Related papers: Scale Invariant Gravity and Black Hole Ringdown
We propose that at the beginning of the universe gravity existed in a limbo either because it was switched off or because it was only conformally coupled to all particles. This picture can be reverse-engineered from the requirement that the…
We study black holes in a modified gravity scenario involving a scalar field quadratically coupled to the Gauss-Bonnet invariant. The scalar is assumed to be in a spontaneously broken phase at spatial infinity due to a bare Higgs-like…
The possibility of mass in the context of scale-invariant, generally covariant theories, is discussed. Scale invariance is considered in the context of a gravitational theory where the action, in the first order formalism, is of the form $S…
General Relativity simplifies dramatically in the limit that the number of spacetime dimensions D is infinite: it reduces to a theory of non-interacting particles, of finite radius but vanishingly small cross sections, which do not emit nor…
We put forward the idea that in addition to diffeomorphism invariance of general relativity (GR) the gravitational interaction is invariant under arbitrary scale-deformations of the metric field. In addition, we assume that the scaling…
Deviations from General Relativity can alter the quasi-normal mode (QNM) ringdown of perturbed black holes. It is known that a shift-symmetric (hence massless) scalar can only introduce black hole hair if it couples to the Gauss-Bonnet…
We consider alternative theories of gravity with a direct coupling between matter and the Ricci scalar We study the relation between these theories and ordinary scalar-tensor gravity, or scalar-tensor theories which include non-standard…
In general relativity, astrophysical black holes are simple objects, being described by just their mass and spin. These simple solutions are not exclusive to general relativity, as they also appear in theories that allow for an extra scalar…
Observations provide increasingly strong evidence that the universe is accelerating. This revolutionary advance in cosmological observations confronts theoretical cosmology with a tremendous challenge, which it has so far failed to meet.…
Gravitational waves emitted by distorted black holes---such as those arising from the coalescence of two neutron stars or black holes---carry not only information about the corresponding spacetime but also about the underlying theory of…
We first present an overview of the Schwarzschild vacuum spacetime within general relativity, with particular emphasis on the role of scalar polynomial invariants and the null frame approach (and the related Cartan invariants), that…
A spherically symmetric black hole solution defined by the gravitational mass is explored in higher-order curvature gravity associated with a scalar field. It is demonstrated that the singularities of the curvature invariants will be far…
The possibility of mass in the context of scale-invariant, generally covariant theories, is discussed. Scale invariance is considered in the context of a gravitational theory where the action, in the first order formalism, is of the form $S…
We provide an invariant characterization of the physical properties of the Kerr spacetime. We introduce two dimensionless invariants, constructed out of some known curvature invariants, that act as detectors for the event horizon and…
As shown recently (W. Kummer, H. Liebl, D.V. Vassilevich, Nucl. Phys. B 544, 403 (1999)) 2d quantum gravity theories --- including spherically reduced Einstein-gravity --- after an exact path integral of its geometric part can be treated…
The generalization of scale invariance when gravitational effects are considered is Weyl invariance, namely, invariance under (global or local) rescalings of the metric. In this work, we discuss in some details the implications of the fact…
The recent interest in modified theories of gravity, involving some type of non-minimal coupling to the Ricci scalar, and the calculation of cosmological observables in the Einstein or the Jordan frame, motivate the formulation of these…
Recent results show that important singularities in General Relativity can be naturally described in terms of finite and invariant canonical geometric objects. Consequently, one can write field equations which are equivalent to Einstein's…
The modeling of gravitational wave ringdown has traditionally relied on linear perturbation theory, which mainly describes the late-time behavior of a perturbed black hole after a binary merger. However, the need for more accurate ringdown…
The scalarization is a very interesting phenomena allowing to endow a compact object with scalar hair while leaving all the predictions in the weak field limit unaltered. In Gauss-Bonnet gravity the source of the scalar field can be the…