SearcharxivSearch

arXiv subjects

Margarida Lima

Publications and source records attributed to Margarida Lima.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

Non-minimally coupled Weyl connection gravity in the Solar System and at the Galactic Center

We explore the phenomenological viability of non-minimally coupled Weyl connection gravity by confronting its static, spherically symmetric black hole solutions with classical weak-field Solar System tests and stellar-orbit observations near Sgr A*. In this geometric framework, non-metricity is encoded via a Weyl vector field, giving rise to two distinct families of Schwarzschild-like vacuum solutions characterized by a free parameter \(\omega\) with dimensions of length. We compute the corrections to four classical observables---gravitational redshift, Mercury's perihelion advance, light deflection, and radar echo delay---and derive stringent lower bounds on \(\omega\) using current observational data. For Solution I (purely radial Weyl vector), the leading metric corrections scale as \(1/\omega\), yielding bounds as strong as \(\omega \gtrsim 10^{30}\) m from perihelion precession. For Solution II (time-radial Weyl vector), the corrections scale as \(1/\omega^2\), resulting in weaker constraints, with \(\omega \gtrsim 10^{20}\) m from the same test. This marked difference arises from the distinct behavior of the linear corrections in each solution: while Solution I exhibits an unsuppressed linear term \(2r/\omega\) that dominates in the Solar System regime, Solution II features a linear term suppressed by an additional factor of \(M/\omega\), making the quadratic term \(-r^2/4\omega^2\) dominant throughout. We then analyze stellar orbits near the Galactic Center, finding that current observations of the S2 star provide complementary constraints on both solutions. (...)

gr-qc

Dynamics of quadratic f(R) cosmology with a perfect fluid: Jordan and Einstein frames

We investigate the global dynamics of the field equations of (pure) quadratic theories of gravity which generalise Einstein's theory in spatially flat homogeneous and isotropic cosmological models with a perfect fluid. We introduce global and regular 3-dimensional dynamical systems' formulations, on both the Jordan frame and the conformally related Einstein frame. The analysis in the Jordan frame explores the monotonicity properties of the interior flow which, together with the characterisation of the orbit structure on the 2-dimensional invariant boundaries and the desingularisation of non-hyperbolic fixed points, provides a global description of the flow and its limit sets. In the Einstein frame, the analysis uses the skew-product structure of the Einstein state space and the characterisation of the orbit structure on the 2-dimensional invariant boundaries. Furthermore, by obtaining asymptotic expansions we identify the solutions that are global conformally mapped from the Jordan frame to the Einstein frame and those that are not.

gr-qc

Black hole shadows in nonminimally coupled Weyl connection gravity

We study black hole shadows in nonminimally coupled Weyl connection gravity, a metric-affine extension of general relativity in which spacetime is described by a metric and a Weyl vector field encoding non-metricity. Despite going beyond the Riemannian framework, the presence of a non-dynamical Weyl vector ensures second-order field equations. The theory admits Schwarzschild- and Reissner--Nordstr\"{o}m-like solutions modified by a Weyl integration constant that parametrizes deviations from General Relativity. By computing the corresponding shadow radii and confronting them with the Event Horizon Telescope constraints on Sgr A*, we place observational bounds on the Weyl parameter. Assuming an observer distance $r_O = 4.1\times 10^{10}M$ and requiring consistency at the $2\sigma$ level, we obtain $\omega \gtrsim 10^{11.7}M$ (model I), $\omega \gtrsim 10^{10.5}M$ (model II), and $\omega \sim 10^{12}M$ (model III). Our results show that present horizon-scale imaging already sets meaningful limits on spacetime non-metricity. This work highlights the power of black hole shadow observations as probes of extended gravitational dynamics and establishes a direct link between Weyl-based theories and current astrophysical data.

gr-qc