as one of the most likely sources of stochastic gravitational waves, have received widespread attention. When primordial curvature perturbations on small scales are sufficiently large, \acp{PBH} inevitably form, concurrently producing SIGWs with significant observable effects. These SIGWs can serve as an additional radiation component, influencing the relativistic degrees of freedom $N_{\text{eff}}$. Taking into account primordial non-Gaussianity, we study the energy density spectrum of SIGWs up to the third order and use the current observational data of $N_{\text{eff}}$ to constrain small-scale primordial curvature perturbations and the abundance of \acp{PBH}.

We investigate the first and second order cosmological perturbation equations in f(R) modified gravity theory and provide the equation of motion of second order scalar induced gravitational waves. We find that the effects of modified gravity not only change the form of the equation of motion of second order scalar induced gravitational waves but also contribute an additional anisotropic stress tensor, composed of first order scalar perturbations, to the source term of the gravitational waves. We calculate the energy density spectrum of second order scalar induced gravitational waves in the HS model. Utilizing current pulsar timing array observational data, we perform a rigorous Bayesian analysis of the parameter space of the HS model.

Gravitational waves induced by primordial perturbations serve as crucial probes for studying the early universe, providing a significant window into potential new physics during cosmic evolution. Due to the potentially large amplitudes of primordial perturbations on small scales, the contributions of high-order cosmological perturbations are highly significant. We propose a vertex approach applicable to the study of induced gravitational waves for arbitrary higher orders. Using the vertex approach and tree diagrams, we can directly derive the explicit expressions of higher-order induced gravitational waves without involving the complex and lengthy calculations of higher-order cosmological perturbations. Correlations between different tree diagrams correspond to the loop diagrams of two-point correlation functions of induced gravitational waves. Our investigation reveals that one-particle reducible diagrams impact tensor-scalar induced gravitational waves while leaving scalar induced gravitational waves unaffected.

We introduce an ingenious approach to explore cosmological implications of higher-derivative gravity theories. The key novelty lies in the characterization of the additional massive spin-0 modes constructed from Hubble derivatives as an effective density, with the corresponding pressure uniquely determined by energy conservation, while terms with no Hubble derivatives directly alter Friedmann equations. This classification of the various high-derivative contributions to Friedmann equations develops insight about their cosmological impacts and is essential for understanding the universe's evolution across energy scales. Various examples of higher-derivative gravity theories illustrate the power of this method in efficiently solving Friedmann equations and exploring new phenomena. Using CMB and BAO data, we apply this method to assess the observational feasibility of wall-bouncing universes, as predicted by scenarios with, e.g., certain third order modifications to general relativity. These models also provide an inflationary phase without the need to introduce extra scalar fields., Comment: 9 pages, 1 table

This paper analyzes the possibility of bouncing and non-bouncing universes in the framework of four-dimensional Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet (4D-EGB) gravity, corresponding respectively to negative and positive coupling constants $\lambda$ of the Gauss-Bonnet term. We also use the Horndeski-type scalar-tensor theory to assess the role of a scalar charge $C$ as a geometrical contribution to the radiation in the Universe. We modify the expansion history of the universe to allow for modifications induced by the 4D-EGB gravity. Using Planck measurements of the cosmic microwave background anisotropies as well as various datasets of baryonic acoustic oscillations, we set the upper bounds $\lambda \le 10^{-16} \text{(km/s/Mpc)}^{-2} $ and $\lambda \le 10^{-30} \text{(km/s/Mpc)}^{-2} $ for the non-bouncing and bouncing scenarios. The upper limit in the latter case is mainly driven by the requirement to conservatively respect the thermal history at energy scales of the standard model of particle physics. We also find that the contribution of the geometrical radiation-like term of the model cannot exceed 10\% of the current radiation in the Universe. The possibility of an early inflationary phase produced by a single scalar field is also studied and found to be feasible in both bouncing and non-bouncing scenarios. This study shows the feasibility of a bouncing universe, even with normal matter sector, in the 4D-EGB gravity. More theoretical investigation is required to further explore possible observational predictions of the model that can distinguish between general relativity and 4D-EGB gravity., Comment: 17 pages, 4 figues, 1 table

