Search

We revisit and extend the study of null geodesics around a slowly rotating black hole in Chern-Simons modified gravity. We employ the Hamilton-Jacobi formalism to derive the equations for the shadow profile and determine its shape. We compare our results with numerical ray tracing, finding good agreement within the validity of our approximations for slow rotation and small Chern-Simons coupling. We constrain the model parameters using data from the observed shadow of SgrA$^*$., Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures

We analyze cosmography as a tool to constrain modified gravity theories. We take four distinct models and obtain their parameters in terms of the cosmographic parameters favored by observational data of strong gravitational lensing. We contrast with the values obtained by direct comparison between each model and the observational data. In general, we find consistency between the two approaches at 2$\sigma$ for all models considered in this work. Our study bridges the gap between theoretical predictions of modified gravity and empirical observations of strong gravitational lensing, providing a simple methodology to test the validity of these models., Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures

Rastall gravity is a modified gravity proposal that incorporates a non-conserved energy momentum tensor (EMT). We study the equivalence between Rastall gravity and general relativity, analyzing its consequences for an EMT of dark matter and dark energy. We find that the translation between the Rastall and Einstein interpretations modifies the equation of state for each component. For instance, cold dark matter can translate into warm dark matter. If the EMT components are allowed to interact, the translation also changes the type of interaction between the components., Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures

We find that it is possible to increase sensitivity to low energy physics in a third or fourth DUNE-like module with careful controls over radiopurity and targeted modifications to a detector similar to the DUNE Far Detector design. In particular, sensitivity to supernova and solar neutrinos can be enhanced with improved MeV-scale reach. A neutrinoless double beta decay search with $^{136}$Xe loading appears feasible. Furthermore, sensitivity to Weakly-Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) Dark Matter (DM) becomes competitive with the planned world program in such a detector, offering a unique seasonal variation detection that is characteristic for the nature of WIMPs., Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2203.08821

The {\it{Cosmological Boundary Flux Parameter}} is a novel proposal that attempts to explain the origin of the cosmological parameter $\Lambda$ purely by geometric nature. Then we implement this new approach to a flat FLRW universe along with a barotropic fluid. We present an ansatz in which $\Lambda$ is straightforwardly coupled to the matter sector; therefore, only one additional parameter was introduced: $\lambda$. Also, through a statistical analysis, using late-time data of observational Hubble and type Ia Supernovae, we computed the joint best-fit value of the free parameters by means of the affine-invariant MCMC. We want to emphasise that the joint analysis produces a smaller $H_{0}^{\rm CBFP}=69.80\rm\,\, Km \,s^{-1}\,Mpc^{-1}$ in contrast to the flat $\Lambda$CDM result $H_{0}^{\Lambda\rm CDM}=70.53\rm\,\, Km \,s^{-1}\,Mpc^{-1}$. The work presented here seeks to contribute to the discussion of the possible explanation for the cosmos' acceleration, together with tackling other important questions in modern cosmology., Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures

We find that it is possible to increase sensitivity to low energy physics in a third or fourth DUNE-like module with careful controls over radiopurity and some modifications to a detector similar to the DUNE Far Detector design. In particular, sensitivity to supernova and solar neutrinos can be enhanced with improved MeV-scale reach. A neutrinoless double beta decay search with $^{136}$Xe loading appears feasible. Furthermore, sensitivity to Weakly-Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) Dark Matter (DM) becomes competitive with the planned world program in such a detector, offering a unique seasonal variation detection that is characteristic for the nature of WIMPs., Comment: contribution to Snowmass 2021

The propagation of gravitational waves offers new possibilities for testing the theory of gravity. Amongst these possibilities there is the luminosity distance of gravitational waves, $d_{gw}$. It has been proposed to study this property by means of phenomenological parametrizations, which in this work we confront to the actual predictions of Einstein-scalar-Gauss-Bonnet gravity, finding that the simplest parametrization performs better. We propose a novel parametrization that covers a wider range of models, in particular, within degenerate higher order scalar-tensor theories of gravity. Also, regarding model selection from best-fit parameters, we find that even quantities derived from $d_{gw}$ can lead to inconsistent model selection if they are treated independently. This highlights that it is essential to perform simultaneous analysis and include other types of data. We expect our findings to be relevant for future constraints on modified gravity based on the properties of standard sirens., Comment: 19 pages, 3 figures

In this paper we give a physical explanation to the accelerated expansion of the Universe, alleviating the tension between the discrepancy of Hubble constant measurements. By the Euler Cauchy stress principle, we identify a controversy on the lack of consideration of the surface forces contemplated in the study of the expansion of the Universe. We distinguish a new effect that modifies the spacetime fabric by means of the energy conservation equation. The resulting dynamical equations from the proposed hypothesis are contrasted to several testable astrophysical predictions. This paper also explains why we have not found any particle or fluid responsible for dark energy and clarifies the Cosmological Coincidence Problem. These explanations are achieved without assuming the existence of exotic matter of unphysical meaning or having to modify the Einstein's Field Equations., Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, IJMPD Accepted

The deflection of light in the strong field limit is an important test for alternative theories of gravity. However, solutions for the metric that allow for analytic computations are not always available. We implement a hybrid analytic-numerical approximation to determine the deflection angle in static, spherically symmetrics pacetimes. We apply this to a set of numerical black hole solutions within the class of theories known as Degenerate Higher Order Scalar-tensor Theories. Comparing our results to a more time consuming full numerical integration, we find that we can accurately describe the deflection angle for light rays passing at arbitrary distances from the photon sphere with a combination of two analytic-numerical approximations. Furthermore, we find a range of parameters where our DHOST black holes predict strong lensing effects whose size is comparable with the uncertainty in the properties of the supermassive black hole in M87 reported by the Event Horizon Telescope, showing that strong lensing is a viable alternative to put constraints on these models., Comment: 22 pages, 8 figures

Graphene oxide (GO) is widely used in different applications, however once release into the environment it can change its structure and affect the transport of important contaminants such as arsenic. In this work we show that UV radiation, even in the range of 28-74 uW/cm2 of irradiance up to 120 h of exposure, can induce important changes in the structure of graphene oxide, by eliminating -OH and C=O functional groups. This reduction affected the stability of graphene oxide in water by decreasing its zeta potential from 41 to 37 mV with the increase of the exposure time. Our results showed that after 24 h of UV exposure, As(III) adsorption capacity decreased from 5 mg/g to 4.7 mg/g, however after 48 h of irradiation the adsorption increased with time, reaching 5.1 mg/g at 120 h under 74 uW/cm2 of irradiation. Computer modelling showed that even a degraded GO structure can have an interaction energy of 53 kcal/mol with H3AsO3. Furthermore, we observed that despite clear changes in surface composition and particle size, the reduction of graphene oxide maintained a high degree of cytotoxicity since cell viability decreased to 60% with a 50 ug/ml dose; except for the sample irradiated at 74 uW/cm2 for five days, which showed 20% with the same concentration.