arXiv subjects

Massimiliano Rinaldi

Publications and source records attributed to Massimiliano Rinaldi.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Vacuum decay and quadratic gravity: the massive case

False vacuum decay in field theory may be formulated as a boundary value problem in Euclidean space. In a previous work, we studied its solution in single scalar field theories with quadratic gravity and used it to find obstructions to vacuum decay. For simplicity, we focused on massless scalar fields and false vacua with a flat geometry. In this paper, we generalize those findings to massive scalar fields with the same gravitational interactions, namely an Einstein-Hilbert term, a quadratic Ricci scalar, and a non-minimal coupling. We find that the scalar field reaches its asymptotic value faster than in the massless case, in principle allowing for a wider range of theories that may accommodate vacuum decay. Nonetheless, this hardly affects the viability of the bounce in the scenarios here considered. We also briefly consider other physically interesting theories by including higher-order kinetic terms and changing the number of spacetime dimensions.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

Non-Singular Black Holes and mass inflation in modified gravity

We analytically derive a class of non-singular, static and spherically symmetric topological black hole metrics inF(R)-gravity. These have not a de Sitter core at their centre, as most model in standard General Relativity. We study the geometric properties and the motion of test particles around these objects. Since they have two horizons, the inner being of Cauchy type, we focus on the problem of mass inflation and show that it occurs except when some extremal conditions are met.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2021

Super-entropic black hole with Immirzi hair

In the context of f(R) generalizations to the Holst action, endowed with a dynamical Immirzi field, we derive an analytic solution describing asymptotically Anti-de Sitter black holes with hyperbolic horizon. These exhibit a scalar hair of the second kind, which ultimately depends on the Immirzi field radial behaviour. In particular, we show how the Immirzi field modifies the usual entropy law associated to the black hole. We also verify that the Immirzi field boils down to a constant value in the asymptotic region, thus restoring the standard Loop Quantum Gravity picture. We finally prove the violation of the reverse isoperimetric inequality, resulting in the super-entropic nature of the black hole, and we discuss in detail the thermodynamic stability of the solution.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2020

Regularized Lovelock gravity

A four-dimensional regularization of Lovelock-Lanczos gravity up to an arbitrary curvature order is considered. We show that Lovelock-Lanczos terms can provide a non-trivial contribution to the Einstein field equations in four dimensions, for spherically symmetric and Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker spacetimes, as well as at first order in perturbation theory around (anti) de Sitter vacua. We will discuss the cosmological and black hole solutions arising from these theories, focusing on the presence of attractors and their stability. Although curvature singularities persist for any finite number of Lovelock terms, it is shown that they disappear in the non-perturbative limit of a theory with a unique vacuum.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2020

A note on the linear stability of black holes in quadratic gravity

Black holes in $f(R)$-gravity are known to be unstable, especially the rotating ones. In particular, an instability develops that looks like the classical black hole bomb mechanism: the linearized modified Einstein equations are characterized by an effective mass that acts like a massive scalar perturbation on the Kerr solution in General Relativity, which is known to yield instabilities. In this note, we consider a special class of $f(R)$ gravity that has the property of being scale-invariant. As a prototype, we consider the simplest case $f(R)=R^2$ and show that, in opposition to the general case, static and stationary black holes are stable, at least at the linear level.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2019

Scale-invariant inflation with one-loop quantum corrections

We study quantum corrections to an inflationary model, which has the attractive feature of being classically scale-invariant. In this model, quadratic gravity plays along a scalar field in such a way that inflation begins near the unstable point of the effective potential and it ends at a stable fixed point, where the scale symmetry is broken and a fundamental mass scale naturally emerges. We compute the one loop corrections to the classical action on the curved background of the model and we report their effects on the classical dynamics with both analytical and numerical methods.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Alive and well: mimetic gravity and a higher-order extension in light of GW170817