It is commonly believed that black holes are the smallest self-gravitating objects of the same mass in the Universe. Here, we demonstrate, in a subclass of higher-order pure gravities known as quasi-topological gravity, that by modifying general relativity (GR) to reduce the strength of gravity in strong-field regimes while keeping GR unchanged in weak-field regimes, it is possible for stars to collapse to radii less than $2M$ while still maintaining equilibrium between gravity and pressure gradients, leading to physically-reasonable neutron stars smaller in size than a black hole of the same mass. We present concrete solutions for such objects and discuss some of their observational consequences. These objects may furnish new avenues for understanding the nature of gravity in strong-field regimes and leave imprints on gravitational wave echoes from compact binary mergers. An observation of these imprints may constitute evidence for new physics beyond GR when effects of gravity in strong-field regimes are concerned., Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, submitted in August

We investigate various cosmological aspects of a 4-Dimensional Gauss-Bonnet Lagrangian, which is integrated into the Einstein Lagrangian with an arbitrary sign, using the Friedman-Lema\^itre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) metric. We consider a general potential term, $V(a)$, that depends on the scale factor $a$, and we analyze several scenarios by investigating the critical points of the dynamical equations and stability conditions to understand how the universe's behavior is affected by the Gauss-Bonnet term. Our research suggests that choosing the negative sign, this integration allows for the spontaneous breaking of time reflection symmetry. This can lead to the generation of a bounce universe even with a normal matter sector, marking a significant departure from traditional theories. Furthermore, we examine the possibility of a time-crystal universe, showing that under certain circumstances, the theory might give rise to cyclic universes., Comment: 24 pages, 8 figures, 2 tables

We study the holographic dual of the two dimensional non-relativistic conformal field theory with anisotropic scaling from a symmetry perspective. We construct a new four dimensional metric with two dimensional global anisotropic scaling isometry. The four dimensional spacetime is homogeneous and is a solution of Einstein gravity with quadratic-curvature extension. We consider this spacetime dual to the vacuum of the conformal field theory. By introducing proper solution phase space, we find that the asymptotic symmetry of the gravity theory is the two dimensional local anisotropic conformal symmetry, which recovers precisely the results from the dual non-relativistic conformal field theory side., Comment: v2: interpretation improved, typos fixed, references added, published version

It was recently shown that the extremal charged black holes in STU supergravity suffer from superradiant instability owing to the existence of the unstable (low-frequency) quasibound states associated with a charged massive scalar field. In this paper, we show numerically that for some charge configurations, these black holes can also excite the (higher-frequency) superradiantly unstable quasinormal modes. We find empirically that the unstable modes are closely related to having a volcano-shaped effective potential in the Schr\"odinger-like wave equation., Comment: 17 pages, 11 graphs grouped into 5 figures, typos corrected, comments added and refences updated, to appear in EPJC

We construct non-extremal dyonic string solutions in 6D minimal supergravity where the leading higher derivative corrections arise from either the type IIA string theory compactified on K3 or the heterotic string theory compactified on 4-torus. The thermodynamical quantities and Euclidean actions of the strings are computed. In the near extremal regime, we calculate the force felt by a probe fundamental string in the background of the macroscopic dyonic string with leading $\alpha'$ corrections. We find that in both the IIA and heterotic setups, away from extremality, the attractive force overwhelms the repulsive force. However, close to extremality, the $\alpha'$ corrections can reduce the attractive force in the isoentropic process, where the charges are fixed. This feature may be used as a new constraint for supergravity models with consistent quantum gravity embedding, in cases where the extremal limit coincides with the BPS limit and the higher derivative corrections do not affect the mass-to-charge ratio. By contrast, the $\alpha'$ corrections can enhance the attractive force in the isothermal or isoenergetic processes., Comment: 29 pages, discussions and references added, to appear in JHEP

Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have been phenomenologically classified into long and short populations based on the observed bimodal distribution of duration. Multi-wavelength and multi-messenger observations in recent years have revealed that in general long GRBs originate from massive star core collapse events, whereas short GRBs originate from binary neutron star mergers. It has been known that the duration criterion is sometimes unreliable, and multi-wavelength criteria are needed to identify the physical origin of a particular GRB. Some apparently long GRBs have been suggested to have a neutron star merger origin, whereas some apparently short GRBs have been attributed to genuinely long GRBs whose short, bright emission is slightly above the detector's sensitivity threshold. Here we report the comprehensive analysis of the multi-wavelength data of a bright short GRB 200826A. Characterized by a sharp pulse, this burst shows a duration of 1 second and no evidence of an underlying longer-duration event. Its other observational properties such as its spectral behaviors, total energy, and host galaxy offset, are, however, inconsistent with those of other short GRBs believed to originate from binary neutron star mergers. Rather, these properties resemble those of long GRBs. This burst confirms the existence of short duration GRBs with stellar core-collapse origin, and presents some challenges to the existing models., Comment: Nature Astronomy, the authors' version; 24 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables

We consider Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton theory in four dimensions including the Kaluza-Klein theory and obtain the general asymptotic solutions in Bondi gauge. We find that there are three different types of news functions representing gravitational, electromagnetic, and scalar radiations. The mass density at any angle of the system can only decrease whenever there is any type of news function. The solution space of the Kaluza-Klein theory is also lifted to five dimensions. We also compute the asymptotic symmetries in both four dimensional Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton theory and five dimensional pure Einstein theory. We find that the symmetry algebras of the two theories are the same., Comment: v2: typos corrected, refs added

We consider a class of Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton theories in general dimensions and construct both static and dynamic charged black holes. We adopt the reverse engineering procedure and make a specific ansatz for the scalar field and then derive the necessary scalar potential and the non-minimal coupling function between the scalar and the Maxwell field. The resulting static black holes contain mass and electric charge as integration constants. We find that some of the static solutions can be promoted to become dynamical ones in the Eddington-Finkelstein-like coordinates. The collapse solutions describe the evolution from a smaller charged black hole to a larger black hole state, driven by the scalar field., Comment: 26pages, 2figures

We consider alternative inflationary cosmologies in massive gravity with degenerate reference metrics and study the feasibilities of the emergent universe scenario, bouncing and cyclic universes. We focus on the construction of the Einstein static universe, classes of exact solutions of bouncing and cyclic universes in degenerate massive gravity. We further study the stabilities of the Einstein static universe against both homogeneous and inhomogeneous scalar perturbations and give the parameters region for a stable Einstein static universe., Comment: 30 pages, 2 figures; published version

Double neutron star (DNS) merger events are promosing candidates of short Gamma-ray Burst (sGRB) progenitors as well as high-frequecy gravitational wave (GW) emitters. On August 17, 2017, such a coinciding event was detected by both the LIGO-Virgo gravitational wave detector network as GW170817 and Gamma-Ray Monitor on board NASA's {\it Fermi} Space Telescope as GRB 170817A. Here we show that the fluence and spectral peak energy of this sGRB fall into the lower portion of the distributions of known sGRBs. Its peak isotropic luminosity is abnormally low. The estimated event rate density above this luminosity is at least $190^{+440}_{-160} {\rm Gpc^{-3} \ yr^{-1}}$, which is close to but still below the DNS merger event rate density. This event likely originates from a structured jet viewed from a large viewing angle. There are similar faint soft GRBs in the {\it Fermi} archival data, a small fraction of which might belong to this new population of nearby, low-luminosity sGRBs., Comment: 26 pages, 15 figures, 2 tables. A final edited version will appear in Nature Communications

Intrinsic defects in optomechanical devices are generally viewed to be detrimental for achieving coherent amplification of phonons, and great care has thus been exercised in fabricating devices and materials with no (or a minimal number of) defects. Contrary to this view, here we show that, by surpassing an exceptional point (EP), both the mechanical gain and the phonon number can be enhanced despite increasing defect losses. This counterintuitive effect, well described by an effective non-Hermitian phonon-defect model, provides a mechanical analog of the loss-induced purely optical lasing. This opens the way to operating random-defect phonon devices at EPs., Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures

We study mechanical cooling in systems of coupled passive (lossy) and active (with gain) optical resonators. We find that for a driving laser which is red-detuned with respect to the cavity frequency, the supermode structure of the system is radically changed, featuring the emergence of genuine high-order exceptional points. This in turn leads to giant enhancement of both the mechanical damping and the spring stiffness, facilitating low-power mechanical cooling in the vicinity of gain-loss balance. This opens up new avenues of steering micromechanical devices with exceptional points beyond the lowest-order two., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures

We study the nonlinear optomechanically-induced transparency (OMIT) with gain and loss. We find that (i) for a single active cavity, significant enhancement can be achieved for the higher-order sidebands, including the transmission rate and the group delay; (ii) for active- passive-coupled cavities, hundreds of microsecond of optical delay or advance are attainable for the nonlinear sideband pulses in the parity-time-symmetric regime. The active higher-order OMIT effects, as firstly revealed here, open up the way to make a low-power optomechaical amplifier, which can amplify both the strength and group delay of not only the probe light but also its higher-order sidebands., Comment: Final version, accepted by New J. Phys

