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Two notable anomalies in radio observations -- the excess radiation in the Rayleigh-Jeans tail of the cosmic microwave background, revealed by ARCADE2, and the twice-deeper absorption trough of the global 21cm line, identified by EDGES -- remain unresolved. These phenomena may have a shared origin, as the enhancement of the 21cm absorption trough could arise from excess heating. We investigate this scenario through the framework of axion-like particles (ALPs), showing that the resonant conversion of ALPs into photons can produce a photon abundance sufficient to resolve both anomalies simultaneously. Our model naturally explains the observed radio excess between 0.4 and 10GHz while also enhances the 21cm absorption feature at 78MHz. Furthermore, it predicts a novel power-law scaling of the radio spectrum above 0.5GHz and an additional absorption trough below 30MHz, which could be verified through cross-detection in upcoming experiments., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures

In this paper we study the Oppenheimer-Snyder (OS) gravitational collapse in the general framework of scale-dependent gravity. We explore the collapse in spherically symmetric solutions suggested both by asymptotically safe gravity (positive $\om$-parameter) and by scale-dependent gravity (negative $\om$-parameter), when a singularity at a finite positive radial coordinate is developed. The inner geometry of the collapsing star is described, as usual, by the spatially flat Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) metric, and matter is uniformly distributed without any assumptions about its equation of state. The outer asymptotically-safe/scale-dependent black hole metric is smoothly matched to the inner geometry, and this yields the equation of motion of the star surface, the energy density, pressure, and equation of state of the collapsing matter. We study in detail the proper-time evolution of the event and apparent horizons. Finally, the constraints of the energy conditions on the equation of state, and its properties, are considered and discussed., Comment: 30 pages, 24 figures

Gravitational waves (GWs) can undoubtedly serve as a messenger from the early Universe acting as well as a novel probe of the underlying gravity theory. In this work, motivated by one-loop vacuum-polarization effects on curved spacetime, we investigate a gravitational theory with non-minimal curvature-electromagnetic coupling terms of the form $\xi R F_{\mu\nu}F^{\mu\nu}$, where $R$ is the scalar curvature and $F_{\mu\nu}$ the Faraday tensor, which can be responsible for the generation of primordial electromagnetic fields. We study then the GW signatures of such coupling terms deriving in particular for the first time to the best of our knowledge the modified tensor modes equation of motion. Remarkably, we find a universal infrared (IR) frequency scaling $f^5$ of the electromagnetically induced GW (EMIGW) signal, which, depending on the energy scale of inflation, the duration of inflation and reheating as well as the dynamical behaviour of the gauge coupling function $\xi$, can be well within the detection sensitivity bands of GW experiments such as SKA, LISA, ET and BBO, being thus potentially detectable in the future by GW observatories., Comment: 16 pages plus appendices (19 pages in total), 3 figures

We investigate gravitational waves generated in $f(Q,B)$ non-metric gravity, i.e., a theory of gravity described by a non-metric compatible connection, free of torsion and curvature. It is an extension of symmetric teleparallel gravity, equipped with a boundary term $B$. This theory exhibits gravitational waves regardless of the gauge adopted: they are the standard massless tensors plus a massive scalar gravitational wave like in the case of $f(R)$ gravity. It is precisely the boundary term $B$ that generates the massive scalar mode with an effective mass $m_{B}$ associated to a Klein-Gordon equation in the linearized boundary term. As in $f(Q)$ gravity also in $f(Q,B)$ non-metric gravity, a free test particle follows a geodesic motion due to the covariant conservation with respect to the Levi-Civita connection of the energy and momentum densities on shell. Therefore, in $f(Q,B)$ gravity, the proper acceleration between two neighboring worldlines traveled by two free point-like particle is governed by a first-order geodesic deviation equation in the metric perturbation $h_{\mu\nu}$. Thanks to this approximate linear equation, $f(Q,B)$ non-metric gravity shows three polarization modes: two massless transverse tensor radiation modes, with helicity equal to 2, reproducing the standard plus and cross modes, exactly as in General Relativity, and an additional massive scalar wave mode with transverse polarization of zero helicity. We obtain the same result both by considering the coincidence gauge and by leaving the gauge free. In summary, three degrees of freedom propagate in the $f(Q,B)$ linearized theory with amplitudes $\tilde{h}^{(+)}$ and $\tilde{h}^{(\times)}$ for tensor modes and amplitude $\tilde{h}^{(s)}$ for the scalar mode. Specifically, both $f(Q,B)$ and $f(R)$ gravity involve the same massive transverse scalar perturbation., Comment: 33 pages

Both the Barrow and Tsallis $\delta$ entropies are one-parameter generalizations of the black-hole entropy, with the same microcanonical functional form. The ensuing deformation is quantified by a dimensionless parameter $\Delta$, which in the case of Barrow entropy represents the anomalous dimension, while in Tsallis' case, it describes the deviation of the holographic scaling from extensivity. Here, we utilize the gravity-thermodynamics conjecture with the Barrow--Tsallis entropy to investigate the implications of the related modified Friedmann equations on the spectrum of primordial gravitational waves. We show that, with the experimental sensitivity of the next generation of gravitational wave detectors, such as the Big Bang Observer, it will be possible to discriminate deviations from the $\Lambda$CDM model up to $\Delta\lesssim\mathcal{O}(10^{-3})$., Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures

We exploit the complete complementarity relations (CCR) to fully characterize various aspects of quantumness in QED scattering processes at tree level. As a paradigmatic example, we consider Bhabha scattering in two different configurations: in the first case, the initial state is factorized in the spin and we study the generation of entanglement due to the scattering. Then we consider the most general case in which the initial state can be entangled: we find that the scattering generates and distributes quantum information in a non-trivial way among the spin degrees of freedom of the particles, with CCR relations being preserved. An important outcome of our analysis is that maximal entanglement is conserved in the scattering process involving only fermions as input and output states, with a more complex situation if photons are present., Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures

We analyze how entanglement is generated and distributed in a Bhabha scattering process $(e^-e^+\rightarrow e^-e^+)$ at tree level. In our setup an electron $A$ scatters with a positron $B$, which is initially entangled with another electron $C$ (spectator), that does not participate directly to the process. We find that the QED scattering generates and distributes entanglement in a non-trivial way among the three particles: the correlations in the output channels $AB$, $AC$ and $BC$ are studied in detail as functions of the scattering parameters and of the initial entanglement weight. Although derived in a specific case, our results exhibit some general features of other similar QED scattering processes, for which the extension of the present analysis is straightforward., Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures

By employing Tsallis' extensive but non-additive $\delta$-entropy, we formulate the first two laws of thermodynamics for gravitating systems. By invoking Carath\'{e}odory's principle, we pay particular attention to the integrating factor for the heat one-form. We show that the latter factorizes into the product of thermal and entropic parts, where the entropic part cannot be reduced to a constant, as is the case in conventional thermodynamics, due to the non-additive nature of $S_{\delta}$. The ensuing two laws of thermodynamics imply a Tsallis cosmology, which is then applied to a radiation-dominated universe to address the Big Bang nucleosynthesis and the relic abundance of cold dark matter particles. It is demonstrated that the Tsallis cosmology with the scaling exponent $\delta$$\sim$$1.499$ (or equivalently, the anomalous dimension $\Delta\sim0.0013$) consistently describes both the abundance of cold dark matter particles and the formation of primordial light elements, such as deuterium ${}^{2}\!H$ and helium ${}^{4}\!He$. Salient issues, including the zeroth law of thermodynamics for the $\delta$-entropy and the lithium ${}^{7}\!Li$ problem, are also briefly discussed., Comment: 21 pages, 4 figures

We study coherent states associated to a generalized uncertainty principle (GUP). We separately analyze the cases of positive and negative deformation parameter $\beta$, showing that the ensuing probability distribution is a Tsallis distribution whose non-extensivity parameter $q$ is monotonically related to $\beta$. Moreover, for $\beta <0$ (corresponding to $q<1$), we reformulate the GUP in terms of a one-parameter class of Tsallis entropy-power based uncertainty relations, which are again saturated by the GUP coherent states. We argue that this combination of coherent states with Tsallis entropy offers a natural conceptual framework allowing to study quasi-classical regime of GUP in terms of non-extensive thermodynamics. We substantiate our claim by discussing generalization of Verlinde's entropic force and ensuing implications in the late-inflation epoch. Corresponding dependence of the $\beta$ parameter on cosmological time is derived for the reheating epoch. The obtained $\beta$ is consistent with values predicted by both string-theory models and the naturalness principle. Further salient issues, including derivation of new $\beta$-dependent expressions for the lowest possible value of the spin and Immirzi parameter in Loop Quantum Gravity, and connection of our proposal with the Magueijo--Smolin doubly special relativity are also discussed. This article provides a more extended and comprehensive treatment of our recent letter [Phys. Rev. D 105, L121501 (2022)]., Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures, accepted to Physical Review D

A consistent theory of quantum gravity will require a fully quantum formulation of the classical equivalence principle. Such a formulation has been recently proposed in terms of the equality of the rest, inertial and gravitational mass operators, and for non-relativistic particles in a weak gravitational field. In this work, we propose a generalization to a fully relativistic formalism of the quantum equivalence principle, valid for all background space-times, as well as for massive bosons and fermions. The principle is trivially satisfied for massless particles. We show that if the equivalence principle is broken at the quantum level, it implies the modification of the standard Lorentz transformations in flat space-time and a corresponding modification of the metric in curved space-time by the different mass ratios. In other words, the observed geometry would effectively depend on the properties of the test particle. Testable predictions of potential violations of the quantum equivalence principle are proposed., Comment: 14 pages

Kaniadakis entropy is a one-parameter deformation of the classical Boltzmann-Gibbs-Shannon entropy, arising from a self-consistent relativistic statistical theory. Assuming a Kaniadakis-type generalization of the entropy associated with the apparent horizon of Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) Universe and using the gravity-thermodynamics conjecture, a new cosmological scenario is obtained based on the modified Friedmann equations. By employing such modified equations, we analyze the slow-roll inflation, driven by a scalar field with power-law potential, at the early stages of the Universe. We explore the phenomenological consistency of this model by computation of the scalar spectral index and tensor-to-scalar ratio. Comparison with the latest Planck data allows us to constrain Kaniadakis parameter to $\kappa\lesssim\mathcal{O}(10^{-12}\div10^{-11})$, which is discussed in relation to other observational bounds in the past literature. We also disclose the effects of Kaniadakis correction term on the growth of perturbations at the early stages of the Universe by employing the spherically symmetric collapse formalism in the linear regime of density perturbations. We find out that the profile of density contrast is non-trivially affected in this scenario. Interestingly enough, we observe that increasing Kaniadakis parameter $\kappa$ corresponds to a faster growth of perturbations in a Universe governed by the corrected Friedmann equations. Finally, we comment on the consistency of the primordial power spectrum for scalar perturbations with the best data-fit provided by Planck., Comment: Discussion added on the primordial power spectrum for scalar perturbations

