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Modeling scattering polarization in the Ca I 4227 Å line is important for diagnosing chromospheric magnetic fields. We investigate the relative influence of formation heights and magnetic fields, through the Hanle effect, on spatially averaged synthetic Stokes profiles using realistic solar atmospheres. We employ 1D vertical columns from 3D radiative magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the solar chromosphere performed with the Bifrost and MURaM-ChE codes, and solve the 1.5D non-local thermodynamic equilibrium polarized radiative transfer equation including partial frequency redistribution and the Hanle effect. The intensity profiles from both simulations agree at line center, while MURaM-ChE exhibits enhanced wing intensity due to deeper, hotter formation regions. The polarization signals form at greater heights in MURaM-ChE than in Bifrost. In the non-magnetic case, Bifrost produces stronger line-core polarization, whereas MURaM-ChE shows enhanced wing polarization. Including the magnetic fields from the simulations results in stronger Hanle depolarization of <Q>/<I> in Bifrost. The distinct thermal and magnetic structures at the corresponding formation heights therefore produce significantly different polarization profiles. In particular, the Hanle signatures suggest that the line-core formation region in MURaM-ChE is less strongly magnetized than that in Bifrost.

Relativistic jets from spinning black holes offer a possible strong-field probe of gravity through the Blandford-Znajek mechanism. We study the leading jet-power scaling in the four-dimensional power-law rotating Kalb-Ramond geometry introduced by Kumar, Ghosh, and Wang. The metric is used here as a stationary background, without assuming that it constitutes a newly established exact rotating solution. We first examine the deformation at the metric level. For $s=2$ it is absorbed completely by a mass redefinition, whereas for $s>2$ the correction decays more slowly than the usual mass term. Our main benchmark is therefore the nondegenerate $s=3/2$ case, whose correction falls faster than the Kerr mass term; $s=3$ is kept as a secondary comparison. We evaluate the BZ scaling under three magnetic assumptions: fixed total horizon flux, fixed local normal field with the proper horizon area, and a reduced radius-based flux proxy. The resulting trends differ appreciably, showing that the magnetic prescription is itself a leading systematic. For GRO J1655-40 and GRS 1915+105, the marginalized deformation posterior remains close to the horizon-conditioned effective prior for both a uniform prior and a truncated-Gaussian alternative. The jet-only profile likelihood is also nearly flat over the allowed deformation range, with the same qualitative behavior in the $s=3$ test. Thus, within the present setup, the jet-power proxies do not independently determine the Kalb-Ramond deformation. A stronger inference will require better control of the rotating background, source-dependent magnetic flux, non-Kerr spin estimates, and a larger sample.

The distribution of dark matter in the immediate vicinity of supermassive black holes remains poorly understood despite its importance for galaxy evolution and precision tests of gravity. Future space-based gravitational-wave observatories offer a unique opportunity to probe this relativistic regime through the inspiral of compact objects into supermassive black holes. Building upon our previously constructed exact Einstein-cloud solutions within General Relativity, we develop a fully relativistic framework to investigate the gravitational-wave signatures of collisionless dark-matter halos surrounding supermassive black holes. The framework provides a unified treatment of orbital dynamics, adiabatic inspiral, accumulated gravitational-wave cycles, waveform phase evolution, signal-to-noise ratio, and waveform mismatch for extreme- and intermediate-mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs/IMRIs). As a representative application, we specialize the formalism to Model I. We show that relativistic dark-matter halos can produce measurable modifications to the accumulated gravitational-wave cycles, waveform phase, signal-to-noise ratio, and waveform mismatch, leading to consistent conclusions regarding detectability. By separating conservative modifications of the spacetime geometry from dissipative effects due to relativistic dynamical friction, we find that the observable signatures are dominated by the former, while the latter remains negligible for the halo models considered. These results demonstrate that future gravitational-wave observations by LISA and similar missions may provide a powerful probe of the relativistic distribution and physical nature of dark matter around supermassive black holes.

Observationally, blue horizontal branch (BHB) stars are defined as hot stars occupying a characteristic region between the extreme blue horizontal branch and RR Lyrae variables in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. Most of them are interpreted as stripped core-helium-burning stars, but the role of binary interaction in their formation remains unclear. Here, we report the discovery of a metal-rich BHB star in a 0.82628-day binary system (Feige 64) comprising a $0.35\pm0.03\,M_{\odot}$ BHB star and a likely $1.26\pm0.17\,M_{\odot}$ white dwarf (WD). The BHB star has an effective temperature of $15{,}524\pm310$ K and a luminosity of $39.7\pm4.1\,L_{\odot}$. Stellar evolution modelling indicates that it is a helium-shell-burning star produced through the common-envelope channel, retaining a hydrogen-rich envelope that is more massive than previously thought for low-mass stars. This finding provides direct evidence for binary interaction in the formation of BHB stars, offering a fresh perspective on interpreting this emerging population.

We develop several new and quite general bounds on the internal pressure profiles of general relativistic perfect fluid spheres --- based on various ways of relaxing the TOV system of ODEs to obtain several distinct differential inequalities. There is, as usual, a trade-off between strength of the bound, weakness of the input assumptions, and tractability of the analysis. Specifically we shall develop several straightforward but nontrivial bounds that variously depend only on the positivity of density, the boundedness of density, the monotonicity of density, or the monotonicity of the average density. We shall carefully place these new bounds within the historical framework of previous efforts in this regard, and explore the ways in which they are inter-related.

Recent detections of $α$ Orionis B, the putative companion to Betelgeuse, have been reported using multiple instruments and techniques. These include, most recently, a $>6σ$ detection using VLT/SPHERE reported by Montarges+2026. The authors infer a bright companion ($\sim10^{-3}\times$ Betelgeuse's luminosity) with a mass of $2-3\,M_\odot$ and $T_\text{eff}\approx10-12{,}000$\,K, loosely consistent with the uppermost bounds of Howell+2025's recent mass estimate from speckle-imaging. However, it is in tension by a factor of two with the reported mass-exclusion limits via non-detection from a recent HST far-UV campaign (Goldberg+2025). While mass identification from isochrone-fitting (conducted in all cases) is prone to uncertainty, the restrictive HST upper limit on FUV flux precludes the hot, blue emission of a $\gtrsim2\,M_\odot$ main-sequence star. This discrepancy is reconciled by the following hypothesis: these detections observe the reflection of Betelgeuse's own luminosity scattered off the companion's bow shock and wake as it traverses the dusty circumstellar medium. To evaluate the feasibility of this scenario, we draw from custom, filter-specific stellar models computed with MESA, as well as Athena++ simulations of the companion's bow shock in idealized conditions. Importantly, the expansive bow shock from a stellar-mass object necessarily subtends a sizable portion of Betelgeuse's outgoing flux. We find that optical luminosity ratios of $\sim10^{-3}-10^{-4}$ are straightforward to resolve within reasonable assumptions about the companion mass and circumstellar dust, and disfavor a hot $3\,M_\odot$ companion. We thereby reconcile competing mass hypotheses across observational campaigns through proper attribution of the observed brightness, motivating future multi-wavelength campaigns to further characterize this enigmatic system.

