arXiv subjects

Sebastian Bahamonde

Publications and source records attributed to Sebastian Bahamonde.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Black holes with torsion hair in cubic Holst-type Poincar\'e gauge gravity: from singular to regular geometries

Motivated by the singularity theorems of Poincar\'e Gauge (PG) theory, we investigate extensions of the Holst quadratic model by introducing cubic order invariants constructed from the curvature and torsion tensors into the gravitational action. Such models are characterised by a kinetic structure that is governed by a pseudoscalar mode, whereas the remaining irreducible modes of torsion contribute through nonlinear interactions that can have important implications for the space-time geometry. In particular, in line with other well-known models of PG theory, the Birkhoff theorem does not hold in general, allowing for new exact static and spherically symmetric black hole solutions with dynamical torsion. Across the different torsion sectors, corresponding to the irreducible modes and parity components of the torsion field involved in the analysis, we find both singular and regular configurations. Among the singular solutions, we obtain Kiselev-like and Boulware-Deser-like geometries, as well as new geometries with distinct algebraic and Lambert $W$ metric corrections. In addition, we find regular black holes with both primary and secondary torsion hair, which evade the singularity theorems through violations of the causal convergence conditions induced by the nonlinear torsion interactions. Therefore, we show that Holst-type PG models can support a rich variety of black hole geometries, while providing explicit mechanisms for evading the singularity theorems of PG theory.

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arXiv2026

Regular black holes from dynamical-tension string hedgehogs

A spherical cloud of radial strings with non-zero constant tension has an energy density proportional to $r^{-2}$ and therefore produces a singular conical geometry rather than an asymptotically flat regular black hole. We show that this obstruction can be removed within the modified-measure formulation of strings. A continuum of radial worldsheets whose tensions are generated by a composite bulk tension scalar reduces, on a constrained $\mathrm{SO}(3)$ hedgehog branch, to Einstein gravity coupled to a nonlinear function $K(Y)$ and an auxiliary three-form. This construction gives model-independent conditions directly in terms of the radial tension $\mathcal{T}(r)$. Finite curvature at the centre requires $\mathcal{T}=\mathcal{O}(r^2)$, while the null energy condition forbids a faster leading power. Thus a positive regular centre satisfying the null energy condition is necessarily de Sitter. Finite ADM mass requires the tension to be screened at infinity, whereas the dominant energy condition cannot hold globally for a non-trivial positive profile screened faster than $r^{-2}$. An exact cubic profile realises these properties and gives a continuous family of asymptotically flat geometrically regular black holes whose first correction to Schwarzschild appears at order $r^{-4}$.

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arXiv2026

Gauge-invariant cosmological perturbations in Type 3 New General Relativity and background-hierarchy bounds

In this paper, we investigate background-hierarchy bounds in Type~3 of New General Relativity (NGR). These bounds arise when the contribution associated with the evolution of the background spacetime exceeds that of the kinetic term in the perturbed Lagrangian. Type~3 of NGR has two free parameters and is described in a pure-tetrad formulation while preserving diffeomorphism invariance and spatial rotations. We first review Type~3 and identify preferable gauge choices for metric-affine gauge theories of gravity with Weitzenb\"ock connection, including NGR, from the viewpoint of symmetry in both Dirac--Bergmann analysis and linear perturbation theory. We then revisit the perturbative analysis of Type~3 and show that the propagating modes are correctly identified even when the perturbed Lagrangian is not written solely in terms of gauge-invariant variables. Finally, we derive the background-hierarchy bounds for the scalar, transverse-vector, and tensor modes around a flat FLRW background, and identify the region of parameter space in which the linear perturbation theory of Type~3 remains viable for cosmological applications.

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arXiv2026

Geometrically Regular Black Holes with Hedgehog Scalar Hair

We study a simple theory based on general relativity, minimally coupled to a constrained scalar triplet and to an auxiliary non-propagating three-form sector. Within a spherically symmetric hedgehog ansatz, the theory admits a continuous exact family of asymptotically flat geometrically regular black holes. For a simple choice of kinetic function, the solutions possess a de Sitter core and approach Schwarzschild with the first correction appearing only at order $r^{-4}$. We analyse their horizon structure, thermodynamics, and main strong-field properties. The black holes carry topological scalar hair and a continuous secondary parameter, but no scalar charge. The regularity established here is geometric: the curvature invariants remain finite, although the matter sector is not completely smooth at the centre.

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arXiv2026

Black hole superradiance in Poincar\'e gauge theory

We investigate the phenomenon of black hole superradiance in the presence of torsion within the framework of Poincar\'e gauge theory. In particular, in contrast to the classical approach of General Relativity, we show that the inclusion of torsion in the space-time geometry enables the energy extraction from rotating black holes by Dirac fermions via chiral asymmetry, while preserving the Pauli exclusion principle.

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arXiv2025

Gravitational waves in Cubic Metric-Affine Gravity

We derive new exact gravitational wave solutions with dynamical torsion and nonmetricity tensors in the framework of cubic Metric-Affine Gravity (MAG). For this purpose, we consider the full algebraic classification of the gravitational field in general metric-affine geometries and impose a set of Type N conditions on the field strength tensors that implement the kinetics of torsion and nonmetricity in a particular cubic MAG model, recently considered to eliminate ghostly instabilities from the vector and axial sectors of the theory. The new solutions represent pp-waves characterised by a metric function that includes the dynamical contributions of the torsion and nonmetricity tensors provided by the field equations of the model. In particular, these quantities induce a scalar polarisation mode in the gravitational-wave spectrum, thus offering a distinctive phenomenological signature beyond the ordinary tensor polarisation modes of General Relativity.

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arXiv2025

A gravitational spin-orbit interaction in Poincar\'e gauge theory

We show a gravitational spin-orbit interaction that can potentially modify the space-time geometry naturally emerges in the framework of Poincar\'e gauge theory. For this purpose, we derive the field equations of a particular model with cubic order invariants and demonstrate the existence of analytical solutions which display an interaction between the intrinsic and extrinsic angular momentum parameters in the gravitational action, in analogy to the spin-orbit interaction arising from atomic and nuclear systems. Due to the highly nonlinear character of the field equations under stationary and axisymmetric conditions, we focus on a degenerate case which simplifies their complexity, at the cost of constraining the geometry to the Kerr space-time. Thereby, our results indicate more general solutions with a spin-orbit interaction beyond the Kerr space-time are expected to arise in the nondegenerate models of Poincar\'e gauge theory.

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arXiv2025

Coupling Electromagnetism to Torsion: Black Holes and Spin-Charge Interactions

The coupling between matter fields and gravity, encoded in the geometry of spacetime, can be realized in various ways. Most commonly, a minimal coupling principle is employed, meaning that all matter fields, except spinors, couple only to the spacetime metric, while spinors additionally couple to the spacetime connection. Non-minimal couplings between matter fields and spacetime curvature can arise, for example, from quantum field theory on curved spacetime through renormalization corrections, in gauge theories of gravity, and in effective field theories. In this article, we consider a non-minimal coupling $F^{\mu\nu}\tilde{R}_{\mu\nu}$ between the field strength tensor of the electromagnetic field $F_{\mu\nu}$ and the antisymmetric part of the Ricci tensor $\tilde{R}_{[\mu\nu]}$ in Riemann--Cartan geometry, which is based on a general metric-compatible connection with torsion. We find an exact four-dimensional vacuum solution that generalizes the Reissner--Nordstr{\"o}m black hole from Einstein--Maxwell and reveals new interactions between the intrinsic torsion-spin charge and the electric charge. Qualitatively, this solution exhibits two distinct features: the effective charge is not constrained to be positive, and the sign of the electric charge influences its gravitational effects. We also derive slowly rotating solutions in three dimensions, representing a generalized slowly rotating BTZ black hole solution with couplings among the magnetic and electric charges, the angular momentum, and the intrinsic torsion-spin charge.