The near-simultaneous multi-messenger detection of the gravitational wave (GW) event GW170817 and its optical counterpart, the short $γ$-ray burst GRB170817A, implies that deviations of the GW speed from the speed of light are restricted to being of ${\cal O}(10^{-15})$. In this note, we study the implications of this bound for mimetic gravity and confirm that in the original setting of the theory, GWs propagate at the speed of light, hence ensuring agreement with the recent multi-messenger detection. A higher-order extension of the original mimetic theory, appearing in the low-energy limit of projectable Hořava-Lifshitz gravity, is then considered. Performing a Bayesian statistical analysis where we compare the predictions of the higher-order mimetic model for the speed of GWs against the observational bound from GW170817/GRB170817A, we derive constraints on the three free parameters of the theory. Imposing the absence of both ghost instabilities and superluminal propagation of scalar and tensor perturbations, we find very stringent 95\% confidence level upper limits of $\sim 7 \times 10^{-15}$ and $\sim 4 \times 10^{-15}$ on the coupling strengths of Lagrangian terms of the form $\nabla^μ\nabla^νϕ\nabla_μ\nabla_νϕ$ and $(\Box ϕ)^2$ respectively, with $ϕ$ the mimetic field. We discuss implications of the obtained bounds for mimetic theories. This work presents the first ever robust comparison of a mimetic theory to observational data.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Testing Horndeski gravity as dark matter with $\texttt{hi_class}$

We consider a model of dark matter fluid based on a sector of Horndeski gravity. The model is very successful, at the background level, in reproducing the evolution of the Universe from early times to today. However, at the perturbative level the model fails. To show this, we use the code $\texttt{hi_class}$ and we compute the matter power spectrum and the cosmic microwave background spectrum. Our results confirm, in a new and independent way, that this sector of Horndeski gravity is not viable, in agreement with the recent constraints coming from the measurement of the speed of gravitational waves obtained from the observation of the neutron star merger event GW170817.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Mimicking dark matter and dark energy in a mimetic model compatible with GW170817

The recent observation of the the gravitational wave event GW170817 and of its electromagnetic counterpart GRB170817A, from a binary neutron star merger, has established that the speed of gravitational waves deviates from the speed of light by less than one part in $10^{15}$. As a consequence, many extensions of General Relativity are inevitably ruled out. Among these we find the most relevant sectors of Horndeski gravity. In its original formulation, mimetic gravity is able to mimic cosmological dark matter, has tensorial perturbations that travel exactly at the speed of light but has vanishing scalar perturbations and this fact persists if we combine mimetic with Horndeski gravity. In this work, we show that implementing the mimetic gravity action with higher-order terms that break the Horndeski structure yields a cosmological model that satisfies the constraint on the speed of gravitational waves and mimics both dark energy and dark matter with a non-vanishing speed of sound. In this way, we are able to reproduce the $Λ$CDM cosmological model without introducing particle cold dark matter.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

On the equivalence of Jordan and Einstein frames in scale-invariant gravity

In this note we consider the issue of the classical equivalence of scale-invariant gravity in the Einstein and in the Jordan frames. We first consider the simplest example $f(R)=R^{2}$ and show explicitly that the equivalence breaks down when dealing with Ricci-flat solutions. We discuss the link with the fact that flat solutions in quadratic gravity have zero energy. We also consider the case of scale-invariant tensor-scalar gravity and general $f(R)$ theories. We argue that all scale-invariant gravity models have Ricci flat solutions in the Jordan frame that cannot be mapped into the Einstein frame. In particular, the Minkowski metric exists only in the Jordan frame. In this sense, the two frames are not equivalent.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2018

Axionic black branes with conformal coupling

We find neutral and charged black branes solutions with axion fields in the context of a conformally coupled gravitational theory in four dimensions. These solutions describe AdS black branes supported by axion fields that break translational invariance at the boundary, providing for momentum dissipation. The conformally coupled scalar field is regular inside and outside the event horizon and there is no need of any self-interaction, obtaining in this way solutions without fine-tuned parameters. We analyze the thermodynamics of our solutions considering the effects of the axion charges and it is shown that axionic and electric charges must be related such that the conformal scalar field does not contribute to the mass. We compute the holographic DC conductivity and we show how it is affected by the inclusion of the conformal scalar field, which provides a temperature independent behavior. We include a non-linear axionic contribution given by a k-essence term that modifies the DC conductivity providing for more general behaviors. Finally, we endorse our solutions with rotation showing that angular momentum is sustained by the axion charges.

hep-th↗

arXiv2018

A special class of solutions in $F(R)$-gravity

We consider a special class of vacuum $F(R)$-modified gravity models. The form of their Lagrangian is such that the field equations are trivially satisfied when the Ricci scalar is constant. There are many interesting $F(R)$-models for inflation and dark energy that fall in this class. However, little is known outside the domain of cosmology therefore we aim to explore the class of solutions that are static and spherically symmetric. After some general considerations, we investigate in more detail black hole solutions, traversable wormhole metrics and, finally, configurations that can match the anomalous rotation curves of galaxies.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2017

Axionic black branes in the k-essence sector of the Horndeski model

We construct new black brane solutions in the context of Horndeski gravity, in particular in its K-essence sector. These models are supported by axion scalar fields that depend only on the horizon coordinates. The dynamics of these fields is determined by a K-essence term that includes the standard kinetic term $X$ and a correction of the form $X^{k}$. We find both neutral and charged exact and analytic solutions in $D$-dimensions, which are asymptotically anti de Sitter. Then, we describe in detail the thermodynamical properties of the four-dimensional solutions and we compute the dual holographic DC conductivity.

hep-th↗

arXiv2017

Inflation and reheating in scale-invariant scalar-tensor gravity

We consider the scale-invariant inflationary model studied in [1]. The Lagrangian includes all the scale-invariant operators that can be built with combinations of $R$, $R^2$ and one scalar field. The equations of motion show that the symmetry is spontaneously broken after an arbitrarily long inflationary period and a fundamental mass scale is generated. Upon symmetry breaking, and in the Jordan frame, both Hubble function and the scalar field undergo damped oscillations that can eventually amplify Standard Model fields and reheat the Universe. In the present work, we study in detail inflation and the reheating mechanism of this model in the Einstein frame and we compare some of the results with the latest observational data.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2017

Mimicking dark matter in Horndeski gravity

Since the rediscovery of Horndeski gravity, a lot of work has been devoted to the exploration of its properties, especially in the context of dark energy. However, one sector of this theory, namely the one containing the coupling of the Einstein tensor to the kinetic term of the scalar field, shows some surprising features in the construction of black holes and neutron stars. Motivated by these new results, I explore the possibility that this sector of Horndeski gravity can mimic cold dark matter at cosmological level and also explain the flattening of galactic rotation curves. I will show that, in principle, it is possible to achieve both goals with at least two scalar fields and a minimal set of assumptions.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Static and rotating solutions for Vector-Galileon theories

We consider a particular truncation of the generalized Proca field theory in four dimensions for which we construct a static and axisymmetric rotating black hole "stealth solutions", namely solutions with (Anti) de Sitter or Kerr metric but non-trivial vector field. The static configuration is promoted to a backreacting black hole with asymptotic (Anti) de Sitter behavior by turning on a nonlinear electrodynamic source given as a fixed power of the Maxwell invariant. Finally we extend our solutions to arbitrary dimensions.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Inflation and reheating in theories with spontaneous scale invariance symmetry breaking

We study a scale-invariant model of quadratic gravity with a non-minimally coupled scalar field. We focus on cosmological solutions and find that scale invariance is spontaneously broken and a mass scale naturally emerges. Before the symmetry breaking, the Universe undergoes an inflationary expansion with nearly the same observational predictions of Starobinsky's model. At the end of inflation, the Hubble parameter and the scalar field converge to a stable fixed point through damped oscillations and the usual Einstein-Hilbert action is recovered. The oscillations around the fixed point can reheat the Universe in various ways and we study in detail some of these possibilities.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2016

Cosmology and Fundamental Physics with the Euclid Satellite

Euclid is a European Space Agency medium class mission selected for launch in 2020 within the Cosmic Vision 2015 2025 program. The main goal of Euclid is to understand the origin of the accelerated expansion of the universe. Euclid will explore the expansion history of the universe and the evolution of cosmic structures by measuring shapes and redshifts of galaxies as well as the distribution of clusters of galaxies over a large fraction of the sky. Although the main driver for Euclid is the nature of dark energy, Euclid science covers a vast range of topics, from cosmology to galaxy evolution to planetary research. In this review we focus on cosmology and fundamental physics, with a strong emphasis on science beyond the current standard models. We discuss five broad topics: dark energy and modified gravity, dark matter, initial conditions, basic assumptions and questions of methodology in the data analysis. This review has been planned and carried out within Euclid's Theory Working Group and is meant to provide a guide to the scientific themes that will underlie the activity of the group during the preparation of the Euclid mission.

astro-ph.CO↗