Théorie

As an extension of Gabor signal processing, the covariant Weyl-Heisenberg integral quantization is implemented to transform  functions on the eight-dimensional  phase space (x,k) into Hilbertian operators. The x=(x^{\mu}) are space-time variables and the k=(k^{\mu}) are their conjugate wave vector-frequency variables. The procedure is first applied to the variables (x,k) and produces canonically conjugate essentially  self-adjoint operators.

We propose a physically sensible formulation of initial value problem for black hole perturbations in higher-order scalar-tensor theories. As a first application, we study monopole perturbations around stealth Schwarzschild solutions in a shift- and reflection-symmetric subclass of DHOST theories. In particular, we investigate the time evolution of the monopole perturbations by solving a two-dimensional wave equation and analyze the Vishveshwara’s classical scattering experiment, i.e., the time evolution of a Gaussian wave packet.

Astrophysical observations are largely based on electromagnetic signals still read with the Maxwellian massless and linear theory, possibly an approximation of a larger theory, as Newtonian gravity is for Einsteinian gravity in weak fields. Photons are the sole free massless particles in the Standard-Model (SM). Apart from massive formalisms (de Broglie-Proca, Bopp, Stueckelberg and others), the SM Extension dresses the photon of a mass dependent from the Lorentz-Poincaré symmetry violation.

In this seminar I will present the first direct numerical simulation of gravitational wave turbulence (Galtier & Nazarenko, PRL 127, 131101, 2021). General relativity equations are solved numerically in a periodic box with a diagonal metric tensor depending on two space coordinates only (Hadad-Zakharov metric) and with an additional small-scale

Gravitational wave (GW) standard sirens are well-established probes with which one can measure cosmological parameters, and are complementary to other probes like the cosmic microwave background or supernovae standard candles. I will focus on dark GW sirens, specifically binary black holes (BBHs) for which there is only GW data. Relying on the assumption of a source mass model for the BBH distribution, we consider four models that are representative of the BBH population observed so far.

Within the framework of the inflationary paradigm, it is well-known that correlation functions (or in general bi-linear observables) of quantum fields on a curved background suffer from divergences. In general, the presence of ultraviolet (UV) divergences due to fluctuations on arbitrary short scales is a common aspect of quantum field theory.

I will discuss classes of hidden symmetries of gravity and their consequences for black holes and compact objects. 

I will discuss our recent work Phys.Rev.Lett. 128 (2022) 4, 041301 in which we present a simple class of mechanical models where a canonical degree freedom interacts with another one with a negative kinetic term, i.e., with a ghost. We prove analytically that the classical motion of the system is completely stable for all initial conditions, notwithstanding that the conserved Hamiltonian is unbounded from below and above. Numerical computations fully supported this.

Light dark matter candidates, such as axions and hidden photons, call for new ideas in direct detection. I discuss the recently proposed strategy of searching for e.g. axions using tunable cryogenic plasmas. The plasma haloscope enables resonant conversion by matching the axion mass to a plasma frequency, therefore converting axions to plasmons. Metamaterials are promising candidates, as the plasma frequency can be tuned. Besides axions, other dark matter candidates, such as hidden photons and scalars, can be successfully targeted with a plasma haloscope.

Black holes with masses ~1 Msun cannot be produced via stellar evolution. A popular scenario of their formation involves transmutation of neutron stars - by accumulation of dark matter triggering gravitational collapse in the star centers. We show that this scenario can be realized in the models of bosonic dark matter despite the apparently contradicting requirements on the interactions of dark matter particles: on the one hand, they should couple to neutrons strongly enough to be captured inside the neutron stars, on the other, their loop-induced self-interactions impede collapse.