Matter coupling in Minimal Massive 3D Gravity and spinor-matter interactions in exterior algebra formalism

In this work, by employing the exterior algebra formalism, we study the matter coupling in Minimal Massive 3D Gravity (MMG) by first considering that the matter Lagrangian is connection-independent and then considering that the matter coupling is connection-dependent. The matter coupling in MMG has been previously investigated in the work \cite{arvanitakis_2} in tensorial notation where the matter Lagrangian is considered to be connection-independent. In the first part of the present paper, we revisit the connection-independent matter coupling by using the language of differential forms. We derive the MMG field equation and construct the related source 2-form. We also obtain the consistency relation within this formalism. Next, we examine the case where the matter Lagrangian is connection-dependent. In particular, we concentrate on the spinor-matter coupling and obtain the MMG field equation by explicitly constructing the source term. We also get the consistency relation that the source term should satisfy in order that spinor-matter coupled MMG equation be consistent.

Mimetic inflation

We study inflationary solution in an extension of mimetic gravity with the higher derivative interactions coupled to gravity. Because of the higher derivative interactions the setup is free from the ghost and gradient instabilities while it hosts a number of novel properties. The dispersion relation of scalar perturbations develop quartic momentum correction similar to the setup of ghost inflation. Furthermore, the tilt of tensor perturbations can take either signs with a modified consistency relation between the tilt and the amplitude of tensor perturbations. Despite the presence of higher derivative interactions coupled to gravity the tensor perturbations propagate with the speed equal to the speed of light as required by the LIGO observations. Furthermore, the higher derivative interactions induce non-trivial interactions in cubic Hamiltonian, generating non-Gaussianities in various shapes such as the equilateral, orthogonal and squeezed configurations with observable amplitudes.

Local observer effect on the cosmological soft theorem

Non-Gaussianities of primordial perturbations in the soft limit provide important information about the light degrees of freedom during inflation. The soft modes of the curvature perturbations, unobservable for a local observer, act to rescale the spatial coordinates. We determine how the trispectrum in the collapsed limit is shifted by the rescaling due to the soft modes. We find that the form of the inequality between the $f_\mathrm{NL}$ and $\tau_\mathrm{NL}$ parameters is not affected by the rescaling, demonstrating that the role of the inequality as an indicator of the light degrees of freedom remains intact. We also comment on the local observer effect on the consistency relation for ultra-slow-roll inflation.

Statistical mechanics of cold deconfined quark matter using quasiparticle model

We discuss the statistical mechanics and thermodynamics of quark matter at zero temperature and finite chemical potential using a thermodynamically consistent framework of quasiparticle model for QGP without the need of any reformulation of statistical mechanics or thermodynamical consistency relation. Using that equation of state, we solve the Tolman–Oppenheimer–Volkoff equation to obtain the mass-radius relation of dense quark star.