The pattern of neutrino flavor oscillations could be altered by the influence of noisy perturbations such as those arising from a gravitational wave background (GWB). A stochastic process that is consistent with a GWB has been recently reported by the independent analyses of pulsar timing array (PTA) data sets collected over a decadal timescale by the North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav), the European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA), the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA), and the Chinese Pulsar Timing Array (CPTA) collaborations. We investigate the modifications in the neutrino flavor oscillations under the influence of the GWB reported by the PTA collaborations and we discuss how such effects could be potentially revealed in near-future neutrino detectors, possibly helping the discrimination of different models for the GWB below the nHz frequency range., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Matches the version published on Phys. Rev. D

A possibility to describe quantum gravitational fluctuations of the spacetime background is provided by virtual $D$-branes. These effects may induce a tiny violation of the Lorentz invariance (as well as a possible violation of the equivalence principle). In this framework, we study the formation of light elements in the early Universe (Big Bang Nucleosynthesis). By using the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis observations, We infer an upper bound on the topological fluctuations in the spacetime foam vacuum $\sigma^2$, given by $\sigma^2 \lesssim 10^{-22}$., Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, to appear in EPJ Plus

We investigate the non-relativistic limit of the Klein--Gordon equation for mixed scalar particles and show that, in this regime, one unavoidably arrives at redefining the particle's inertial mass. This happens because, in contrast to the case when mixing is absent, the antiparticle sector contribution cannot be neglected for particles with definite flavor. To clearly demonstrate this feature, we adopt the Feshbach--Villars formalism for Klein--Gordon particles. Furthermore, within the same framework, we also demonstrate that, in the presence of a weak gravitational field, the mass parameter that couples to gravity (gravitational mass) does not match the effective inertial mass. This, in turn, implies a violation of the weak equivalence principle. Finally, we prove that the Bargmann's superselection rule, which prohibits oscillating particles on the basis of the Galilean transformation, is incompatible with the non-relativistic limit of the Lorentz transformation and hence does not collide with the results obtained.

We develop the quantum field theory of fermion mixing in curved spacetime and discuss the role of unitarily inequivalent representations in the particle interpretation of the theory. We derive general oscillation formulae and apply them to specific spcetimes of interest, such as spatially flat FRW metrics and the Schwarzschild spacetime. We exhibit the main deviations from the usual quantum mechanical approach., Comment: Presented at DICE 2022 conference

In General Relativity, the issue of defining the gravitational energy contained in a given spatial region is still unresolved, except for particular cases of localized objects where the asymptotic flatness holds for a given spacetime. In principle, a theory of gravity is not self-consistent, if the whole energy content is not uniquely defined in a specific volume. Here we generalize the Einstein gravitational energy-momentum pseudotensor to non-local theories of gravity where analytic functions of the non-local integral operator $\Box^{-1}$ are taken into account. We apply the Noether theorem to a gravitational Lagrangian, supposed invariant under the one-parameter group of diffeomorphisms, that is, the infinitesimal rigid translations. The invariance of non-local gravitational action under global translations leads to a locally conserved Noether current, and thus, to the definition of a gravitational energy-momentum pseudotensor, which is an affine object transforming like a tensor under affine transformations. Furthermore, the energy-momentum complex remains locally conserved, thanks to the non-local contracted Bianchi identities. The continuity equations for the gravitational pseudotensor and the energy-momentum complex, taking into account both gravitational and matter components, can be derived. Finally, the weak field limit of pseudotensor is performed to lowest order in metric perturbation in view of astrophysical applications., Comment: 17 pages

By keeping the cosmological principle i.e., an isotropic and homogeneous universe, we consider the cosmology of a vector-tensor theory of gravitation known as the \textit{bumblebee} model. In this model a single Lorentz-violating timelike vector field with a nonzero vacuum expectation value (VEV) couples to the Ricci tensor and scalar, as well. Taking the ansatz $B(t)\sim t^\beta$ for the time evolution of the vector field we derive the relevant dynamic equations of the Universe, where $\beta$ is a free parameter. In particular, by employing observational data coming from the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) and the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the Baryogenesis era, we impose some constraints on the VEV of the bumblebee timelike vector field i.e., $\xi b^2$, and the exponent parameter $\beta$. The former and the latter limit the size of Lorentz violation, and the rate of the time evolution of the background Lorentz-violating bumblebee field, respectively., Comment: 18 pages (two columns), 8 figures.v2: discussion and analysis improved, some references and figures added, version accepted in EPJC

In General Relativity, there have been many proposals for defining the gravitational energy density, notably those proposed by Einstein, Tolman, Landau and Lifshitz, Papapetrou, M{\o}ller, and Weinberg. In this review, we firstly explored the energy--momentum complex in an $n^{th}$ order gravitational Lagrangian $L=L\left(g_{\mu\nu}, g_{\mu\nu,i_{1}}, g_{\mu\nu,i_{1}i_{2}},g_{\mu\nu,i_{1}i_{2}i_{3}},\cdots, g_{\mu\nu,i_{1}i_{2}i_{3}\cdots i_{n}}\right)$ and then in a gravitational Lagrangian as \mbox{$L_{g}=(\overline{R}+a_{0}R^{2}+\sum_{k=1}^{p} a_{k}R\Box^{k}R)\sqrt{-g}$}. Its gravitational part was obtained by invariance of gravitational action under infinitesimal rigid translations using Noether's theorem. We also showed that this tensor, in general, is not a covariant object but only an affine object, that is, a pseudo-tensor. Therefore, the pseudo-tensor $\tau^{\eta}_{\alpha}$ becomes the one introduced by Einstein if we limit ourselves to General Relativity and its extended corrections have been explicitly indicated. The same method was used to derive the energy--momentum complex in $ f\left (R \right) $ gravity both in Palatini and metric approaches. Moreover, in the weak field approximation the pseudo-tensor $\tau^{\eta}_{\alpha}$ to lowest order in the metric perturbation $h$ was calculated. As a practical application, the power per unit solid angle $\Omega$ emitted by a localized source carried by a gravitational wave in a direction $\hat{x}$ for a fixed wave number $\mathbf{k}$ under a suitable gauge was obtained, through the average value of the pseudo-tensor over a suitable spacetime domain and the local conservation of the pseudo-tensor. As a cosmological application, in a flat Friedmann--Lema\^itre--Robertson--Walker spacetime, the gravitational and matter energy density in $f(R)$ gravity both in Palatini and metric formalism was proposed., Comment: 33 pages, accepted for publication in Particles

In this paper we employ a recent proposal of C. Tsallis and formulate the first law of thermodynamics for gravitating systems in terms of the extensive but non-additive entropy. We pay a particular attention to an integrating factor for the heat one-form and show that in contrast to conventional thermodynamics it factorizes into thermal and entropic part. Ensuing first law of thermodynamics implies Tsallis cosmology, which is then subsequently used to address the observed discrepancy between current bound on the Dark Matter relic abundance and present IceCube data on high-energy neutrinos. To resolve this contradiction we keep the conventional minimal Yukawa-type interaction between standard model and Dark Matter particles but replace the usual Friedmann field equations with Tsallis-cosmology-based modified Friedmann equations. We show that when the Tsallis scaling exponent $\delta \sim 1.57$ (or equivalently, the holographic scaling exponent $\alpha \sim 3.13$) the aforementioned discrepancy disappears., Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure

Thanks to unparalleled near-horizon images of the shadows of Messier 87* (M87*) and Sagittarius A* (Sgr A*) delivered by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), two amazing windows opened up to us for the strong-field test of the gravity theories as well as fundamental physics. Information recently published from EHT about the Sgr A*'s shadow lets us have a novel possibility of exploration of Lorentz symmetry violation (LSV) within the Standard-Model Extension (SME) framework. Despite the agreement between the shadow image of Sgr A* and the prediction of the general theory of relativity, there is still a slight difference which is expected to be fixed by taking some fundamental corrections into account. We bring up the idea that the recent inferred shadow image of Sgr A* is explicable by a minimal SME-inspired Schwarzschild metric containing the Lorentz violating (LV) terms obtained from the post-Newtonian approximation. The LV terms embedded in Schwarzschild metric are dimensionless spatial coefficients ${\bar s}^{jk}$ associated with the field responsible for LSV in the gravitational sector of the minimal SME theory. In this way, one can control Lorentz invariance violation in the allowed sensitivity level of the first shadow image of Sgr A*. Actually, using the bounds released within $1\sigma$ uncertainty for the shadow size of Sgr A* and whose fractional deviation from standard Schwarzschild, we set upper limits for the two different combinations of spatial diagonal coefficients and the time-time coefficient of the SME, as well. The best upper bound is at the $10^{-2}$ level, which should be interpreted differently from those constraints previously extracted from well-known frameworks since unlike standard SME studies it is not obtained from a Sun-centered celestial frame but comes from probing the black hole horizon scale., Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures. v3:discussion improved, references added, figures revised; matches the version accepted for publication in PRD

We study possible effects of non-local gravity corrections on the recent discovery by the IceCube collaboration reporting high-energy neutrino flux detected at energies of order PeV. Considering the 4-dimensional operator $\sim y_{\alpha \chi}\bar{{L_{{\alpha}}}}\, H\, \chi$, it is possible to explain both the IceCube neutrino rate and the abundance of Dark Matter, provided that non-local corrections are present in the cosmological background. Furthermore, the mechanism could constitute a natural way to address the $H_0$ tension issue., Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure accepted for publication in EPJ Plus

Scale dependence of fundamental physical parameters is a generic feature of ordinary quantum field theory. When applied to gravity, this idea produces effective actions generically containing a running Newtonian coupling constant, from which new (spherically symmetric) black hole spacetimes can be inferred. As a minimum useful requirement, of course, the new metrics should match with a Schwarzschild field at large radial coordinate. By further imposing to the new scale dependent metric the simple request of matching with the Donoghue quantum corrected potential, we find a not yet explored black hole spacetime, which naturally turns out to describe the so-called Planck stars., Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures. Final version, to appear in Physical Review D

We present a procedure to link the deformation parameter $\beta$ of the generalized uncertainty principle (GUP) to the two free parameters $\om$ and $\gamma$ of the running Newtonian coupling constant of the Asymptotic Safe gravity (ASG) program. To this aim, we compute the Hawking temperature of a black hole in two different ways. The first way involves the use of the GUP in place of the Heisenberg uncertainty relations, and therefore we get a deformed Hawking temperature containing the parameter $\beta$. The second way involves the deformation of the Schwarzschild metric due to the Newtonian coupling constant running according to the AS gravity prescription. The comparison of the two techniques yields a relation between $\beta$ and $\om$, $\gamma$. As a particular case, we discuss also the so called $\xi$-model. The relations between $\beta$ and $\om$, $\xi$ allow us to transfer upper bounds from one parameter to the others., Comment: 10 pages, no figures

The generalized uncertainty principle (GUP) is a phenomenological model whose purpose is to account for a minimal length scale (e.g., Planck scale or characteristic inverse-mass scale in effective quantum description) in quantum systems. In this Letter, we study possible observational effects of GUP systems in their decoherence domain. We first derive coherent states associated to GUP and unveil that in the momentum representation they coincide with Tsallis' probability amplitudes, whose non-extensivity parameter $q$ monotonically increases with the GUP deformation parameter $\beta$. Secondly, for $\beta < 0$ (i.e., $q < 1$), we show that, due to Bekner-Babenko inequality, the GUP is fully equivalent to information-theoretic uncertainty relations based on Tsallis-entropy-power. Finally, we invoke the Maximal Entropy principle known from estimation theory to reveal connection between the quasi-classical (decoherence) limit of GUP-related quantum theory and non-extensive thermostatistics of Tsallis. This might provide an exciting paradigm in a range of fields from quantum theory to analog gravity. For instance, in some quantum gravity theories, such as conformal gravity, aforementioned quasi-classical regime has relevant observational consequences. We discuss some of the implications., Comment: Manuscript: 6 pages, Supplemental Material: 14 pages

We review the possible violation of the Equivalence Principle at finite temperature T in the framework of curvature based Extended Theories of Gravity. Specifically, we first show how it is possible to derive Equivalence Principle violation from Quantum Field Theory at non-vanishing T. Subsequently, we exhibit how this result can be precisely recovered by following an alternative path that envisages the employment of generalized Einstein equations with a temperature-dependent energy-momentum tensor. Finally, we adopt the latter formalism in the context of some Extended Gravity models to quantify the amount of Equivalence Principle violation. Specifically, Brans-Dicke Theory, Standard Model Extension and Conformal Gravity are considered in details.

We study Quantum Gravity effects in cosmology, and in particular that of the Generalized Uncertainty Principle on the Friedmann equations. We show that the Quantum Gravity induced variations of the energy density and pressure in the radiation dominated era provide a viable explanation of the observed baryon asymmetry in the Universe., Comment: Proceedings of the Sixteenth Marcel Grossman Meeting. Based on the talk given by Mitja Fridman. 12 pages, 0 figures

The Experiment to Detect the Global Epoch of Reionisation Signature (EDGES) collaboration has recently reported an important result related to the absorption signal in the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation spectrum. This signal corresponds to the red-shifted 21-cm line at $z \simeq 17.2$, whose amplitude is about twice the expected value. This represents a deviation of approximately $3.8\sigma$ from the predictions of the standard model of cosmology, i.e. the $\Lambda$CDM model. This opens a window for testing new physics beyond both the standard model of particle physics and the $\Lambda$CDM model. In this work, we explore the possibility of explaining the EDGES anomaly in terms of modified dispersion relations. The latter are typically induced in unified theories and theories of quantum gravity, such as String/M-theories and Loop Quantum Gravity. These modified dispersion relations affect the density of states per unit volume and thus the thermal spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background photons. The temperature of the 21-cm brightness temperature is modified accordingly giving a potential explanation of the EDGES anomaly., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures

The first-order phase transitions in the early Universe are one of the well-known sources which release the stochastic background of gravitational waves. In this paper, we study the contribution of an external static and strong magnetic field on the stochastic background of gravitational waves (GWs) expected during QCD phase transition. In the light of the strongly magnetized hot QCD equation of state which deviated from the ideal gas up to the one-loop approximation, we estimate two phenomenologically important quantities: peak frequency redshifted to today ($f_{\rm peak}$) and GW strain amplitude ($h^2 \Omega_{gw}$). The trace anomaly induced by the magnetized hot QCD matter around the phase transition generates the stochastic background of GW with peak frequencies lower than the ideal gas-based signal (around nHz). Instead, the strain amplitudes corresponding to the peak frequencies are of the same order of magnitude of the expected signal from ideal gas. This may be promising in the sense that although the strong magnetic field could mask the expected stochastic background of GWs by upgrading the frequency sensitivity of detectors in the future, the magnetized GW is expected to be identified. Faced with the projected reach of detectors EPTA, IPTA, and SKA, we find that for the tail of the magnetized GW signals there remains a mild possibility of detection as it can reach the projected sensitivity of SKA., Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures, to appear in PRD

In this paper, we investigate a novel implication of the non-negligible spacetime curvature at large distances when its effects are expressed in terms of a suitably modified form of the Heisenberg uncertainty relations. Specifically, we establish a one-to-one correspondence between such modified uncertainty principle and the Standard Model Extension (SME), a string-theoretical effective field theory that accounts for both explicit and spontaneous breaking of Lorentz symmetry. This tight correspondence between string-derived effective field theory and modified quantum mechanics with extended uncertainty relations is validated by comparing the predictions concerning a deformed Hawking temperature derived from the two models. Moreover, starting from the experimental bounds on the gravity sector of the SME, we derive the most stringent constraint achieved so far on the value of the free parameter entering in the extended Heisenberg uncertainty principle.

We analyze the geometric phase for neutrinos and we demonstrate that the geometric invariants associated to transitions between different neutrino flavors, for Majorana neutrinos, can depend on the representation of the mixing matrix and then are sensitive to the nature of neutrinos. The dependence of geometric invariants on the Majorana phase cannot be eliminated by a charged lepton rephasing transformation. By considering kinematic and geometric approach we also demonstrate that the Majorana phase is relevant in the projective Hilbert space. Geometric invariants can in principle be used as tools to distinguish between Dirac and Majorana neutrinos., Comment: 13 pages, 1 figure

The unexplained observed baryon asymmetry in the Universe is a long-standing problem in physics, with no satisfactory resolution so far. To explain this asymmetry, three Sakharov conditions must be met. An interaction term which couples space-time and the baryon current is considered, which satisfies the first two Sakharov conditions. Furthermore, it is shown that the Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP) from quantum gravity induces corrections to the Friedmann equations in cosmology, via the holographic principle. GUP also induces variations of energy and pressure density in the radiation dominated era, which satisfies the third Sakharov condition. Therefore, this construction provides a viable explanation for the observed baryon asymmetry. This also fixes the GUP parameters to $\alpha_0\approx10^4$ and $\beta_0\approx-10^8$., Comment: 13 pages, 0 figures

Thanks to the release of the extraordinary EHT image of shadow attributed to the M87* supermassive black hole (SMBH), we have a novel window to assess the validity of fundamental physics in the strong-field regime. Motivated by this, we consider Johannsen \& Psaltis metric parameterized by mass, spin, and an additional dimensionless hair parameter $\epsilon$. This parametric framework in the high rotation regimes provides a well-behaved bed to the strong-gravity test of the no-hair theorem (NHT) using the EHT data. Incorporating the $\epsilon$ into the standard Kerr spacetime enrich it in the sense that, depending on setting the positive and negative values for that, we deal with alternative compact objects: deformed Kerr naked singularity and Kerr BH solutions, respectively. Shadows associated with these two possible solutions indicate that the deformation parameter $\epsilon$ affects the geometry shape of standard shadow such that it becomes more oblate and prolate with $\epsilon<0$ and $\epsilon>0$, respectively. By scanning the window associated with three shadow observables oblateness, deviation from circularity, and shadow diameter, we perform a numerical analysis within the range $a_*=0.9\mp0.1$ of the dimensionless rotation parameter, to find the constraints on the hair parameter $\epsilon$ in both possible solutions. For both possible signs of $\epsilon$, we extract a variety of upper bounds that are in interplay with $a_*$. Although by approaching the rotation parameters to the extreme limit, the allowable range of both hair parameters becomes narrower, the hairy Kerr BH solution is a more promising candidate to play the role of the alternative compact object instead of the standard Kerr BH. The lack of tension between hairy Kerr BH with the current observation of the EHT shadow of the M87* SMBH carries this message that there is the possibility of NHT violation., Comment: 31 pages, 14 figures, v2: minorly revised, accepted for publication in JCAP

We study the frequency shift of photons generated by rotating gravitational sources in the framework of curvature based Extended Theories of Gravity. The discussion is developed considering the weak-field approximation. Following a perturbative approach, we analyze the process of exchanging photons between Earth and a given satellite, and we find a general relation to constrain the free parameters of gravitational theories. Finally, we suggest the Moon as a possible laboratory to test theories of gravity by future experiments which can be, in principle, based also on other Solar System bodies., Comment: 10 pages

We investigate how pure-state Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen correlations in the internal degrees of freedom of massive particles are affected by a curved spacetime background described by extended theories of gravity. We consider models for which the corrections to the Einstein-Hilbert action are quadratic in the curvature invariants and we focus on the weak-field limit. We quantify nonlocal quantum correlations by means of the violation of the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt inequality, and show how a curved background suppresses the violation by a leading term due to general relativity and a further contribution due to the corrections to Einstein gravity. Our results can be generalized to massless particles such as photon pairs and can thus be suitably exploited to devise precise experimental tests of extended models of gravity.

The gravitino problem is investigated in the framework of Extended Gravity cosmologies. In particular, we consider $f(R)$ gravity, the most natural extension of the Hilbert-Einstein action, and $f(\cal T)$ gravity, the extension of teleparallel equivalent gravity. Since in these theories the expansion laws of the Universe are modified, as compared to the standard $\Lambda$CDM cosmology, it follows that also the thermal history of particles gets modified. We show that $f(R)$ models allow to avoid the late abundance of gravitinos. In particular, we found that for an appropriate choice of the parameters characterizing the $f(R)$ model, the gravitino abundance turns out to be independent of the reheating temperature. A similar behavior is achieved also in the context of $f(\cal T)$ gravity. In this perspective, we can conclude that geometric corrections to standard General Relativity (and to Teleparallel Equivalent of General Relativity) can improve shortcomings both in cosmology and in unified theories beyond the Standard Model of particles., Comment: 7 pages

In Cosmology and in Fundamental Physics there is a crucial question like: where the elusive substance that we call Dark Matter is hidden in the Universe and what is it made of?, that, even after 40 years from the Vera Rubin seminal discovery does not have a proper answer. Actually, the more we have investigated, the more this issue has become strongly entangled with aspects that go beyond the established Quantum Physics, the Standard Model of Elementary particles and the General Relativity and related to processes like the Inflation, the accelerated expansion of the Universe and High Energy Phenomena around compact objects. Even Quantum Gravity and very exotic DM particle candidates may play a role in framing the Dark Matter mystery that seems to be accomplice of new unknown Physics. Observations and experiments have clearly indicated that the above phenomenon cannot be considered as already theoretically framed, as hoped for decades. The Special Topic to which this review belongs wants to penetrate this newly realized mystery from different angles, including that of a contamination of different fields of Physics apparently unrelated. We show with the works of this ST that this contamination is able to guide us into the required new Physics. This review wants to provide a good number of these "paths or contamination" beyond/among the three worlds above; in most of the cases, the results presented here open a direct link with the multi-scale dark matter phenomenon, enlightening some of its important aspects. Also in the remaining cases, possible interesting contacts emerges., Comment: 64 pages 16 Figures. In print on Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences, for the Research Topic: "When Planck, Einstein and Vera Rubin Meet. Dark Matter: What is it ? Where is it?"

Modified expansion rates in the early Universe prior to big bang nucleosynthesis are common in modified gravity theories, and can have a significant impact on the generation of dark matter, matter-antimatter asymmetry, primordial black holes and the primordial gravitational wave (PGW) spectrum. Here we study the PGW spectrum in modified gravity theories, in early Universe cosmology. In particular, we consider scalar-tensor and extradimensional scenarios, investigating the detection prospects in current and future GW observatories. For the scalar-tensor case, PGW could be potentially observed by laser interferometers operating in the high-frequency range, while for the extradimensional case they could be detected even at low frequencies with pulsar timing arrays. We find that data from the planned network of several GW detectors operating across various frequency ranges could be able to distinguish between various modified gravity scenarios., Comment: 23 pages, 6 figures, matches the accepted version for publication in JCAP

We focus on viable $f(T)$ teleparallel cosmological models, namely power law, exponential and square-root exponential, carrying out a detailed study of their evolution at all scales. Indeed, these models were extensively analysed in the light of late time measurements, while it is possible to find only upper limits looking at the very early time behavior, i.e. satisfying the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) data on primordial abundance of ${}^4He$. Starting from these indications, we perform our analysis considering both background and linear perturbations evolution and constrain, beyond the standard six cosmological parameters, the free parameters of $f(T)$ models in both cases whether the BBN consistency relation is considered or not. We use a combination of Cosmic Microwave Background, Baryon Acoustic Oscillation, Supernovae Ia and galaxy clustering measurements, and find that very narrow constraints on the free parameters of specific $f(T)$ cosmology can be obtained, beyond any previous precision. While no degeneration is found between the helium fraction, $Y_P$, and the free parameter of $f(T)$, we note that these models constrain the current Hubble parameter, $H_0$, {higher extent than the standard model} one, fully compatible with the Riess et al. measurement in the case of power law $f(T)$ model. Moreover, the free parameters are constrained at non-zero values in more than 3-$\sigma$, showing a preference of the observations for extended gravity models., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures

We present a quantum field theoretical approach to the vacuum neutrino oscillations in curved space, we analyze the non--trivial interplay between quantum field mixing and field quantization in curved space and derive new oscillation formulae. We compute the formulae explicitly in the spatially flat FLRW metrics for universes dominated by a cosmological constant and by radiation. We evaluate the transition probabilities in the Schwarzschild black hole metric, and we show that the Hawking radiation affects the oscillations of neutrinos. We show that our results are consistent with those of previous analyses when the quantum mechanical limit is considered., Comment: 13 pages, no figures

We study decoherence effects on mixing among three generations of neutrinos. We show that in presence of a non--diagonal dissipation matrix, both Dirac and Majorana neutrinos can violate the $CPT$ symmetry and the oscillation formulae depend on the parametrization of the mixing matrix. We reveal the $CP$ violation in the transitions preserving the flavor, for a certain form of the dissipator. In particular, the $CP$ violation affects all the transitions in the case of Majorana neutrinos, unlike Dirac neutrinos which still preserve the $CP$ symmetry in one of the transitions flavor preserving. This theoretical result shows that decoherence effects, if exist for neutrinos, could allow to determine the neutrino nature and to test fundamental symmetries of physics. Next long baseline experiments could allow such an analysis. We relate our study with experiments by using the characteristic parameters and the constraints on the elements of the dissipation matrix of current experiments., Comment: 13 pages, 2 figures

In this paper we present an iterative method to generate an infinite class of new nonlocal field theories whose propagators are ghost-free. We first examine the scalar field case and show that the pole structure of such generalized propagators possesses the standard two derivative pole and in addition can contain complex conjugate poles which, however, do not spoil at least tree level unitarity as the optical theorem is still satisfied. Subsequently, we define analogous propagators for the fermionic sector which is also devoid of unhealthy degrees of freedom. As a third case, we apply the same construction to gravity and define a new set of theories whose graviton propagators around the Minkowski background are ghost-free. Such a wider class also includes nonlocal theories previously studied, and Einstein's general relativity as a peculiar limit. Moreover, we compute the linearized gravitational potential generated by a static point-like source for several gravitational theories belonging to this new class and show that the nonlocal nature of gravity regularizes the singularity at the origin., Comment: 12 pages, 1 figure

We study the non-relativistic limit of Dirac equation for mixed neutrinos. We demonstrate that such a procedure inevitably leads to a redefinition of the inertial mass. This happens because, in contrast to the case when mixing is absent, the antiparticle sector contribution cannot be neglected for neutrinos with definite flavor. We then show that, when a gravitational interaction is switched on, in the weak-field approximation the mass parameter which couples to gravity (gravitational mass) does not undergo the same reformulation as the inertial mass, thus leading to an apparent breakdown of the weak equivalence principle.

We study quantum corrections at the horizon scale of a black hole induced by a Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP) with a quadratic term in the momentum. The interplay between quantum mechanics and gravity manifests itself into a non-zero uncertainty in the location of the black hole radius, which turns out to be larger than the usual Schwarzschild radius. We interpret such an effect as a correction which makes the horizon disappear, as it happens in other models of quantum black holes already considered in literature. We name this kind of horizonless compact objects $GUP stars$. We also investigate some phenomenological aspects in the astrophysical context of binary systems and gravitational wave emission by discussing Love numbers, quasi-normal modes and echoes, and studying their behavior as functions of the GUP deformation parameter. Finally, we preliminarily explore the possibility to constrain such a parameter with future astrophysical experiments., Comment: 8 pages. V2: minor changes, results unchanged, version accepted for publication in EPJC

We propose a heuristic derivation of Casimir effect in the context of minimal length theories based on a Generalized Uncertainty Principle (GUP). By considering a GUP with only a quadratic term in the momentum, we compute corrections to the standard formula of Casimir energy for the parallel-plate geometry, the sphere and the cylindrical shell. For the first configuration, we show that our result is consistent with the one obtained via more rigorous calculations in Quantum Field Theory. Experimental developments are finally discussed., Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, to appear in IJMPD

We investigate the structure of the gravity-induced Generalized Uncertainty Principle in three dimensions. The subtleties of lower dimensional gravity, and its important differences with respect to four and higher dimensions, are duly taken into account, by considering different possible candidates for the gravitational radius, $R_g$, that is the minimal length/maximal resolution of the quantum mechanical localization process. We find that the event horizon of the $M \neq 0$ Ba\~{n}ados-Teitelboim-Zanelli micro black hole furnishes the most consistent $R_g$. This allows us to obtain a suitable formula for the Generalized Uncertainty Principle in three dimensions, and also to estimate the corrections induced by the latter on the Hawking temperature and Bekenstein entropy. We also point to the extremal $M=0$ case, and its natural unit of length introduced by the cosmological constant, $\ell = 1 / \sqrt{-\Lambda}$, as a possible alternative to $R_g$, and present a condensed matter analog realization of this scenario., Comment: v2: 26 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.D

We propose a new approach in the investigation and detection of axion and axion-like particles based on the study of the entanglement for two interacting fermions. We study a system made of two identical fermions with spin-1/2, and we show that fermion-fermion interaction mediated by axions leads to a non-zero entanglement between the fermions. An entanglement measurement can reveal the interaction, providing an indirect evidence of the existence of axions. We discuss how the other interactions affect the entanglement, and how to isolate the axion contribution. Particular care is devoted to the analysis of the magnetic dipole-dipole interaction, which turns out to be, apart from axions, the most relevant contribution to the entanglement, and we show that it can be suppressed by setting opportunely the duration of the observation. We also introduce a two-body correlation function, which could be directly observed in an experiment, and plays the role of an entanglement witness., Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure

We propose a high precision satellite experiment to further test Einstein's General Relativity and constrain extended theories of gravity. We consider the frequency shift of a photon radially exchanged between two observers located on Earth and on a satellite in circular orbit in the equatorial plane. In General Relativity there exists a peculiar satellite-distance at which the static contribution to the frequency shift vanishes since the effects induced by pure gravity and special relativity compensate, while it can be non-zero in modified gravities, like in models with screening mechanisms. As an experimental device placed on the satellite we choose a system of hydrogen atoms which can exhibit the $1$s spin-flip transition from the singlet (unaligned proton-electron spins) to the triplet (aligned proton-electron spins) state induced by the absorption of photons at $21.1$cm. The observation of an excited state would indicate that the frequency of the emitted and absorbed photon remains unchanged according to General Relativity. On the contrary, a non-zero frequency shift, as predicted in extended theories of gravity, would prevent the spin-flip transition and the hydrogen atoms from jumping into the excited state. Such a detection would signify a smoking-gun signature of new physics beyond special and general relativity., Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. Version accepted for publication in EPJC Letters

We derive the Mandelstam-Tamm time-energy uncertainty relation for neutrino oscillations in a generic stationary curved spacetime. In particular, by resorting to Stodolsky covariant formula of the quantum mechanical phase, we estimate gravity effects on the neutrino energy uncertainty. Deviations from the standard Minkowski result are explicitly evaluated in Schwarzschild, Lense-Thirring and Rindler (uniformly accelerated) geometries. Finally, we discuss how spacetime could affect the characteristic neutrino oscillation length in connection with the recent view of flavor neutrinos as unstable particles., Comment: 13 pages

The study of the decay of an accelerated proton recently provided a theoretical proof of the Unruh effect. On the basis of general covariance of Quantum Field Theory, indeed, it was found that the decay rates in the inertial and comoving frames do coincide only when the thermal nature of the accelerated vacuum is taken into account. Such an analysis was then extended to the case with neutrino mixing. In this Letter, we show that, by further embedding neutrino oscillations in the above framework, general covariance necessarily entails the use of flavor neutrinos as asymptotic states, as well as the occurrence of neutrino oscillations in the Unruh thermal bath.

After a short introduction to the generalized uncertainty principle (GUP), we discuss heuristic derivations of the Casimir effect, first from the usual Heisenberg uncertainty principle (HUP), and then from GUP. Results are compared with those obtained from more standard calculations in Quantum Field Theory (QFT)., Comment: 6 pages, 1 figure