Uniqueness of the Inflationary Higgs Scalar for Neutron Stars and Failure of Non-Inflationary Approximations

Neutron stars are perfect candidates to investigate the effects of a modified gravity theory, since the curvature effects are significant and more importantly, potentially testable. In most cases studied in the literature in the context of massive scalar-tensor theories, inflationary models were examined. The most important of scalar-tensor models is the Higgs model, which, depending on the values of the scalar field, can be approximated by different scalar potentials, one of which is the inflationary. Since it is not certain how large the values of the scalar field will be at the near vicinity and inside a neutron star, in this work we will answer the question, which potential form of the Higgs model is more appropriate in order for it to describe consistently a static neutron star. As we will show numerically, the non-inflationary Higgs potential, which is valid for certain values of the scalar field in the Jordan frame, leads to extremely large maximum neutron star masses; however, the model is not self-consistent, because the scalar field approximation used for the derivation of the potential, is violated both at the center and at the surface of the star. These results shows the uniqueness of the inflationary Higgs potential, since it is the only approximation for the Higgs model, that provides self-consistent results.

New Symmetries, Conserved Quantities and Gauge Nature of a Free Dirac Field

We present and amplify some of our previous statements on non-canonical interrelations between the solutions to free Dirac equation (DE) and Klein–Gordon equation (KGE). We demonstrate that all the solutions to the DE (possessing point- or string-like singularities) can be obtained via differentiation of a corresponding pair of the KGE solutions for a doublet of scalar fields. In this way, we obtain a “spinor analogue” of the mesonic Yukawa potential and previously unknown chains of solutions to DE and KGE, as well as an exceptional solution to the KGE and DE with a finite value of the field charge (“localized” de Broglie wave). The pair of scalar “potentials” is defined up to a gauge transformation under which corresponding solution of the DE remains invariant. Under transformations of Lorentz group, canonical spinor transformations form only a subclass of a more general class of transformations of the solutions to DE upon which the generating scalar potentials undergo transformations of internal symmetry intermixing their components. Under continuous turn by one complete revolution the transforming solutions, as a rule, return back to their initial values (“spinor two-valuedness” is absent). With an arbitrary solution of the DE, one can associate, apart from the standard one, a non-canonical set of conserved quantities, positive definite “energy” density among them, and with any KGE solution-positive definite “probability density”, etc. Finally, we discuss a generalization of the proposed procedure to the case when the external electromagnetic field is present.

Component actions of liberated $$ \mathcal{N} $$ = 1 supergravity and new Fayet-Iliopoulos terms in superconformal tensor calculus

We explicitly compute the component action of certain recently discovered new $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 1 supergravity actions which enlarge the space of scalar potentials allowed by supersymmetry and also contain fermionic interaction terms that become singular when supersymmetry is unbroken. They are the “Liberated Supergravity” introduced by Farakos, Kehagias and Riotto, and supergravities with a new Kähler-invariant Fayet-Iliopoulos term proposed by Antoniadis, Chatrabhuti, Isono, and Knoops. This paper is complementary to our previous papers [Phys. Rev. D103 (2021) 025008 and 105006], in which new constraints on the coupling constants of those new theories were found. In this paper we spell out many details that were left out of our previous papers.

Primordial Black Holes And Gravitational Waves Based On No-Scale Supergravity

In this paper we present a class of models in order to explain the production of Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) and Gravitational Waves (GWs) in the Universe. These models are based on no-scale theory. By breaking the SU(2,1)/SU(2)×U(1) symmetry we fix one of the two chiral fields and we derive effective scalar potentials which are capable of generating PBHs and GWs. As it is known in the literature there is an important unification of the no-scale models, which leads to the Starobinsky effective scalar potential based on the coset SU(2,1)/SU(2)×U(1). We use this unification in order to additionally explain the generation of PBHs and GWs. Concretely, we modify well-known superpotentials, which reduce to Starobinsky-like effective scalar potentials. Thus, we derive scalar potentials which, on the one hand, explain the production of PBHs and GWs and, on the other hand, they conserve the transformation laws, which yield from the parametrization of the coset SU(2,1)/SU(2)×U(1) as well as the unification between the models which are yielded this coset. We numerically evaluate the scalar power spectra with the effective scalar potential based on this theory. Furthermore, we evaluate the fractional abundances of PBHs by comparing two methods the Press–Schechter approach and the peak theory, while focusing on explaining the dark matter in the Universe. By using the resulting scalar power spectrum we evaluate the amount of GWs. All models are in complete consistence with Planck constraints.

Dirac–Kratzer problem with spin and pseudo-spin symmetries in curved space–time

In this work, the Dirac–Kratzer problem with spin and pseudo-spin symmetries in a deformed nucleus is analyzed. Thus, the Dirac equation in curved space–time was considered, with a line element given by [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is a scalar potential, coupled to vector [Formula: see text] and tensor [Formula: see text] potentials. Defining the vector and scalar potentials of the Kratzer type and the tensor potential given by a term centrifugal-type term plus a term cubic singular at the origin, we obtain the Dirac spinor in a quasi-exact way and the eigenenergies numerically for the spin and pseudo-spin symmetries, so that these symmetries are removed due to the coupling of an Coulomb-type effective tensor potential coming from the curvature of space, however, when such potential is null the symmetries return. The probability densities were analyzed using graphs to compare the behavior of the system with and without spin and pseudo-spin symmetries.

Dynamical Cobordism and Swampland Distance Conjectures

We consider spacetime-dependent solutions to string theory models with tadpoles for dynamical fields, arising from non-trivial scalar potentials. The solutions have necessarily finite extent in spacetime, and are capped off by boundaries at a finite distance, in a dynamical realization of the Cobordism Conjecture. We show that as the configuration approaches these cobordism walls of nothing, the scalar fields run off to infinite distance in moduli space, allowing to explore the implications of the Swampland Distance Conjecture. We uncover new interesting scaling relations linking the moduli space distance and the SDC tower scale to spacetime geometric quantities, such as the distance to the wall and the scalar curvature. We show that walls at which scalars remain at finite distance in moduli space correspond to domain walls separating different (but cobordant) theories/vacua; this still applies even if the scalars reach finite distance singularities in moduli space, such as conifold points.We illustrate our ideas with explicit examples in massive IIA theory, M-theory on CY threefolds, and 10d non-supersymmetric strings. In 4d $$ \mathcal{N} $$ N = 1 theories, our framework reproduces a recent proposal to explore the SDC using 4d string-like solutions.

The FL bound and its phenomenological implications

Demanding that charged Nariai black holes in (quasi-)de Sitter space decay without becoming super-extremal implies a lower bound on the masses of charged particles, known as the Festina Lente (FL) bound. In this paper we fix the $$ \mathcal{O}(1) $$ O 1 constant in the bound and elucidate various aspects of it, as well as extensions to d > 4 and to situations with scalar potentials and dilatonic couplings. We also discuss phenomenological implications of FL including an explanation of why the Higgs potential cannot have a local minimum at the origin, thus explaining why the weak force must be broken. For constructions of meta-stable dS involving anti-brane uplift scenarios, even though the throat region is consistent with FL, the bound implies that we cannot have any light charged matter fields coming from any far away region in the compactified geometry, contrary to the fact that they are typically expected to arise in these scenarios. This strongly suggests that introduction of warped anti-branes in the throat cannot be decoupled from the bulk dynamics as is commonly assumed. Finally, we provide some evidence that in certain situations the FL bound can have implications even with gravity decoupled and illustrate this in the context of non-compact throats.

What’s inside a hairy black hole in massive gravity?

In the context of massive gravity theories, we study holographic flows driven by a relevant scalar operator and interpolating between a UV 3-dimensional CFT and a trans-IR Kasner universe. For a large class of scalar potentials, the Cauchy horizon never forms in presence of a non-trivial scalar hair, although, in absence of it, the black hole solution has an inner horizon due to the finite graviton mass. We show that the instability of the Cauchy horizon triggered by the scalar field is associated to a rapid collapse of the Einstein-Rosen bridge. The corresponding flows run smoothly through the event horizon and at late times end in a spacelike singularity at which the asymptotic geometry takes a general Kasner form dominated by the scalar hair kinetic term. Interestingly, we discover deviations from the simple Kasner universe whenever the potential terms become larger than the kinetic one. Finally, we study the effects of the scalar deformation and the graviton mass on the Kasner singularity exponents and show the relationship between the Kasner exponents and the entanglement and butterfly velocities probing the black hole dynamics. Differently from the holographic superconductor case, we can prove explicitly that Josephson oscillations in the interior of the BH are absent.