Can flat-space on-shell amplitudes determine the channel basis of a coupled black-hole perturbation problem? We address this question for electromagnetic and gravitational perturbations of a Reissner-Nordström (RN) black-hole. We organize the minimally coupled photon-graviton tree amplitudes off a heavy charged source into a $2\times 2$ channel-space matrix and perform a parity-resolved Jacob-Wick partial-wave projection. For every radiative multipole $\ell \geq 2$ and in both parity sectors, we show that the trace-free fixed-source partial-wave matrix is exactly proportional to the trace-free Moncrief coupling matrix, and therefore selects the same constant spectral projectors. Through a first-Born matching, the amplitudes determine the same eigenspaces in the leading $r^{-3}$ weak-field potential, but not the complete radial potentials. Using the exact classical RN potentials as independent curved-background input, we show that these projectors persist throughout the full radial domain. We also explicitly retain finite-mass effects through $\mathcal{O}(ω/m)$, finding a nonvanishing commutator with the Moncrief coupling matrix, which shows that the RN-projector alignment is spoiled by genuine two-body recoil effects. As a first step toward rotation, we further extract the representation-independent linear-spin term from a minimally coupled Dirac amplitude. We find that the complete tree-level channel matrix factorizes with a single linear-spin dressing, while the formal $J=2$ block fails to preserve the unchanged RN projectors. This restricted result does not constitute a test of Kerr-Newman separability, but it indicates that a rotating generalization must account for spin-induced angular-mode mixing. We expect that this on-shell method can be extended to more general long-range scattering systems with two asymptotic channels.

Work of Christodoulou, Klainerman, Rodnianski, Luk, An, and others has provided a number of results on the dynamical formation of trapped surfaces in vacuum solutions to the Einstein field equations. Since the stability of Minkowski spacetime as proved by Christodoulou and Klainerman implies that `small' initial data to the Einstein vacuum equations must give rise to a solution with no singularities, and hence no trapped surfaces, it has been assumed that dynamical formation of trapped surfaces requires a (hard) large-data existence result for the nonlinear hyperbolic Einstein field equations. In this paper we show, to the contrary, that dynamical trapped surface formation results qualitatively similar to those of Christodoulou and Klainerman-Rodnianski can be obtained from (classical) local, small-data existence results via a scaling we term a radial boost. In the process we also fully elucidate the short-pulse ansatz as a geometric optics ansatz by showing that, in this scaled picture, the so-called incoming shear satisfies, at highest order, a linear wave equation.

Astronauts first reported light flashes during the Apollo 11 mission. These events have since been associated with cosmic rays, although their underlying mechanism remains uncertain. This study investigates possible formation processes using Geant4 simulations of cosmic ray interactions in a simplified model of the human eye. We apply published models of human visual perception to the simulated particle induced photons and compare the resulting light flash rates with experimental observations. Our results indicate that, in interplanetary space and in low Earth orbit outside the South Atlantic Anomaly, Cherenkov radiation generated in the eye produces retinal responses consistent with the observed frequency of astronaut light flashes. The dominant contributing primaries are found to be high Z nuclei, primarily iron, with additional contributions from oxygen and carbon nuclei. In contrast, conditions in the South Atlantic Anomaly suggest that additional mechanisms may be required to explain observed light flashes. We also find that the absence of light flashes at Earth's surface is consistent with insufficient retinal stimulation from muon induced Cherenkov radiation under typical geometrical and flux conditions.

We revisit Vishveshwara's linear scattering on a Schwarzschild black hole to study the evolution of quasinormal mode activation along the full time-domain waveform. Specifically, by adopting a hyperboloidal approach we cast the scattering problem in a non-selfadjoint dynamics setting where a (Keldysh) resonant expansion in a bi-orthogonal system of quasinormal modes can be readily performed. The calculation reveals the neat correlation of the second peak in Vishveshwara's waveform to the fundamental mode and first overtones, closely following the ringdown waveform pattern of non-linear evolutions. The first peak is completely controlled, for even (Zerilli) perturbations, by the algebraically special mode and the nearby branch cut. This phenomenon is absent for odd (Regge-Wheeler) perturbations. These qualitative features are robust under change of initial data and, we argue, might provide insight into the mechanisms underlying the ringdown activation time in non-linear evolutions.

We investigate how small a co-propagating transverse-scalar component can be resolved by Taiji in an already identified bright tensor chirp. Using a source-tracked tensor-null response, we formulate the problem in terms of the minimum resolvable scalar strain fraction and evaluate it over the sky. For a one-year benchmark chirp with tensor signal-to-noise ratio $ρ_T=1000$, we find that Taiji can rule out transverse-scalar strain fractions $ε_b\gtrsim0.532\%$ at the all-sky median level. The threshold scales as $ε_{b,\min}\proptoρ_T^{-1}$, so brighter tensor events can probe correspondingly smaller scalar fractions. We further find that this sub-percent resolving power remains predictable under small source-parameter mismatches through the associated tensor-leakage structure.

Context. Magnetic fields can have an important influence on stellar structure and evolution. In intermediate-mass (A- and F-type) stars, there are many known stars with directly measured strong, globally organized magnetic fields, as well as indications of weak and/or small-scale variable fields. However, among the intermediate-mass $γ$ Dor pulsators, there are no known stars with strong surface magnetic fields. Aims. The broad goal of this work is to search for evidence of strong, globally organized fields at the surface of $γ$ Dor pulsators. Methods. We identified objects consistent with being $γ$ Dor pulsators based on an analysis of space photometry from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission. A spectropolarimetric survey was then conducted on a subset of 47 of these objects, with a precision sufficient to detect dipolar surface magnetic fields down to a threshold of about 10 -- 100 G. Results. We detected strong magnetism in three targets. However, upon closer inspection, none of these appear to be genuine $γ$ Dor pulsators. We found no evidence of surface magnetism in any of the remaining 44 objects. Conclusions. We conclude that either strong, globally organized magnetic fields and $γ$ Dor pulsation are mutually exclusive, or that such stars are exceedingly rare. A possible explanation is that strong global fields inhibit the excitation mechanism, which prevents $γ$ Dor pulsations from being driven in strongly magnetic intermediate-mass stars. The dipolar surface magnetic field strength upper limits we derive for this sample ($\lesssim$ 50 -- 100 G) provide valuable constraints for surface boundary conditions for asteroseismic models that include magnetism for $γ$ Dor stars.

Pulsating stars in detached eclipsing binary (EA) systems are known for providing many important physical informations which constrain both stellar structure and evolution theories. To date, fewer than 50 $γ$ Doradus (GDOR) stars have been found in eclipsing binary systems, making them important targets to study \textit{g}-mode pulsation inside the stars. We present a comprehensive physical and pulsational analysis of V0757 Pup (TIC 6939791), a detached eclipsing binary system observed by the TESS mission (Sectors 7, 34, 61, and 88) and followed up with ground-based spectroscopy from the Thai National Telescope. By combining light curve modeling with radial velocities derived from medium-resolution spectra, we determined the fundamental stellar and atmospheric parameters with high precision. The system consists of an F2V primary ($M_1=1.305\pm0.026M_\odot, R_1=1.643\pm0.020R_\odot$) and a G1V secondary ($M_2=0.934\pm0.030M_\odot, R_2=0.941\pm0.079R_\odot$). We performed a detailed frequency analysis of the residual light curves, identifying two dominant independent pulsation frequencies at $f\sim0.79$ c/d and $0.98$ c/d. These frequencies, along with the derived pulsation constant ($Q\sim0.6$ d), confirm the primary component as a $γ$ Doradus pulsator. An analysis of Eclipse Timing Variations (ETV) reveals non detection of third body companions with current available dataset, strengthen by the result of \textit{Gaia} astrometric analysis. Evolutionary modeling indicates the system is $\sim2.2$ Gyr old, with the primary expected to fill its Roche lobe in $\sim1$ Gyr. Additionally, we calculate a distance of $d\approx350$ pc based on orbital and SED modeling, which is in excellent agreement with the \textit{Gaia} DR3 parallax distance.

We use a variety of analytic and numerical techniques to approximate the geometry of individual dark matter halos when modeled as collections of ultralight scalar bosons (ULDM), followed by an analysis on the future directions and implications of this work. Ultimately, we aim to understand the morphology and creation of complex structures (like spirals) in galaxies from a geometric standpoint and to investigate the connection between dark matter and baryonic matter in galaxies. We find that superpositions of gravitational eigenmodes for ULDM in a fixed background potential can yield spiral density perturbations which rotate on the order of one hundred million years and appear within ten to twenty kpc of the halo center, both features comparable to realistic galaxies, and that this model provides a natural explanation for the density waves necessary to seed baryonic spirals.

We derive an effective scalar field theory for matter in group field theory condensate cosmology, starting from the fundamental quantum-gravity dynamics in a fully relational framework and encompassing both early- and late-universe regimes. The collective hydrodynamics of the underlying quantum geometry allows us to reconstruct both the homogeneous cosmological dynamics of matter and geometry and an inhomogeneous local field-theory description. Localization in space and time is defined relationally with respect to a material reference frame. At the homogeneous level, we obtain a modified scalar field theory on the emergent FLRW spacetime selected by the condensate. It recovers the standard dynamics of a massless scalar field in the late-time general-relativistic regime while retaining quantum-gravity corrections near the cosmological bounce. At the perturbative level, scalar inhomogeneities obey an effective wave equation that carries signatures of the underlying quantum-gravity microstructure. In the early-universe regime, this equation exhibits a modified dispersion relation with both dispersive and dissipative contributions. These corrections provide a concrete avenue for identifying phenomenological signatures of quantum gravity directly from a fundamental quantum-gravity framework.

We identify and characterize a large-scale diffuse gamma-ray structure in the Southern Galactic Hemisphere using 17 yr of Fermi-LAT data. An energy-dependent likelihood analysis, including alternative Galactic diffuse-emission models, isotropic emission, the Fermi bubbles, and resolved 4FGL sources, reveals an extended excess that persists across the tested background models and spans tens of degrees. The excess broadly follows the X-ray-defined southern eROSITA Bubble (eB) region, while also overlapping the projected southern extension of Loop I. Template fits favor a filled eB-like morphology over the adopted Wolleben Loop I shell geometry, making the structure a plausible gamma-ray counterpart of the southern eB, although Loop-I-related or other localized foreground emission cannot be excluded. Under the eB template, the southern component is fainter and softer than the northern large-scale component, with an integrated luminosity lower by a factor of about seven, broadly consistent with the eROSITA-bubble asymmetry. If interpreted as Galactic-scale outflow emission, its faint, soft spectrum may indicate aged particles and/or distributed reacceleration in the outer bubble. A hadronic interpretation is energetically demanding, whereas a leptonic inverse-Compton scenario is more economical but requires rapid transport and/or local reacceleration of high-energy electrons.

Radio megahalos are recently discovered large-scale diffuse synchrotron sources identified through LOFAR observations. We present MeerKAT L-band observations of the massive galaxy cluster RXC~J0528.9$-$3927, that reveals faint emission surrounding its central radio halo. At 1.28 GHz, the known $\sim1.14$ Mpc halo is embedded within previously unreported low-surface-brightness emission extending to $\sim2$ Mpc. The surface-brightness profile of the emission shows a distinct flattening beyond $\sim0.55R_{500}$, suggesting that the outer emission forms an additional component. These properties make the cluster a candidate megahalo system and potentially the first detected at GHz frequencies, although deeper multi-frequency observations are required for confirmation.

We perform the first tomographic analysis of near-IR extragalactic background light (EBL) anisotropies, cross-correlating CIBER 1.1 and 1.8 $μ$m imager data with photometric galaxy catalogs from DESI Legacy Survey DR8 and Hyper-Suprime-Cam Ultra-Deep Survey. We measure significantly higher cross-power than expectations from an integrated galaxy light (IGL) model on scales $\ell < 2000$, concentrated at low redshift ($z\lesssim 0.6$). Cluster member galaxies and associated structure account for 15-20\% of the large-angle cross-power, indicating that group- and galaxy-scale halos contribute the bulk of the signal. Through a parametric halo model decomposition, we detect two-halo and one-halo clustering in cross-power at high significance, with amplitudes that decline smoothly across $z=0{-}1$. The inferred one-halo cross-power is of similar amplitude between DESI-LS and the deeper HSC catalog, implying a scenario in which low-redshift EBL fluctuations are amplified by contributions from lower-mass halos with satellites and/or diffuse intra-halo light (IHL). Converting our two-halo fits into estimates of $b_I \times dI/dz$, we find that standard IGL predictions underestimate our measurements, even when assuming an intensity bias as high as 3, similar to that of large SZ clusters, suggesting that a higher $dI/dz$ is required to reconcile observed discrepancies. Lastly, we find that correlated large-scale structure (LSS) at $z<1$ accounts for a substantial fraction of the CIBER auto-power reported in earlier work. These results identify low-redshift LSS as a significant and previously unappreciated contributor to near-IR EBL fluctuation measurements, setting the stage for cross-correlation science with CIBER-2, SPHEREx and a variety of LSS tracers.

Recent papers\cite{dvali} have claimed that general quantum information considerations put macroscopic constraints on the properties of large black holes, which can affect their lifetimes in cosmologically and astrophysically interesting ways. We examine black hole evaporation in Holographic Space Time (HST) models\cite{hstbh}, which appear to have the {\it memory burden} effect responsible for these deviations from semi-classical expectations, and explain why, in those models, no such effect exists. It is basically a consequence of Fermi's Golden Rule/The Principle of Detailed Balance, but depends crucially on both the definition of energy in HST models and the way in which causality is implemented.

We prove the robustness of the analytic approximation used in (hybrid) loop quantum cosmology to compute the primordial power spectrum of the cosmological perturbations for a recently proposed vacuum state (the non-oscillatory state with asymptotic Hamiltonian diagonalization). To investigate this, we study different approximations to the effective mass of these perturbations near the bounce, showing that the Pöschl-Teller potential employed in previous works leads to indistinguishable power spectra compared to other estimations of the mass, provided that they successfully capture the characteristic scale of the bounce, which translates into a scale of power suppression.

We present new ALMA 0.9 mm and VLA 9 mm observations in the Taurus Molecular Cloud (TMC) of 25 protostellar systems, containing 40 protostars, observed at 0.3" (~20 au) resolution. Within separations of 18-10,000 au, the ALMA/VLA-observed Taurus sample has a multiplicity fraction (MF), defined as the fraction of systems with at least one companion, of 0.50 +/- 0.07, and a companion fraction (CF), defined as the average number of companions per system, of 0.58 +/- 0.20. To build a more complete census of protostellar multiplicity in this region, we supplement the observed sample with 24 protostars (12 protostellar systems and 5 additional companions associated with systems we observed) previously identified through archival infrared or ALMA observations. Together, these 64 individual protostars (37 systems) define our Taurus+ sample, for which we measure higher values of 0.53 +/- 0.06 and 0.72 +/- 0.19 for the MF and CF, respectively. These multiplicity statistics in the TMC are notably higher than those reported in the more clustered star-forming regions of Orion and Perseus at the ~3-4 sigma level, suggesting that Taurus may preserve a larger fraction of primordial multiples. The separation distributions in our samples show populations of both close and wide multiples, but a deficit at intermediate separations of 200-300 au. This pattern may suggest two distinct formation pathways: close binaries (<200 au) arising primarily from disk fragmentation, and wide multiples (>1000 au) from core fragmentation.

The dynamics of a binary black hole system depend on its masses and spins. For a binary at finite separation, it is not possible to define these quantities in an unambiguous way; however, there are several reasonable definitions that reduce to the expected values in the limit of infinite separation. Approximate Killing vector (AKV) spin is one of the spin definitions used in the numerical relativity code SpEC. AKV spin requires finding approximate Killing vectors on an apparent horizon, which reduces to a generalized eigenvalue problem of size $\mathcal{O}(L^2)$, and a direct solve has time complexity $\mathcal{O}(L^6)$, where $L$ is the highest spherical harmonic mode used to represent the apparent horizon. This scaling means that the cost of computing AKV spins increases rapidly as we simulate systems at higher resolutions, especially those with high spin or mass ratios. We describe a new algorithm for computing AKV spins that is much faster than the current algorithm.

We study holography for three-dimensional asymptotically flat spacetimes in which the bulk gravitational dynamics is conjectured to be dual to a two-dimensional Carrollian (equivalently BMS) conformal field theory. Such theories are known to arise as ultrarelativistic ($c\rightarrow0$) contractions of relativistic 2d conformal field theories. Under this contraction, the Virasoro algebra becomes the conformal Carrollian algebra and the Brown-Henneaux central charges become $c_L=0$, $c_M=\frac{3}{G}$. In this article, we recover these central charges directly from holography. We first construct the holographic quasilocal stress tensor for asymptotically flat spacetimes carrying Bondi mass and angular momentum. Under BMS$_3$ transformations, the stress tensor acquires an inhomogeneous term, the ``BMS Schwarzian", and extracting the central charges from it reproduces the algebraic result exactly. We then obtain the action for the boundary BMS Schwarzian modes. Finally, we show that the holographic stress-tensor correlators satisfy the expected Ward identity, while stress-tensor conservation obeys flux-balance laws.

Ryu-Takayanagi established how boundary entanglement encodes bulk area. We provide the metric counterpart: boundary mutual information imposes a rigorous lower bound on bulk geodesic separation that diverges logarithmically as correlations vanish. A multiscale iteration promotes this local inequality to a global obstruction to bulk connectivity. For parallel strips in AdS$_5$/CFT$_4$, the bound necessitates a quantum resolution of the classical mutual-information transition and fixes the asymptotic growth of geodesic distance.

We investigate the longitude--time distribution of NOAA active regions (ARs) during Solar Cycles 22--24 and find statistically significant North--South asymmetry in AR emergence. Using an activity-nest identification algorithm, we show that this asymmetry is concentrated in the subset of ARs that participate in nests. Nest-member ARs exhibit substantially larger hemispheric asymmetry than either the full AR population or the non-nest population, and the asymmetry is largely removed when nest-member ARs are excluded. Monte Carlo tests with randomized longitudes and temporal perturbations show that the observed nesting and asymmetry exceed random expectations, implying that $\sim$6--18\% of ARs participate in a non-random, hemispherically asymmetric nesting component. This asymmetry is associated with temporally offset bursts of activity and distinct longitudinal clustering between the hemispheres, leading to reduced cross-equatorial coherence in the longitude--time distribution of solar ARs. Intervals of enhanced nesting activity and hemispheric asymmetry broadly coincide with enhanced hemispheric quasi-biennial variability and temporal evolution of the large-scale solar magnetic field, suggesting a possible connection between intermediate-timescale dynamo variability and the hemispheric organization of solar activity.

Strong coupling to a magnetic texture makes an electron propagate through an emergent curved space. We show that an elementary vortex realizes the exterior spatial geometry of an Ellis wormhole: an ultrastatic throat with radius fixed by the topological charge and Hund exchange, cut off at short distances by the microscopic core. Two separable signatures follow directly: the electron deflection collapses onto a single Ellis curve governed by the vortex winding and exchange coupling, while the spin Berry phase produces a half-flux Aharonov--Bohm response switched on and off by winding parity. The same metric can be emulated in a designer honeycomb lattice, where the valley-symmetrized wave-packet response follows the predicted exterior geodesic. These signatures are accessible through real-space electron deflection and scattering, providing experimentally distinct probes of the emergent geometry and Berry flux. The magnetic vortex thus turns a topological defect into a tunable curved-space lens for electrons in quantum materials and designer lattices.

This paper develops a phase-plane formulation of gravitational light deflection by static and spherically symmetric black holes, with Schwarzschild spacetime as the principal case. Instead of perturbing the null trajectory and locating the displaced outgoing asymptote, we represent the orbit through an amplitude and an intrinsic phase. The bending angle then follows from the excess physical azimuth accumulated while the intrinsic phase advances between two fixed asymptotic endpoints. For Schwarzschild spacetime, the exact radial first integral reduces the amplitude evolution to a cubic algebraic relation. Its physical branch generates the local phase factor through a single inverse algebraic map. Lagrange inversion then yields an explicit all-order weak-deflection coefficient formula in powers of the invariant ratio \(M/b\). Each coefficient separates into an algebraic phase contribution and a universal trigonometric moment, which explains the alternating rational and \(π\)-dependent structure of the Schwarzschild series. Independent comparison with the exact radial scattering integral and conventional orbit perturbation reproduces the standard weak-bending coefficients. The same phase framework extends to general static spherical geometries, while the Schwarzschild cubic represents an especially simple member of a broader algebraic class. The branch singularity of the phase map also coincides with the critical photon orbit and governs the convergence of the weak-deflection expansion.

Within classical general relativity, we compare a sharp timelike junction and a smooth finite-width spacelike initial-data embedding of a positive-excess virialized halo in a homogeneous Lambda-FLRW environment. On the ordinary branch, timelike Israel matching at the virial boundary produces a negative surface layer: a distributional representation of the environmental compensation omitted by the sharp construction. We replace this zero-width source by a finite-width, background-relative underdensity whose local rest-frame energy density remains positive. The resulting conformally flat, constant-mean-curvature ADM initial slice satisfies the Hamiltonian and momentum constraints, with the residuals converging under resolution refinement. At finite radius, its geometric and matter variables return to the local-effective FLRW data within the declared tolerances: the constructed slice contains no residual distributional layer and satisfies the reconstructed weak, null, and dominant energy conditions. For radii beyond the numerical endpoint, the exterior is defined by the exact analytic local-effective FLRW solution. The GCT framework supplies the global motivation clock interpretation, while the present calculations are local-effective classical-GR calculations with the bound-sector constants c0 and G0 held fixed: no radial GCT lapse or constant interpolation is constructed.

We have previously proposed a new approach to the cosmological constant problem based on anisotropic scaling in a compact extra dimension. In the ultra-local $z=0$ limit, the interplay between a projectable lapse, foliation-preserving diffeomorphisms, and higher-form fluxes renders the gravitational field equations insensitive to radiative corrections to the matter vacuum energy. Here we extend this framework beyond the ultra-local limit by introducing $z=1$ deformations that restore dynamics along the compact direction. We show that vacuum-energy cancellation persists at the level of the background equations, while generic extrinsic-curvature couplings propagate an additional scalar ghost. A healthy quadratic spectrum selects the Fierz-Pauli relation between these couplings. This motivates a particularly simple realization in terms of five-dimensional Einstein gravity, a top-form flux, and a spacelike khoron scalar field that dynamically defines a preferred projectable foliation. In this covariant formulation, the global constraint arises from an auxiliary einbein on the space of khoron leaves, and constant shifts of the renormalized matter vacuum energy cancel algebraically from the intrinsic Einstein equations. Finally, allowing matter to propagate around the compact dimension generates finite, topology-sensitive Casimir contributions that are not automatically removed by the mechanism. Suppressing these contributions requires additional spectral conditions on the propagating bulk degrees of freedom.

We study decay of a scalar field false vacuum near a (3+1)-dimensional Schwarzschild black hole equilibrated at Hawking temperature with the environment. Our scalar field model has negative quartic self-coupling and thereby resembles Higgs sector of the Standard Model in the large-field limit. We demonstrate that if the black hole is not too small, the false vacuum in this model decays aspherically with regard to the black hole center: via formation of expanding true vacuum bubbles emerging on the outer side of the event horizon. More specifically, we identify three regimes of the decay. For the largest and coldest black holes, the main mechanism is quantum tunneling described by an infinitesimally thin bounce sitting at some point of the horizon. In the intermediate-mass regime, the vacuum is destroyed by thermal fluctuations creating aspherical critical bubbles in the horizon vicinity. Finally, near the smallest black holes thermal fluctuations still guide the decay but the dominant critical bubble is spherically symmetric and covers the entire horizon.

Stellar binaries in short-period, highly eccentric systems with significant tidal deformations near pericenter, also known as heartbeat stars, are a laboratory for studying dynamical tides and oscillations in stars. We identify 50 heartbeat stars using TESS light curves of stars identified as binaries using SDSS APOGEE. We fit their phase-folded TESS light curves with an analytic model to measure their orbital periods, eccentricities, inclinations, and arguments of periastron. We measure the mass function of targets with enough APOGEE radial velocity observations to obtain a constraint on the secondary mass. We confirm our previous results that the non-giant heartbeat stars have started to evolve off the main sequence and that the fraction of (near) main sequence binaries that are heartbeat stars rises rapidly with effective temperature.

We study the possibility of an inverse first-order electroweak phase transition (IFOEWPT) and observable gravitational waves (GW) in a radiative neutrino mass model of scotogenic type where singlet-doublet (SD) fermions, the lightest of whom is the dark matter (DM) candidate, generate the necessary seesaw at one-loop level. Considering the possibility of light neutrinos being Dirac for simplicity and additional detection prospects, we extend the standard model (SM) with two generations of $SU(2)_L$ singlet and doublet fermions, one singlet scalar, and three right-handed neutrinos (RHNs). While RHNs provide the right chiral parts of light Dirac neutrinos, the SD fermions and the scalar singlet facilitate the one-loop neutrino mass diagram. The neutral component of the lighter SD fermion, stabilized under a residual $Z_2$ symmetry plays the role of DM while the heavier SD fermions strongly couple to the Higgs leading to an IFOEWPT where the Universe undergoes two different first-order phase transition as it goes from the symmetric to the final broken Higgs phase. We constrain the parameter space from the requirements of generating the correct neutrino mass, DM relic as well as IFOEWPT while incorporating the existing constraints from different experiments. The final allowed parameter space of the model can be probed at collider, direct-detection, GW and cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments in near future.

We propose a low-scale spontaneous leptogenesis scenario within the dynamical minimal scotogenic model for accommodating neutrino masses and inert scalar dark matter simultaneously. Thus, we dub the mechanism Spontaneous Scoto-leptogenesis. In this setup, a rolling Majoron arising from the global $U(1)_{B-L}$ symmetry breaking induces an effective chemical potential for the $B-L$ charge in the presence of $B-L$ violating interactions that allow for the efficient decays and inverse decays of right handed neutrinos (RHN), so it gives rise to the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe through the electroweak sphaleron conversion. The mechanism becomes effective in the strong washout regime and successfully lowers the viable mass scale of the lightest RHN to the range of TeV scales, thereby making the thermal scotogenic leptogenesis with two hierarchical RHNs accessible to direct tests. We identify the roles of the $λ_5$ coupling for spontaneous leptogenesis and inert scalar dark matter through the efficient erasure of the inert scalar asymmetry. We also explore the regime for Majoron dark matter from the kinetic misalignment, showing that a multicomponent dark sector comprising the inert scalar and the Majoron can be realized in the model. The resulting framework provides a unified origin for low-scale baryogenesis, neutrino masses, and multicomponent dark sector, so it can be tested by complementary experimental probes through direct detection experiments, collider searches for inert scalars, and future detection of Majoron dark matter or dark radiation.

We construct a two-scale, static, spherically symmetric regular black hole in Einstein gravity sourced by magnetic nonlinear electrodynamics (NED). The zero-point length $\ell$ regularizes the mass and charge profiles, whereas $q$ is the asymptotic magnetic charge. The geometry approaches Reissner-Nordström at large radius, reduces to the neutral zero-point-length solution for $q=0$, and coincides geometrically with the Ayón-Beato-García solution for $\ell=|q|$. For $q\neq0$, inverse reconstruction gives a single-valued magnetic Lagrangian with Maxwell asymptotics and a finite strong-field limit. The center is regular and is de Sitter, locally Minkowski, or anti-de Sitter according to the sign of $2M\ell-q^2$; the weak energy condition holds globally if and only if $3M\ell\geq2q^2$. We derive the extremality curve, the exact heat capacity, and homogeneous horizon-variation and Smarr identities while retaining the Wald area entropy. We also prove that every charged black hole in this family has a nondegenerate extraordinary NED optical metric throughout the domain of outer communication. The associated capture shadow is selected by the global minimum of the optical impact-parameter function and generally differs from the background-geodesic shadow. Weak-field calculations yield the periapsis, bending, time-delay, and redshift corrections; in particular, $\ell$ first appears beyond the standard first-post-Newtonian parameters. Finally, for minimally coupled test radiation in a cold transparent plasma, we obtain exact parametric shadow relations for power-law density profiles and combine Hamiltonian ray tracing with a Novikov-Thorne disk model. A separate extraordinary NED-plasma continuation is displayed only as a phenomenological prescription because a material plasma breaks the conformal ambiguity of the vacuum characteristic metric.

We extend the recently proposed modified double-copy formalism to quasitopological gravity (QTG) coupled to matter. For spherically symmetric configurations, the QTG field equations in $D-$dimensional curved spacetime with a broad class of matter sources are mapped to equations for an auxiliary nonlinear gauge field in a flat $(D+1)$-dimensional spacetime. The nonlinear electrodynamics governing this auxiliary field is determined entirely by the generating function $h(p)$ that specifies the QTG model, while the corresponding current is determined by the matter stress-energy tensor. Restricting the auxiliary solution to a $D$-dimensional hyperplane and applying the modified double-copy prescription yields the Kerr--Schild metric solving the QTG equations. We show that Maxwell and nonlinear electrodynamics, as well as a broad class of spherically symmetric Yang--Mills fields, provide physical matter sources compatible with this construction. In the absence of null currents, the resulting solutions satisfy a generalized Birkhoff theorem and are static, whereas null charged currents naturally generate Vaidya-type solutions. In the Einstein limit, $h(p)=p$, the auxiliary nonlinear electrodynamics reduces to Maxwell theory.

Parallaxes in Gaia DR3 are known to suffer from a complex set of sky-correlated and magnitude-dependent offsets or biases at the level of a few tens of $μ$as. Estimated from a sample of one million distant quasars and AGNs from the CRF catalog, the average offset is negative, but the actual distribution of this important parameter shows significant variations on the sky. We propose a practical method to evaluate the parallax correction as a function of sky position and, optionally, of $G$ magnitude using a spherical harmonic series, and supply a tested Python tool {\tt varpi3.py} available on Zenodo\footnote{ https://zenodo.org/records/21708614}. We find that only the constant $Y_{00}$ term is significantly dependent on magnitude, while the other 80 harmonic terms are either close to zero or flat with magnitude. The directions of the smallest and largest parallax offsets are $(l,b)\simeq(220\degr,+43\degr)$ and $(l,b)\simeq(45\degr,-45\degr)$, which are close to the orientation of the quasar density dipole reported in recent publications. Motivated by this curious coincidence, we review possible physical effects resulting in a negative bias of measured parallaxes, including an anisotropic universe with a positive curvature and an orbital aberration component. The proposed method of parallax correction is tested using independent asteroseismology data for four different areas on the sphere. Finally, we show that the parallax zero-point propagates into the CRF proper-motion field through the parallax--proper-motion covariance, biasing the vector spherical harmonic determination of the secular-aberration glide, and hence the Galactocentric acceleration, at the microarcsecond-per-year level.

We formulate a horizon-regular double-null criterion for regular inner marginal horizons in spherically symmetric metric $f(R)$ gravity. Using normalized outgoing and ingoing radial null vectors $\ell^μ$ and $n^μ$, with $n^μ$ affinely parametrized, we derive an exact evolution law for the area-weighted outgoing expansion $r^2θ_{(\ell)}$. Its source is controlled by the scalaron $F\equiv f_R>0$ and by a mixed quantity $\mathcal{P}_{\ell n}$ containing matter, scalaron derivatives, and the curvature potential. If $\mathcal{P}_{\ell n}\leq F/r^2$ along a regular ingoing null segment issuing from a nondegenerate future outer marginal sphere, then the outgoing expansion cannot return to zero, and no second regular marginal sphere of the same family can occur on that generator. Conversely, a nondegenerate future inner marginal sphere requires the reverse inequality, so an outer--inner pair necessarily entails a source reversal and an exact integral balance. No trapped-region assumption is required. In the static limit, the criterion reduces to a horizon-regular relation involving the radial derivative of the metric function and remains valid in the degenerate case under the stated regularity conditions. It reproduces the Reissner--Nordström classification and is verified in an exact charged, nonconstant-curvature $f(R)$ black hole with a nonconstant scalaron. The resulting Cauchy-horizon statement is conditional and applies only when the candidate boundary is also a regular nondegenerate future inner marginal horizon.

We propose a modified Polyakov-loop Nambu--Jona-Lasinio (mPNJL) model in which the Polyakov potential is given by an explicit dependence on the quark chemical potential, allowing it to remain finite at zero temperature and thus to describe the confinement-deconfinement transition in cold dense matter. Combining this modified quark sector with hadronic equations of state via a Maxwell construction, we find that, depending on the model parameters, the equation of state can exhibit either two phase transitions, from hadronic matter to confined (quarkyonic) quark matter and subsequently to deconfined quark matter, or a single transition directly from hadronic to deconfined quark matter or from hadronic to quarkyonic quark matter. Stable massive cold hybrid stars with only quarkyonic and/or deconfined quark phase are obtained. We systematically examine how the parameters of the modified Polyakov potential and the quark vector interactions control the location of these transitions, and find that repulsive vector interactions are essential to obtain a stable quark core. Hybrid stars with quarkyonic and/or a deconfined core can reach maximum masses above $2M_\odot$, provided a sufficiently stiff hadronic equation of state is used at low density. In the core of the maximum-mass configurations, the speed of sound exceeds the conformal limit, $c_s^2 = 1/3$, for the quarkyonic core stars. This work establishes the qualitative role of each model parameter in shaping hybrid-star structure.

The central singularity in gravitational collapse represents a fundamental breakdown of classical general relativity, yet its resolution remains an open challenge. While conventional regular black hole models invoke exotic matter or nonlinear electrodynamics, the physical origin of such regularization mechanisms remains obscure. In this work, we demonstrate that a radially varying interaction between dust and dark energy can naturally resolve the central singularity. We systematically investigate three cases: no interaction, constant interaction, and radially varying interaction. Only when the interaction grows sufficiently toward the center can the divergent behavior of the density and the central mass contribution simultaneously be eliminated near the center. This yields a mass function scales as $M \sim χ^3$, a finite Kretschmann scalar ($\lim_{χ\to 0} K < \infty$), and a de Sitter-like core for the physical regime $w \leq -1$ (with $w=-1$ corresponding to pure de Sitter core). At the center, the resulting configuration satisfies the null, weak, and dominant energy conditions, while the strong energy condition is violated. Unlike charge-based models, our interaction parameter $α(t)$ stabilizes at a non-zero value after the collapse, allowing the regular core to persist in the late-time configuration. This provides a physically motivated alternative to conventional regular black hole models, grounded in the modern cosmological understanding of dark energy rather than exotic fields or charges.

We present a nonsingular bouncing cosmological model in the framework of modified $f(R,T)$ gravity within a spatially flat Friedmann--Robertson--Walker universe. A logarithmic time-dependent scale factor is assumed to realize a smooth transition from a contracting phase to an expanding phase without encountering an initial singularity. Based on this assumption, the dynamical evolution of the Hubble parameter, deceleration parameter, energy density, and pressure is obtained for various choices of the model and the matter--geometry coupling parameter to confirm the occurrence of a successful bounce. The effective equation of state parameter is examined to characterize the cosmic fluid during different evolutionary phases. The violation of energy conditions, necessary for the realization of the bouncing behavior, is also discussed. The stability of the model is investigated using the squared speed of sound and is found to remain positive within the allowed parameter space, indicating classical stability. Furthermore, constraints on the matter--geometry coupling parameter are obtained by demanding positive energy density, negative pressure, and a viable cosmological evolution. The obtained cosmological constraint on the coupling parameter is also shown to be compatible with the currently available compact-object constraints. The thermodynamic behavior of the model is examined by testing the generalized second law of thermodynamics. The total entropy production rate remains negative during the contracting phase and changes its sign to positive during the expanding phase. However, it becomes singular at the bouncing point, reflecting the breakdown of the standard thermodynamic description during the transition phase.

We construct and analyze static multipolar black holes in Einstein-vector-Gauss-Bonnet theory with a quadratic coupling function. The vectorized solutions bifurcate from the Schwarzschild black hole at discrete values of the Gauss-Bonnet coupling, obtained from a perturbative eigenvalue problem on the Schwarzschild background and labelled by the angular multipole number $\ell$. We restrict to the fundamental radial branches. The electric sector contains the known spherically symmetric $\ell=0$ branch as well as axisymmetric branches with $\ell>0$. These electric branches extend to larger values of the coupling. The magnetic sector features a sequence of axisymmetric branches, including the previously found magnetic dipole branch at $\ell=0$. The magnetic branches instead exist only on finite intervals of the coupling, ending at critical solutions. Away from the bifurcation point, nonlinearities generate additional multipoles, but even-$\ell$ and odd-$\ell$ moments remain separated.

We present a radial velocity analysis of three bright, low-activity stars identified by the Dispersed Matter Planet Project (DMPP). We use a Bayesian framework to compare purely Keplerian models with models incorporating stellar activity via a quasi-periodic Gaussian Process (GP). DMPP-7 (HD 118006) is a slightly evolved star that harbours a single 0.72 Saturn-mass giant ($m_\textrm{p}\sin i$ = 69 M$_\oplus$) with an orbital period of P = 4.93 d. A longer 21 d - 22 d period cannot be conclusively confirmed as a stellar rotation signature rather than a purely Keplerian signal. For HD 67200, which exhibits Ca ii H&K variability, a model with only a GP is strongly favoured over a purely dynamical model. The GP model shows moderate evidence for a single Keplerian with P = 2.67 d. For HD 2134, a 21 d - 32 d rotation period signal is associated with tentative FWHM variability. A model with a GP is not conclusively favoured, but all models considered show moderate evidence for an additional single Keplerian with P = 2.78 d. Despite our target selection favouring near edge-on orbital geometries, we find no evidence for transits in TESS photometry. DMPP-7 b lies at the transition between the high-radius population and the Neptunian ridge and savannah regions. Further observations are required to establish whether the coherent short-period HD 67200 and HD 2134 signals are stellar or dynamical in origin. If planetary, the signals correspond to minimum masses of $m_\textrm{p}\sin i$ = 2.07 M$_\oplus$ and $m_\textrm{p}\sin i$ = 2.86 M$_\oplus$

The standard moving mirror model in (1+1)-dimensional spacetime is known to reproduce several quantum aspects of black hole evaporation. A perfectly reflecting, accelerating mirror can emit radiation whose frequency spectrum resembles that of Hawking radiation, although this correspondence holds only under certain approximations. Moreover, the standard in-out formulation does not provide a natural notion of the partner modes associated with the Hawking radiation. In this paper, we reformulate the moving mirror model in terms of Rindler/Milne modes. This formulation not only attributes the origin of the required approximations to mode squeezing effects but also naturally incorporates the notion of partner modes. Furthermore, as a consequence of these mode squeezing effects, the radiation received by an inertial observer at future null infinity exhibits additional nontrivial quantum correlations, even though its frequency spectrum approximately follows a Bose--Einstein or Fermi--Dirac distribution.

We investigate stationary states of a collisionless, gravitationally stratified plasma atmosphere composed of electrons, protons, and alpha particles by extending Pannekoek--Rosseland theory to multispecies and multi-temperature plasmas. Starting from Liouville's theorem, we derive the self-consistent ambipolar electric field from kinetic equilibrium and charge neutrality. For a single-temperature atmosphere, we obtain analytical expressions for the ambipolar field, show its dependence on alpha-particle abundance, and determine the relative stratification of the three species. A first-order analytical approximation to the electrostatic potential accurately reproduces the numerical solution. We then generalize the formalism to multi-temperature plasmas generated by stochastic boundary heating, representing the stationary distribution as a superposition of Maxwellian populations. Gravitational filtering produces non-exponential density profiles and increasing temperatures with altitude, while preserving the relative species stratification, with alpha particles most strongly stratified and protons least. The ambipolar electric field contains a dominant gravitational contribution, corresponding to the generalized Pannekoek--Rosseland field, and a thermoelectric contribution arising from species-dependent temperature gradients, which accounts for its non-monotonic structure. These results provide a framework for studying the combined effects of plasma composition and stochastic heating in gravitationally stratified astrophysical plasmas.

We investigate static, spherically symmetric traversable wormholes in Kalb Ramond gravity, where spontaneous Lorentz symmetry breaking arises from a non-vanishing vacuum expectation value of the antisymmetric Kalb Ramond field. The matter sector is modeled by the Einasto dark matter density profile, yielding an analytical shape function expressed via the incomplete Gamma function. The resulting geometry satisfies the throat, flare-out, and asymptotic-flatness requirements, with embedding diagrams providing a geometric visualization of the wormhole structure. The energy density stays positive throughout the considered domain, while the radial null energy condition is violated near the throat, showing that the exotic matter required for traversability can be localized to a restricted region. The internal structure is further characterized through the complexity factor, which is most pronounced near the throat and gradually decays to zero at larger radii. We also examine the total gravitational energy, active gravitational mass, average pressure, and equilibrium behavior via the generalized TOV equation and pressure anisotropy; for the constant-redshift configuration, equilibrium is maintained by a balance between the hydrostatic and anisotropic forces. The optical properties of the spacetime are further explored through the photon sphere, critical impact parameter, light deflection angle, and echo time. Finally, the volume integral quantifier is used to estimate the total amount of null-energy-condition-violating matter, showing that the exotic contribution remains concentrated near the wormhole throat. The analysis highlights the combined role of the Kalb Ramond gravitational parameter and the Einasto matter distribution in shaping the geometric, energetic, and observational characteristics of the resulting wormhole configurations.

In any theory of quantum gravity, an interesting question to address is to what extent known solutions of the Einstein field equations can be obtained as expectation values of metric operators on suitable quantum states. In this work, we consider coherent states (to ensure minimum uncertainty) for different foliations of the de~Sitter spacetime and study temporal evolution and coordinate invariance. A general framework will first be introduced for metrics that can be diagonalised globally. We will then find that the normalisability of coherent states in this framework requires using reference frames without coordinate singularities.

In 2+1-dimensional gravity, a conical deficit is commonly interpreted as a point-like particle. A distributional description of such a source is problematic since the Einstein equations are non- linear. Moreover, the total mass of the spacetime with nontrivial asymptotics is obfuscated by the infinite amount of background energy in the distant regions. In this work, we support the standard claim that the mass of a point particle is given by the angular deficit of the asymptotic geometry. We approximate the singular matter source by a sufficiently regular energy distribution, and we study the limit of negligible size for such a distribution while keeping the asymptotic geometry intact. Comparing spacetimes with equal asymptotics ensures that we correctly identify and remove the cosmological matter. We find that the angular deficit of the resulting conical spacetime is given by a limit of the local mass of the object, where the local mass is a natural concept of additive mass in 2+1 gravity. Surprisingly, the limiting mass is different from the BTZ mass parameter, although both masses are closely related.

We perform a detailed diagrammatic analysis of the renormalisation of a family of asymptotically free, shift-symmetric four-derivative scalar field theories introduced by Holdom in arXiv:2303.06723 and arXiv:2402.09223. We extend the renormalisation of the theory from one to three loops using both an $R^*$ method and an asymptotic expansion in momenta. We prove that the Euclidean correlators (or off-shell amplitudes) are IR finite, to all orders in perturbation theory, and derive a non-renormalisation theorem describing the all-order structure of the renormalisation constants. In particular, a purely cubic interaction is RG invariant and a perfect square Lagrangian density is preserved under renormalisation. The latter result is due to a Ward identity in a related $\textit{ gravitational}$ theory $-$ the conformally flat limit of quadratic gravity (CFQG). We show that the beta function for the perfect square theory maps exactly to that of an $O(2)$-symmetric, two-derivative, massless $φ^4$ theory at negative coupling. We verify this relationship explicitly up to three loops and thus determine the beta function and anomalous dimension for both the perfect square theory and CFQG to six loops.

A rigorous framework for consistent study of junctions in a coordinate independent manner is presented. This is achieved by extending a theory of distributions in curved spacetimes with torsion and combining it with covariant formalism. In this way, one can derive general conditions on the differentiability of the joined manifold. Given a specific theory of gravity, in particular the Einstein-Cartan-Sciama-Kibble one, we evaluate the conditions for obtaining a smooth junction. These conditions can be successfully applied independently of the choice of coordinates used to describe the metric, thereby, evading the drawbacks of coordinate dependent Israel-Darmois framework.

We derive the Friedmann dynamics and apparent-horizon thermodynamics of a spatially flat McVittie spacetime in Gravity's Rainbow and construct a consistent non-accreting perfect-fluid sector with an effective rainbow Hubble rate. The Einstein equations, trapping horizon, surface gravity, Misner--Sharp energy, unified first law, and Clausius relation form a closed thermodynamic system reproducing the Friedmann dynamics. We then introduce a low-energy rainbow deformation and constrain it using 32 cosmic-chronometer measurements and 1580 Pantheon+ light curves with the full covariance matrix. Combined with the Planck matter-density prior, the fit gives $H_0=68.75\pm2.63~\mathrm{km\,s^{-1}\,Mpc^{-1}}$, $Ω_m=0.3157\pm0.0070$, and $ε=0.0106^{+0.0234}_{-0.0231}$. The resulting constraints establish the observational viability of small late-time rainbow corrections and place the general-relativistic limit within the preferred parameter region.

In this work we investigate the tidal properties of the Dymnikova regular black hole and their ef fects on massive particles in radial free-fall. Starting from Dymnikova static, spherically symmetric solution, we derive the equations governing timelike radial geodesics and construct an orthonormal tetrad adapted to a free-falling observer. We then obtain the radial and angular components of the tidal tensor and analyze their dependence on the black hole mass and the characteristic length scale of the de Sitter core. At large radial distances, tidal forces recover Schwarzschild behavior, whereas near the regular center, both components remain finite, reflecting the non-singular nature of the spacetime. We show that the radial and angular tidal forces vanish and change sign at characteris tic radii inside the event horizon, indicating transitions between stretching and compression regimes. A particle released from rest outside the event horizon reaches a turnaround point located inside the Cauchy horizon, rather than reaching the regular center. We also solve the geodesic deviation equations for two sets of initial conditions and examine the evolution of the radial and transverse components of the deviation vector. Although the solutions asymptotically reproduce Schwarzschild behavior, they differ significantly in the inner region: the deviation vector components remain finite up to the turnaround point, whereas the corresponding radial component in the Schwarzschild case diverges at the singularity. These results demonstrate how the de Sitter core regularizes the tidal dynamics of extended falling bodies.

We present a comprehensive photometric study of three W UMa-type contact binary systems, V1104 Her, V1284 Her, and V2822 Ori, based on a combination of ground-based observations and space-based TESS photometry. The light curves were modeled using the BSN application under a contact configuration, with parameters and their uncertainties estimated through the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) approach. The derived solutions indicate that the target systems are in a shallow-contact configuration. The target systems are classified as W-subtype contact binaries, with the more massive component cooler than its companion. The light curve of V1284 Her shows a pronounced O'Connell effect, which is reproduced by introducing a cool starspot on the primary component. Absolute parameters were estimated using the empirical parameter relationship between orbital period and semi-major axis, yielding component masses in the range $0.48$-$0.86\,M_\odot$ and confirming the low-mass nature of the systems. Orbital period variations were investigated using eclipse timings from the literature, ground-based observations, and TESS data by examining both linear and cyclic models. Statistical model comparison indicates that the cyclic model provides a better description of the eclipse timings for V1104 Her and V1284 Her, whereas the linear model is preferred for V2822 Ori, although the difference between the two models is relatively small.