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arXiv2025

Cosmology of Cubic Poincar\'e Gauge gravity

In this paper, we study flat FLRW cosmology for a Poincar\'e gauge theory containing cubic invariants that is free from ghosts in arbitrary backgrounds in the axial and vector sectors of the torsion tensor. The new degrees of freedom can be related to hypermomentum but continue to be dynamical even in vacuum. These extra degrees of freedom open a more natural way in which to construct potential gravitational models that provide possible ways to modify astrophysical and cosmological physics. In this framework, we study two particular branches of the theory where preliminary routes of exploring these new variables are exposed. The first is the branch where the hypermomentum vanishes, while the second branch involves the setting where the perfect fluid and hypermomentum parts of the sources are independently conserved. In both settings, we find generically faster expanding cosmologies with similar estimates of the cosmic matter content as in the standard model of cosmology. Cubic Poincar\'e Gauge gravity offers an interesting theoretical basis on which to study cosmology, and indicates some preliminary positive constraints when compared with observational constraints.

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arXiv2025

An exact five dimensional Weyl-Geometry Gauss-Bonnet Black Hole

We present a new exact black hole solution of a 5-dimensional Weyl-geometry Gauss-Bonnet theory of gravity. The Euclidean sector defines a fully regular metric coupled to the Weyl vector field. The Euclidean action and entropy are computed, with the latter following the simple $A/4$ form plus a term linear in the horizon radius, characteristic of Gauss-Bonnet couplings.

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arXiv2024

Stability in Cubic Metric-Affine Gravity

We analyse the stability issue of the vector and axial modes of the torsion and nonmetricity tensors around general backgrounds in the framework of cubic Metric-Affine Gravity. We show that the presence of cubic order invariants defined from the curvature, torsion and nonmetricity tensors allow the cancellation of the well-known instabilities arising in the vector and axial sectors of quadratic Metric-Affine Gravity. For the resulting theory, we also obtain Reissner-Nordstr\"om-like black hole solutions with dynamical torsion and nonmetricity, which in general include massive tensor modes for these quantities, thus avoiding further no-go theorems that potentially prevent a consistent interaction of massless higher spin fields in the quantum regime.

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arXiv2024

Algebraic classification of the gravitational field in general metric-affine geometries

We present the algebraic classification of the gravitational field in four-dimensional general metric-affine geometries, thus extending the current results of the literature in the particular framework of Weyl-Cartan geometry by the presence of the traceless nonmetricity tensor. This quantity switches on four of the eleven fundamental parts of the irreducible representation of the curvature tensor under the pseudo-orthogonal group, in such a way that three of them present similar algebraic types as the ones obtained in Weyl-Cartan geometry, whereas the remaining one includes thirty independent components and gives rise to a new algebraic classification. The latter is derived by means of its principal null directions and their levels of alignment, obtaining a total number of sixteen main algebraic types, which can be split into many subtypes. As an immediate application, we determine the algebraic types of the broadest family of static and spherically symmetric black hole solutions with spin, dilation and shear charges in Metric-Affine Gravity.

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arXiv2024

Trace Anomaly in Metric-Affine gravity

We explore the trace (Weyl) anomaly within a general metric-affine geometry that includes both torsion and nonmetricity. Using the Heat Kernel method and Seeley's algorithm, we compute the Minakshisundaram coefficients for arbitrary spacetimes within this framework, incorporating the effects of the nonmetricity and torsion tensors for the first time. We then determine the corrections to the trace anomaly at one loop for the matter sector in theories invariant under conformal transformation, frame rescaling transformation, and projective transformation. We identify a new anomaly related to hypermomentum, arising from the dilation part mediated by the Weyl component of nonmetricity. As particular cases, we analyze the spin $0$ and spin $1/2$ cases, considering various couplings between matter and the gravitational sector. We demonstrate that invariance under the frame rescaling transformation results in an anomaly in the relationship between the hypermomentum and the stress-energy tensor. In contrast, under the projective transformation, no anomaly is present; specifically, there is no non-zero trace of the hypermomentum tensor in any of our concrete examples.

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arXiv2024

Revisiting Stability in New General Relativity

We study the degrees of freedom in New General Relativity -- flat and metric compatible family of theories -- around the Minkowski background in a gauge invariant manner. First, we confirm the decoupling case, in which the theory reduces to linearized gravity plus a massless KR field. We then show that, unless they vanish, the vector modes of this theory will be unstable. In addition, we find two new branches of the theories, which are instability-free and propagate linearly two tensor modes and in one of the cases also a massless scalar field. This shows that while the generic theory is ill-behaved, there are three possible realizations of instability-free cases, in contradiction to the previous literature, which states that there is only one healthy theory in addition to general relativity.

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arXiv2024

Stability of Poincar\'e gauge theory with cubic order invariants

We analyse the stability of the vector and axial sectors of Poincar\'e gauge theory around general backgrounds in the presence of cubic order invariants defined from the curvature and torsion tensors, showing how the latter can in fact cancel out well-known instabilities arising from the quadratic curvature invariants of the theory and accordingly help in the construction of healthy models with both curvature and torsion. For this task, we introduce the most general parity preserving cubic Lagrangian with mixing terms of the curvature and torsion tensors, and find the relations of its coefficients to avoid a pathological behaviour from the vector and axial modes of torsion. As a result, on top of the gravitational constant of General Relativity and the mass parameters of torsion, our action contains 23 additional coupling constants controlling the dynamics of this field. As in the quadratic Poincar\'e gauge theory, we show that a further restriction on the cubic part of the action allows the existence of Reissner-Nordstr\"om-like black hole solutions with dynamical torsion.

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arXiv2023

Spherically symmetric vacuum solutions in 1-Parameter New General Relativity and their phenomenology

In this work, we study spherically symmetric vacuum solutions in 1-parameter New General Relativity (NGR), a specific theory in teleparallel gravity which is constructed from the three possible quadratic scalars obtained from torsion with arbitrary coefficients satisfying the requirements for the absence of ghosts. In this class of modified theories of gravity, the observable effects of gravity result from the torsion rather than the curvature of the spacetime. Unlike in GR, where the fundamental quantity is the metric from which the Levi-Civita connection is derived, in teleparallel theories of gravity the fundamental variable is the tetrad, from which one constructs the metric and the teleparallel connection. We consider the most general tetrad for spherical symmetry and we derive the corresponding field equations. Under adequate assumptions, we find three different branches of vacuum solutions and discuss their associated phenomenology. In particular, we analyze the photon sphere, the classical tests of GR such as the light deflection, the Shapiro delay, and the perihelion shift, and also the Komar mass, while providing a detailed comparison with their Schwarzschild spacetime counterparts. Finally, we analyze how the observational imprints from accretion disks and shadows are affected in comparison with their GR counterparts, and conclude that the free parameters of the model might induce additional attractive or repulsive effects to the propagation of photons, depending on their values.

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arXiv2023

Cosmological Perturbation Theory in Metric-Affine Gravity

We formulate cosmological perturbation theory around the spatially curved FLRW background in the context of metric-affine gauge theory of gravity which includes torsion and nonmetricity. Performing scalar-vector-tensor decomposition of the spatial perturbations, we find that the theory displays a rich perturbation spectrum with helicities 0, 1, 2 and 3, on top of the usual scalar, vector and tensor metric perturbations arising from Riemannian geometry. Accordingly, the theory provides a diverse phenomenology, e.g. the helicity-2 modes of the torsion and/or nonmetricity tensors source helicity-2 metric tensor perturbation at the linear level leading to the production of gravitational waves. As an immediate application, we study linear perturbation of the nonmetricity helicity-3 modes for a general parity-preserving action of metric-affine gravity which includes quadratic terms in curvature, torsion, and nonmetricity. We then find the conditions to avoid possible instabilities in the helicity-3 modes of the spin-3 field.

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arXiv2023

Kerr-Newman Black Holes in Weyl-Cartan Theory: Shadows and EHT constraints

With the recent release of the black hole image of Sgr A* alongside the earlier image of M87*, one can achieve an in-depth understanding of gravitational physics at the horizon scale. According to the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration, the observed image is consistent with the expected appearance of a Kerr black hole. In the present work, we consider Kerr-Newman black holes in Weyl-Cartan theory as a supermassive black hole (BH) and evaluate the parameters of the model with shadow size estimates done by the observations of M87* and Sgr A* from EHT. Such a study can be a possible way to distinguish Weyl-Cartan theory from general relativity and ensure the validity of the idea. Besides, we calculate the energy emission rate for the corresponding BH and discuss how the model's parameters affect the emission of particles around the black hole. With this investigation, we are able to examine the time evolution and lifetime of the black hole in such a theory of gravity.

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