We extend an earlier investigation of the thermodynamics of static black holes in an Einstein-Horndeski theory of gravity coupled to a scalar field, by including now an elec- tromagnetic field as well. By studying the two-parameter families of charged static black holes, we obtain much more powerful constraints on the thermodynamics since, unlike in the uncharged one-parameter case, now the right-hand side of the first law is not automatically integrable. In fact, this allows us to demonstrate that there must be an additional contribution in the first law, over and above the usual terms expected for charged black holes. The origin of the extra contribution can be attributed to the behaviour of the scalar field on the horizon of the black hole. We carry out the calculations in four dimensions and also in general dimensions. We also derive the ratio of viscosity to entropy for the dual boundary field theory, showing that the usual viscosity bound for isotropic solutions can be violated, with the ratio depending on the mass and charge., Comment: Latex, 30 pages, typos corrected and references added

Horndeski gravities are theories of gravity coupled to a scalar field, in which the action contains an additional non-minimal quadratic coupling of the scalar, through its first derivative, to the Einstein tensor or the analogous higher-derivative tensors coming from the variation of Gauss-Bonnet or Lovelock terms. In this paper we study the thermodynamics of the static black hole solutions in $n$ dimensions, in the simplest case of a Horndeski coupling to the Einstein tensor. We apply the Wald formalism to calculate the entropy of the black holes, and show that there is an additional contribution over and above those that come from the standard Wald entropy formula. The extra contribution can be attributed to unusual features in the behaviour of the scalar field. We also show that a conventional regularisation to calculate the Euclidean action leads to an expression for the entropy that disagrees with the Wald results. This seems likely to be due to ambiguities in the subtraction procedure. We also calculate the viscosity in the dual CFT, and show that the viscosity/entropy ratio can violate the $\eta/S\ge 1/(4\pi)$ bound for appropriate choices of the parameters., Comment: 30 pages, no figure, minor revisions

Extensions of Einstein gravity with quadratic curvature terms in the action arise in most effective theories of quantised gravity, including string theory. This article explores the set of static, spherically symmetric and asymptotically flat solutions of this class of theories. An important element in the analysis is the careful treatment of a Lichnerowicz-type `no-hair' theorem. From a Frobenius analysis of the asymptotic small-radius behaviour, the solution space is found to split into three asymptotic families, one of which contains the classic Schwarzschild solution. These three families are carefully analysed to determine the corresponding numbers of free parameters in each. One solution family is capable of arising from coupling to a distributional shell of matter near the origin; this family can then match on to an asymptotically flat solution at spatial infinity without encountering a horizon. Another family, with horizons, contains the Schwarzschild solution but includes also non-Schwarzschild black holes. The third family of solutions obtained from the Frobenius analysis is nonsingular and corresponds to `vacuum' solutions. In addition to the three families identified from near-origin behaviour, there are solutions that may be identified as `wormholes', which can match symmetrically on to another sheet of spacetime at finite radius., Comment: 57 pages, 6 figures; version appearing in journal; minor corrections and clarifications to v1

A diabatic (configuration-fixed) constrained approach to calculate the potential energy surface (PES) of the nucleus is developed in the relativistic mean field model. {As an example}, the potential energy surfaces of $^{208}$Pb obtained from both adiabatic and diabatic constrained approaches are investigated and compared. {It is shown that} the diabatic constrained approach enables one to decompose the segmented PES obtained in usual adiabatic approaches into separate parts uniquely characterized by different configurations, {to follow the evolution of single-particle orbits till very deformed region}, and to obtain several well defined deformed excited states which can hardly be expected from the adiabatic PES's., Comment: 12 pages, 3 Figures

The origin of pseudospin symmetry and its broken in real nuclei are discussed in the relativistic mean field theory. In the exact pseudospin symmetry, even the usual intruder orbits have degenerate partners. In real nuclei, pseudospin symmetry is approximate, and the partners of the usual intruder orbits will disappear. The difference is mainly due to the pseudo spin-orbit potential and the transition between them is discussed in details. The contribution of pseudospin-orbit potential for intruder orbits is quite large, compared with that for pseudospin doublets. The disappearance of the pseudospin partner for the intruder orbit can be understood from the properties of its wave function., Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures