Papers

We derive the one-cycle first Magnusian for nonspinning compact binaries on planar, bound eccentric orbits through relative first post-Newtonian (1PN) order and linear order in radiation reaction, and construct the associated first-order periastron return map. Combining the conservative 1PN dynamics and its Jacobi transport with the 2.5PN and 3.5PN radiation-reaction forces, we obtain all four components in closed form for \(0<e<1\), without expanding in eccentricity. The dependence on all eight Iyer–Will radiation-reaction gauge parameters reduces to periodic coboundaries and therefore cancels over a radial cycle. The result reproduces the averaged energy and angular-momentum losses, their circular limit, and the secular evolution of the 1PN radial orbital elements. The two remaining components encode the dissipative angle-sector information. Projecting the resulting phase-space update onto the perturbed periastron return section yields the corrections to the return time and apsidal phase. We then compare the strict first-order map with a partially exponentiated map built from the same Magnusian. The comparison is observable dependent: at fixed periastron index, the strict map gives smaller residuals for a representative evolution over 40 radial cycles, whereas partial exponentiation reduces the accumulated periastron-timing residual by about an order of magnitude. Across a representative one-cycle grid at equal masses, partial exponentiation improves the radial-action and energy updates at every sampled point.

We construct an algebra of observables associated to a cut of null infinity in asymptotically flat spacetimes. The Bondi mass associated with a sharp cut of future null infinity is not a well-defined quantum operator: its fluctuations diverge even after smearing in retarded time. We instead introduce a finite-radius, time-smeared version of the Bondi mass and adjoin this operator to the matter and graviton observables in an arbitrarily small asymptotic neighborhood of the cut. We separately analyze spacetimes with and without black holes and find, in both cases, Type III$_1$ von Neumann algebras that satisfy non-trivial nesting relations. In Minkowski spacetime, the resulting algebra reconstructs the spacelike wedge associated with the cut. In a stationary black hole spacetime, it reconstructs the region bounded by the cut and the black hole bifurcation surface, providing an asymptotically flat analogue of an entanglement wedge. In the limit as the cut is moved to past infinity, we recover a Type I$_{\infty}$ algebra for spacetimes without black holes and a Type II$_{\infty}$ algebra for black hole spacetimes. For algebras at finite cuts of retarded time, we construct a Type II$_\infty$ regularization of the black hole algebra whose renormalized von Neumann entropy agrees with the generalized entropy. In appendices, we prove two technical results about quantum fields, in a Schwarzschild spacetime, that asymptote to the Minkowski vacuum at infinity: a split property for unbounded, spacelike separated regions and the construction of a faithful, normal, and semifinite Hartle-Hawking weight whose modular flow is Schwarzschild time evolution.

We investigate the geodesic structure and thermodynamics of a $\kappa$-deformed Schwarzschild-anti-de Sitter black hole in a Kiselev quintessence field, where dynamics are governed by a mass-dependent lapse deformation. This term produces an inner Cauchy horizon without requiring charge or spin, yet it fails to resolve the central singularity; instead, the Kretschmann scalar diverges more strongly as $r^{-10}$. Because the deformation amplitude couples to the mass, the standard Bekenstein-Hawking area law violates the first law of thermodynamics. We resolve this by either deriving a modified entropy or rescaling the mass, both of which restore the first law and yield a consistent Smarr relation. Optically, an increasing deformation parameter shrinks both the photon sphere and the critical impact parameter. We also derive a closed-form Joule-Thomson coefficient, revealing that the $\kappa$-deformation triggers an inversion curve a feature absent in standard neutral SAdS. Notably, this occurs without generating a van der Waals critical point, demonstrating that Joule-Thomson inversion and van der Waals criticality can be cleanly decoupled. Finally, the deformation suppresses peak Hawking emission by a factor of roughly four and increases flux sparsity, an effect driven almost entirely by a drop in temperature rather than changes to the black hole shadow.

We investigate the effects of perfect fluid dark matter (PFDM) and a dark-energy field on the phase structure of a nonlinear magnetically charged Anti–de Sitter (NLMC–AdS) black hole. The full thermodynamic system is analyzed numerically, while exact critical points are obtained for the limiting cases. Small–large black hole (SBH/LBH) phase transitions emerge in both the limiting geometries and the full solution within the quintessence regime. Moreover, the critical ratio $\rho_c=P_c v_c/T_c$ differs from the standard Reissner–Nordström–AdS (RN–AdS)/van der Waals (vdW) value, $\rho_c=3/8$. Our results show that the dark-sector parameters significantly influence the strength and persistence of the first-order transition. In the quintessence regime, a stronger dark-energy contribution enhances the swallow-tail structure of the Gibbs free energy and increases the latent heat associated with SBH/LBH coexistence. In contrast, a larger magnitude of the PFDM parameter $|\lambda|$ progressively suppresses the swallow-tail structure and the corresponding first-order transition, eventually leading to a single-phase regime. In the phantom regime, the system instead exhibits spinodal behavior without phase coexistence. We also find that any nonzero $\lambda$ prevents the formation of a regular magnetic core. Finally, geometrothermodynamics (GTD) reproduces the phase structure through singularities of the thermodynamic curvature, while the associated critical scaling is consistent with results reported for black holes, cosmological horizons, and real fluids, pointing toward a broader universality of thermodynamic critical behavior.

Binary black holes (BBHs) formed in dense stellar environments or in hierarchical triples can coalesce on eccentric orbits and carry spins of arbitrary orientation, leaving distinctive imprints on their gravitational-wave (GW) emission. We present SEOBNRv6EPHM: the first generic-orbit, spin-precessing model in the effective-one-body SEOBNR family, whose waveforms have underpinned LIGO-Virgo GW analyses since 2011. The model describes the dynamics and multipolar GW signal of generic BBHs, covering the inspiral-merger-ringdown of coalescing binaries and extending to dynamical captures and scattering encounters. We perform the first systematic accuracy assessment of a generic-orbit model against numerical relativity (NR) waveforms of spin-precessing BBHs, using 1437 quasi-circular (QC) and 87 eccentric simulations: median waveform mismatches remain below $1 \%$, matching the accuracy of the QC model SEOBNRv5PHM, and improving on the state-of-the-art generic-orbit model TEOBResumS-Dalí by a median factor of $ 4 $. The model also reproduces the non-perturbative phenomenology observed in NR simulations of generic-spin BBH scattering. It is $\sim 2 - 3$ times faster than SEOBNRv5PHM in the QC limit, and up to an order of magnitude faster than TEOBResumS-Dalí, bringing eccentric inference to the cost of current QC analyses. As a proof of principle, we analyze eleven GW events and focus on GW200129, strengthening its evidence for eccentricity $-$ a result supported by injection-recovery studies with synthetic NR signals of eccentric, spin-precessing BBHs. SEOBNRv6EPHM thus enables, for the first time, accurate and efficient GW analyses that jointly account for eccentricity and spin precession.

In some occasions, it would appear that classical electromagnetic fields could be able to coexist with strong curvature, naked singularities, in the sense that the electromagnetic power flux would be bounded in any open neighborhood of them. We illustrate this rare behavior by considering the naked singularity present in Kasner spacetimes. There, using the Plebanski–Tamm map between Maxwell theory in curved spacetime and the associated description corresponding to an effective anisotropic medium in flat space, we found not only some regular electrostatic field configurations, but also electromagnetic waves whose amplitudes lead to a well defined, bounded power flux as they approach the singularity. Sometimes, in these unusual situations, the singularity resembles a mirror, perfectly reflecting its environs; in other occasions, the existence of a non-null, finite power flux as the waves travel to or from the singular plane, offers a very simple explanation as to how the singularity might absorb or create radiation fields.

We study the scattering of massless scalar waves by static black holes embedded in dark matter halos. The halo is modelled by means of a Hernquist profile, for which the Einstein equations admit an exact solution. We analyse the scattering using null geodesics, the glory approximation, the partial wave expansion, and the complex angular momentum (CAM) method. The geometric analysis shows that the presence of the halo changes the light ring radius weakly but shifts the critical and glory impact parameters. The wave analysis shows that the characteristic black hole interference pattern is preserved, with halo compactness providing the leading correction and the halo scale radius playing a secondary role. For sufficiently compact halos, the environment also induces a sizeable gravitational redshift. Most of the displacement of the interference extrema can be reproduced by a vacuum Schwarzschild solution with an appropriately chosen $\omega M_{\rm BH}$. A non-vanishing residual, however, reveals a genuine halo contribution that cannot be absorbed into such an effective frequency shift. Finally, we perform the CAM reconstruction of the scattering cross section and find that only a few Regge poles are required to achieve high accuracy at large angles.

We construct a two-scalar hairy planar black hole in four-dimensional Einstein gravity coupled to two scalars whose potential descends from the ABJM consistent truncation of eleven-dimensional supergravity. Starting from the known single-scalar hairy black brane, we switch on the second scalar $\phim$ perturbatively in its dimensionless hair parameter $\eps$, which at fixed source is proportional to $\lambda_{-}T$, and solve the coupled Einstein-scalar system to order $\eps^{2}$. The linearized $\phim$ profile is an exact hypergeometric function, independent of the $\pp$ hair, whose horizon-regular branch always carries a source, so there is no spontaneous $\phim$ hair. Because the dual operator is irrelevant ($\Delta_{-}=4$), the second-order response develops a resonant logarithm: the condensate runs with a closed-form coefficient fixed by the cubic vertex. The metric and $\pp$ back-reaction is obtained in closed form; for arbitrary hair it diagonalizes into two Pöschl-Teller problems and locks the $\pp$ correction to the transverse metric correction with ratio $6/\sqrt7$. On AdS-Schwarzschild the first law and holographic renormalization agree and give an analytic equation of state, $T/T_{0}-1=-\tfrac{5\sqrt3}{8\pi}\eps^{2}$ at fixed entropy and $c_{s}^{2}=\tfrac12-\tfrac{5\sqrt3}{8\pi}\eps^{2}$, with $\eta/s=1/4\pi$ and $\zeta/\eta=\tfrac14\eps^{2}$. We then add the $\mathbb{Z}_{2}$-odd third scalar $\chi$ of the truncation, dual to $\Delta_{\chi}=5$. On the hairy background its linear equation is a Heun equation with an apparent singularity, solved by a Clausen function. At second order $\chi$ necessarily sources $\phim$, yet neither cross-coupling makes either condensate run, a mutual non-renormalization that follows from a one-step resonance identity and the relation $2\Delta_{\chi}-\Delta_{-}=2d$.

Primordial black holes (PBHs) are expected to be born essentially non-spinning and, if the primordial curvature fluctuations possess non-Gaussian tails, strongly clustered. Any spin measured in a PBH population must therefore be dynamically generated. Using direct $N$-body simulations with nbody6++gpu, modified to treat nearly parabolic dynamical-capture mergers, we quantify the conditions under which an initially non-spinning PBH cluster develops the spin, mass and stochastic-background signatures that gravitational-wave observations are now sensitive to. We find a sharp tension: producing a root-mean-square spin $\chi_{\rm rms}\sim0.1 - 0.2$ in the $30 - 50\,M_\odot$ range requires initial Plummer radii of order $10^{-5}\,{\rm pc}$, whereas survival over cosmological times requires parsec-scale clusters. This tension is resolved naturally if PBHs form with a compact, short-lived core embedded in an extended halo, and we therefore simulate the two regimes as independent blocks. The core block ($4000$ PBHs, Plummer radii $3\times10^{-6} - 10^{-4}\,{\rm pc}$) collapses in days to years, producing a burst of mergers whose orbits are strongly non-circular ($e\to1$) and of low dimensionless orbital angular momentum, so that remnant spins are systematically below the quasi-circular value $\chi\simeq0.7$. Redshifted from their formation epoch, the core mergers deposit a stochastic background peaking in the $10^{-6}$–$10^{-4}\,{\rm Hz}$ band accessible to LISA. The picture predicts a specific division of labour between observables, spins set in the primordial collapse, detectable mergers set by the long-term halo, and a two-component stochastic background, and, in particular, that both the spin and the mass data favour a primordial mass function truncated near $50\,M_\odot$.

Black-hole critical curves and photon rings provide complementary probes of strong-field geometry, motivating a unified analytic description of these observables beyond Kerr and a direct comparison with the Kerr predictions. We develop such a description for polar observers in a radial class of stationary, axisymmetric spacetimes with separable null geodesics. The spacetime dependence is organized through natural optical combinations selected by the null dynamics and a Kerr-relative representation suited to weak deviations from Kerr. We derive compact exact expressions for the polar critical radius, Lyapunov exponent, time delay, and rotation parameter, together with general first-order formulas that can be applied once the deformation functions of a specific metric are supplied. The weak-deviation analysis shows that the combined polar observables probe only a finite set of local deformation values and radial derivatives at the critical orbit, rather than the full radial profiles.

Large primordial curvature and tensor perturbations on small scales can generate second-order tensor-scalar induced gravitational waves (TSIGWs) through scalar-scalar, tensor-scalar, and tensor-tensor source terms. TSIGWs are recognized as one of the principal contributors to the stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB) observations. We explore the energy density spectrum of second-order TSIGWs in the presence of non-Gaussian primordial curvature perturbations. Furthermore, we present the first calculation of the anisotropic angular power spectrum associated with second-order TSIGWs, which provides a promising tool to discriminate them from other SGWB sources.

We develop a covariant framework for Josephson transport, superconducting interference, and shunt noise in the scale-dependent exterior generated by an Oppenheimer–Snyder-like collapse. Static Josephson frequencies and transported currents referred to Killing time acquire one lapse factor, whereas power acquires two. For a junction comoving with the collapsing surface, the coordinate-time phase rate differs from the frequency received at infinity because of null propagation and Doppler effects. We derive the exact radial-null travel-time kernel and show that its local near-extremal logarithmic enhancement crosses over, at fixed emission offset, to pole-controlled extremal behavior. We also obtain the redshifted resistively and capacitively shunted-junction equation and the dc and microwave-driven two-junction interference envelopes. In the negligible-total-inductance limit, static lapse imbalance modifies lobe amplitudes without shifting their centers, whereas microwave-induced translations require dynamical fluxoid closure. In a Hartle–Hawking state, Tolman redshift produces a superconducting exclusion layer and a lapse-independent asymptotic shunt-noise spectrum; its low-frequency limit obeys a parameter-free fluctuation–delay relation. Finally, we derive a shadow–Josephson consistency relation and sensitivity bounds on the running parameter.

Future pulsar timing observations near Sgr~A* offer a unique probe of gravitational physics in the vicinity of a supermassive black hole. We forecast the ability of such measurements to constrain a Buchdahl-inspired $R^2$ gravity, parameterized by a single deviation parameter $\epsilon$, using a timing framework that self-consistently integrates orbital dynamics with light-propagation delays and preserves the full timing solution across the observing span. Through Fisher-matrix forecasts for a representative pulsar, we systematically isolate how the precision on $\epsilon$ depends on orbital geometry. We find that shorter orbital periods and higher eccentricities significantly enhance sensitivity, consistent with a substantial contribution from observations near periastron. As a benchmark comparison, we further consider a hypothetical pulsar on an S2-like orbit ($P_b=16~{\rm yr}$, $e=0.88$) and obtain a statistical sensitivity of $\sigma_\epsilon\sim 10^{-4}$ within the adopted weak-field, static, and spherically symmetric timing model. This sensitivity is comparable to the natural order-of-magnitude truncation scale of the 1PN expansion and should not be interpreted as a complete forecast for the real Sgr~A* system. Under the adopted idealized assumptions, the characteristic statistical scale is several orders of magnitude below the current S2 95% confidence interval half-width ($|\epsilon|_{\rm S2}^{\rm 95\%}\approx 0.56$), though this comparison is heuristic given the differing confidence levels. These trends provide quantitative guidance for target selection and campaign design in future Galactic-center pulsar searches.

We show that the relative phase primarily controls the survival, rather than the initial formation, of the common bridge in head-on collisions of radially excited boson stars. In the benchmark configuration, all sampled phases form both a common and a strong bridge. After aligning the evolutions at the same operational weak-contact level, their early post-contact evolution remains similar, while a clear phase hierarchy develops only later, with larger phase offsets producing a weaker and less persistent connection. The same suppression persists under controlled variations of the central scalar amplitude, quartic self-interaction strength, and scalar potential. These results identify relative phase as a control on the nonlinear persistence of the common bridge rather than simply on the instantaneous scalar-field overlap.

Stress-tensor fluctuations carry information that is absent from the mean semiclassical Einstein equation, but their observable effect depends as much on the response of the geometry as on the noise itself. We formulate an effective, quasistationary spherical model organized by the response–noise structure of a quantum Langevin equation. A prescribed mean dressing and a horizon-localized colored source are varied independently. For every source realization we reconstruct the lapse, locate its outer trapping horizon, and evaluate the adiabatic Hayward–Kodama temperature from the slope at that same root. As the mean lapse approaches an inner–outer root merger, its inverse slope acts as a geometric susceptibility: a fixed source covariance produces enhanced horizon fluctuations, horizon–temperature covariance, and a positively skewed, greybody-filtered luminosity. The specific advance is a single-realization map from colored metric noise to correlated geometric, thermal, and radiative statistics, together with an explicit separation of reservoir strength from near-critical amplification. The model is a stochastic-semiclassical testbed, not a microscopic evaluation of Unruh-state response and noise kernels.

High-frequency gravitational waves in the MHz–GHz range require detection strategies beyond conventional interferometers. We study the response of a SQUID-terminated superconducting microwave cavity as a narrowband parametric transducer. The cavity boundary conditions and the flux dependence of the Josephson inductance are used to derive the quarter-wave mode spectrum and the first-order eigenfrequency response to changes in the physical line length, phase velocity, and SQUID inductive length. By projecting the perturbed dynamics onto the static cavity modes, we show that the resonance-frequency response and the photon-pair-production response are generally distinct. We therefore introduce two independent kernels, $R_n^{\omega}$ and $R_n^{\rm pair}$, which coincide only when changes in mode normalization and spatial profiles can be neglected. Near $\Omega_{\rm GW}\simeq 2\omega_n$, the isolated-mode dynamics reduce to a Mathieu-type parametric amplifier, allowing the photon number, quadrature variances, gain, and instability threshold to be obtained in the presence of dissipation. Spontaneous photon production scales quadratically with the gravitational-wave strain and is extremely small for representative parameters, whereas phase-sensitive responses with a coherent probe can scale linearly with strain. The framework therefore provides a theoretical description of narrowband gravitational-wave transduction, while a quantitative sensitivity estimate requires device-specific calibration of the mechanical–electromagnetic response, verification of mode isolation, and a complete treatment of loss and noise.

We investigate asymptotically Weyl-invariant gravity (AWIG) in the Palatini formulation, defined by an exponent n that interpolates between an Einstein-like infrared regime, where n goes to one, and a Weyl-invariant ultraviolet regime, where n goes to two. In four dimensions, we show that exact Weyl invariance within the minimal scalar Palatini f(R) sector uniquely selects the R^2 action as the ultraviolet endpoint. Interpreting the exponent as an effective curvature-dependent quantity, we constrain a phenomenological class of smooth autonomous flows compatible with the required infrared and ultraviolet endpoints. We then analyse the strict ultraviolet theory. On the regular branch R not equal to zero, and within a restricted torsionless, parity-even sector constructed purely from curvature, all admissible divergent on-shell counterterms reduce at arbitrary loop order to the original \sqrt{-g}R^2 term plus a topological Euler density. Although this conditional result does not establish full off-shell perturbative renormalizability, it provides nontrivial evidence for improved ultraviolet behaviour relative to Einstein gravity and identifies a concrete target for a future first-principles renormalization-group calculation.

An interesting feature of quantum corrections to the Bekenstein–Hawking entropy is the appearance of logarithmic area terms, whose coefficients are governed by the spectrum of massless fields. For near-extremal black holes, the entropy also receives a logarithmic temperature correction, whose coefficient is determined by the zero modes of the corresponding extremal black holes. In this paper, we study near-extremal rotating black holes in three, four, and five dimensions with an important focus on rotational zero modes. For three-dimensional BTZ black holes, our results are in agreement with the microscopic description. Furthermore, by treating the cosmological constant scale \(\ell\) as an independent parameter, we find an additional \(\log \ell\) correction to the entropy at extremality. For the five-dimensional BMPV black hole, we explicitly construct all the extremal zero modes and use them to evaluate the log temperature corrections to the entropy.

We explore the construction of higher-dimensional Einstein-Maxwell(-Chern-Simons) solutions from vacuum seeds by means of a generalized Kerr-Schild transformation along a geodesic null vector field $\mathbf{k}$. Assuming the vector potential $\mathbf{A}$ to be aligned with $\mathbf{k}$, and $\mathbf{k}$ to be a Weyl aligned null direction satisfying the “optical constraint”, we arrive at three distinct branches of solutions. If $\mathbf{k}$ is expanding and twisting, then its shear must vanish – this branch includes certain charged Taub-NUT metrics. If $\mathbf{k}$ is expanding and twistfree, one finds two subfamilies: Robinson-Trautman electrovac solutions with a non-null Maxwell field if the shear is zero, or shearing solutions with a null field. Finally, the case when $\mathbf{k}$ is non-expanding reduces to a subset of the known Kundt solutions. In all cases, the Chern-Simons term turns out to be identically zero on-shell. In passing, by relaxing the alignment assumption on $\mathbf{A}$, we also obtain a six-dimensional extension of a charged Taub-NUT metric for which the magnetic part of the field strength is a linear combination of two distinct Kähler 2-forms, as opposed to the previously known examples in more than four dimensions.

In this work, we develop a perturbative framework for inflation driven by a complex inflaton with non-minimal gravitational coupling and a non-Hermitian potential. During the observable cosmic microwave background radiation era, the dynamics reduce to an effectively conservative two-field model, preserving the predictions of the $\alpha$-attractor class and satisfying Planck 2018 and BICEP/Keck constraints on $n_s$, $r$, and $f_{\mathrm{NL}}$. Near the end of inflation, trajectory bending activates the non-Hermitian sector, triggering geometric reheating. The resulting non-unitary evolution modifies the curvature spectrum and stochastic gravitational-wave background through a calculable damping factor determined by the complex mass eigenvalues. While cosmic microwave background-scale observables remain essentially unchanged, a distinctive suppression emerges in the high-frequency gravitational-wave spectrum ($f > 10^2$ Hz), potentially testable by future detectors such as the Einstein Telescope and the Big Bang Observer.

We investigate strong cosmic censorship (SCC) for massless scalar perturbations of electrically neutral black holes immersed in a Chaplygin-like dark fluid (CDF). The matter distribution produces an asymptotically de Sitter exterior while supporting an inner Cauchy horizon. We derive a closed-form parametrization of the extremal and Nariai horizon boundaries. This analytic control yields explicit near-extremal asymptotics for the horizon splitting and Cauchy-horizon surface gravity, together with an analytic expression for the leading near-extremal scalar quasinormal spectrum. The fundamental near-extremal damping rate approaches the Cauchy-horizon surface gravity, whereas higher angular multipoles retain explicit dependence on the CDF extremal geometry. Combining these analytic results with global quasinormal-mode calculations, we determine the spectral gap and assess the Christodoulou formulation of SCC throughout the three-horizon domain. Potential SCC violation is confined to a narrow region near extremality. As the effective cosmological scale increases, the lower boundary of this region is controlled successively by de Sitter, photon-sphere, and de Sitter modes, while its normalized width varies nonmonotonically.

Neutron star radius measurements, particularly using X-ray data collected with the Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer (NICER), have provided invaluable information for models of cold, catalyzed matter at densities above that of nuclear saturation. Here we present an analysis of NICER data on the 318-Hz pulsar PSR J0614-3329, which has a mass ~1.4-1.5 solar masses determined from radio observations. The best-fitting model we explore has three uniform-temperature circular hot spots and yields a symmetric 68% credible range for the equatorial circumferential radius of 9.88-12.77 km. We also explore joint fits to the NICER data and the X-ray Multi-Mirror (XMM-Newton) data on this pulsar, but find that the models that best fit both data sets systematically underpredict the XMM-Newton data when, as is standard, it is assumed that the XMM-Newton background is known from observations of surrounding fields. Finally, we discuss the implications of our results, combined with data on other neutron stars, for the properties of the dense matter in neutron star cores.

Space-based gravitational-wave detectors can observe stellar-mass binary black holes (BBHs) long before merger, allowing weak environmental perturbations to accumulate. For binaries embedded in active galactic nucleus (AGN) disks, the local gas density characterizes the environment of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) and compact-object migration. We study whether such signals can constrain this density when a stellar-mass BBH orbits a Kerr SMBH. We evolve the outer orbit with relativistic corrections and gaseous dynamical friction (DF), and construct the detector-frame waveform including BBH inspiral, de Sitter precession, DF phase correction, and moving-source effects. Using Fisher-matrix calculations for sampled systems, we estimate statistical uncertainties and systematic errors. Larger gas densities generally improve the statistical precision of several source and outer-orbit parameters, but also increase systematic errors when DF is omitted. For favorable GW190521-like systems observed by LISA for one year, the disk density can be constrained at the level of $\sigma_{\rho}\sim10^{-12}\text{--}10^{-10}\,{\rm g\,cm^{-3}}$. Such constraints would connect BBH merger environments to the gas structure of galactic nuclei and the conditions that support black hole growth. These results indicate that hierarchical BBH inspirals can probe AGN disk environments, provided that gas effects are modeled consistently.

Pole-skipping occurs at special complex frequencies and momenta where the retarded Green function of a black-hole or black-brane background is not uniquely defined. The local near-horizon mechanism is well known: at resonance, a Frobenius recurrence matrix loses rank and the space of smooth horizon solutions enlarges. We address the global question of how two boundary-normalized solutions enter this resonant horizon solution space. For a general second-order scalar radial equation on a nonextremal background analytic near the horizon, the Frobenius recurrence at the resonant order yields a solvability condition. We prove that its vanishing is equivalent to singularity of the horizon recurrence matrix, absence of the logarithmic Frobenius term, and existence of two independent smooth horizon solutions. Away from resonance, the source zero is equivalent to horizon smoothness of the response-normalized solution, while the response zero is equivalent to horizon smoothness of the source-normalized solution. We then analyze the parameter-dependent simple pole of the nonresonant ingoing solution as resonance is approached. After removing this singularity, its resonant limit is proportional to the larger-root Frobenius solution, with proportionality factor given by the same solvability function. Continuing to the boundary shows that the same condition is equivalent to simultaneous vanishing of the two regularized boundary connection coefficients. This establishes a horizon-to-boundary dictionary between local Fuchsian resonance and the boundary source-response 0/0 structure of pole-skipping. Finally, different directions of approach can select different resonant solutions, with the selection governed by the first parameter variation of the same solvability function.

We investigate linear polarization images of static, spherically symmetric neutron stars illuminated by a geometrically and optically thin accretion disk. Neutron star equilibrium configurations are constructed with a polytropic equation of state, and the null geodesic equations and the parallel transport equation for the linear polarization vector are solved in the geometric optics approximation. The numerical results show that the total polarized intensity is generally positively correlated with the total intensity and reaches its maximum near the neutron star surface. As the observer inclination increases, the symmetry of the polarization images is progressively broken. In addition, the magnetic field configuration mainly affects the direction of the polarization vectors, while its influence on the overall polarized intensity distribution is comparatively limited. To further characterize the spatial structure of the polarization direction, we introduce the net electric vector position angle $\chi_{\mathrm{net}}$ and the second azimuthal Fourier mode $\angle\beta_2$. A comparison with polarization images of a Schwarzschild black hole reveals clear differences between the two types of compact objects in the locations of strongly polarized regions and the size of the central region without a polarization signal. These results show that linear polarization images provide information beyond total intensity images for distinguishing neutron stars from black holes.

The magnetic Reissner-Nordstrom black hole embedded into the Bertotti-Robinson magnetic field is presented. Then it is used, as a seed, to generate, through the Harrison transformation of the Ersnt's equations, the Reissner-Nordstrom metric in the Bertotti-Robinson-Bonnor-Melvin magnetic field. Special cases generalising, the vacuum hairy type I Schwarzschild solution is discussed. The local equivalence between various forms of the Schwarzschild-Bertotti-Robinson is shown by exhibiting the explicit diffeomorphism.

We construct the electric and magnetic Carroll limits of the $\mathcal{O}(F^2)$-truncated $\text{D}_p$-brane via the Polyakov–KK route, which combines a single-mode Kaluza–Klein-like reduction at fixed light-cone momentum with a Dirac classification that keeps the auxiliary worldvolume frame. Unlike the $U(1)$-free ILST string, for $p\geq2$ the Carrollian D$_{p}$-brane cannot be treated as a consistent fixed-frame constrained system after the Dirac classification. In the electric family the obstruction is directly produced by the worldvolume $U(1)$ matter sector, while in the magnetic family the frame retention is forced by the scalar kinetic's density-weight structure rather than by the $U(1)$ currents. The frame must therefore be retained through the classification and eliminated afterwards by Dirac brackets. Freezing it beforehand is not a legitimate step in the Dirac procedure. The embedding scalar sector inherits the Carroll–Weyl $\chi$ structure at the level of the ILST kinetic density, which is $\chi$-invariant, whereas the full scalar action is only $\chi$-covariant. The local extension of $\chi$ to the full matter sector is obstructed by the $U(1)$ sector through the Gauss, circle and $A_-$-gradient brackets. The electric family keeps the global rescaling as a weak symmetry, while the magnetic family fails even for a global parameter. For $P_{-}\neq0$ the electric and magnetic families have $d-2$ and $d-3$ degrees of freedom, and the restored local circle at $P_{-}=0$ removes one further degree of freedom in each family. These features identify the resulting theories as constrained systems distinct from both the null string and the parent $\mathcal{O}(F^2)$ DBI theory, and we also discuss their on-shell interpretation and relation to tensionless/null strings.

We derive the background equations and complete odd- and even-parity quadratic actions for static, spherically symmetric black holes with radial scalar hair in general quartic-quintic Gleyzes-Langlois-Piazza-Vernizzi (GLPV) theories, including Horndeski. On regular, nondegenerate branches, the formulation applies across Killing horizons and yields local no-ghost conditions and radial and angular eikonal characteristics. Tensor modes in both parity sectors share the same squared radial speed. When the radial coordinate is timelike, generic antisymmetric mixing induces nonstandard large-multipole scaling for both even-parity angular branches. Requiring both branches to have finite, nonzero eikonal phase speeds selects the Horndeski-related compatibility condition between the quartic and quintic beyond-Horndeski functions. This condition aligns the covariant degeneracy directions and permits a local disformal map to Horndeski when regular and invertible. For a finite, nonzero scalar kinetic term at the horizon, every nontrivial branch of the exact quadratic GLPV black hole is locally unstable or has a degenerate tensor cone near a simple outer horizon. Apart from identified exceptions, this obstruction extends to general shift- and reflection-symmetric quadratic GLPV theories and the regular Horndeski-related branch of the quartic-quintic class. Finally, for scalar-Gauss-Bonnet black holes with a vanishing horizon scalar kinetic term, we construct analytic power-law quartic beyond-Horndeski deformations whose associated quintic function is fixed by the same condition. At sufficiently small coupling, all local no-ghost and high-frequency gradient-stability conditions hold throughout the exterior. For a linear Gauss-Bonnet coupling, we estimate an interior scale below which the background and stability expansions lose perturbative control; this does not imply a physical instability.

Temporal sparsity compares the mean interval between emitted quanta with a characteristic single-quantum timescale. We study this operational quantity for the rotating draining-bathtub acoustic horizon in two spatial dimensions. The Hawking temperature is fixed by the radial drain and does not depend on circulation, while the geometric capture width and the transmission spectrum do. A geometric black-body benchmark therefore predicts reduced temporal separation as circulation increases. We then solve the radial scattering problem and compute converged greybody-corrected number and energy fluxes, including the superradiant sector. At a circulation-to-drain ratio of unity, the thermal-clock sparsity is 0.44 whereas the spectrum-based sparsity is 1.82. The former crosses the temporal-overlap benchmark near a ratio of 0.40, while the latter remains above unity at all sampled circulation ratios. We also show that the binned sparsity definition is logarithmically infrared sensitive in two spatial dimensions. Rotation therefore enhances the number flux while hardening the spectrum, making temporal overlap intrinsically dependent on the operational clock used to resolve the emitted quanta.

Standard continuous gravitational-wave searches with pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) neglect cosmological redshift, restricting their applicability to the local Universe. We introduce a redshift-aware PTA framework and apply it to the Parkes PTA Data Release 3, deriving the first direct constraints on supermassive binary black holes (SMBBHs) at the cosmic dawn. Evaluating our limits across a broad redshift range, we observationally establish the non-monotonic mass-redshift exclusion boundary driven by the theoretical “redshift bias", demonstrating how PTAs can effectively probe sources at extreme distances. Redshift-aware targeted searches toward high-redshift systems, including the ultraluminous quasar J0100+2802 ($z=6.327$) and the JWST-discovered galaxy JADES-GS-z14-0 ($z=14.32$), rigorously exclude SMBBHs with chirp masses $\mathcal{M}_c \gtrsim 10^{10} M_\odot$ across the nanohertz frequency band. Finally, we demonstrate that high-redshift binaries can be robustly detected and localized, allowing for the accurate measurement of their intrinsic properties. Our results provide the tightest constraints to date on SMBBHs at $z > 6$ and establish a practical framework for probing early-Universe black hole assembly.