Chern-Simons Gravity Research Articles

Nontriviality of dynamical Chern-Simons gravity and the standard model

Given the growing interest in gravitational-wave and cosmological parity-violating effects in dynamical Chern-Simons (dCS) gravity, it is crucial to investigate whether the scalar-gravitational Pontryagin term in dCS gravity persists when formulated in the context of the U(1)B−L anomaly in the standard model (SM). In particular, it has been argued that dCS gravity can be reduced to Einstein gravity after “rotating away” the gravitational-Pontryagin coupling into the phase of the Weinberg operator—analogous to the rotation of the axion zero mode into the quark mass matrix. We find that dCS gravity is nontrivial if the scalar field ϕ has significant spacetime dependence from dynamics. We provide a comprehensive consideration of the dCS classical and quantum symmetries relevant for embedding a dCS sector in the SM. We find that, because of the baryon/lepton number chiral gravitational anomaly, the scalar-Pontryagin term cannot be absorbed by a field redefinition. Assuming a minimal extension of the SM, we also find that a coupling of the dCS scalar with right-handed neutrinos induces both the scalar-Pontryagin coupling and an axionlike phase in the dimension-five Weinberg operator. We comment on the issue of gauging the U(1)B−L, the observational effects with these two operators present for upcoming experiments, and the origin of dCS gravity in string theory. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Perturbations of spinning black holes in dynamical Chern-Simons gravity: Slow rotation equations

The detection of gravitational waves resulting from the coalescence of binary black holes by the LIGO-Virgo-Kagra Collaboration has inaugurated a new era in gravitational physics. These gravitational waves provide a unique opportunity to test Einstein’s general relativity and its modifications in the regime of extreme gravity. A significant aspect of such tests involves the study of the ringdown phase of gravitational waves from binary black hole coalescence, which can be decomposed into a superposition of various quasinormal modes. In general relativity, the spectra of quasinormal modes depend on the mass, spin, and charge of the final black hole, but they can also be influenced by additional properties of the black hole spacetime, as well as corrections to the general theory of relativity. In this work, we focus on a specific modified theory known as dynamical Chern-Simons gravity. We employ the modified Teukolsky formalism developed in a previous study and lay down the foundations to investigate perturbations of slowly rotating black holes admitted by the theory. Specifically, we derive the master equations for the Ψ0 and Ψ4 Weyl scalar perturbations that characterize the radiative part of gravitational perturbations, as well as the master equation for the scalar field perturbations. We employ metric reconstruction techniques to obtain explicit expressions for all relevant quantities. Finally, by leveraging the properties of spin-weighted spheroidal harmonics to eliminate the angular dependence from the evolution equations, we derive two, radial, second-order, ordinary differential equations for Ψ0 and Ψ4, respectively. These two equations are coupled to another radial, second-order, ordinary differential equation for the scalar field perturbations. This work is the first attempt to derive a master equation for black holes in dynamical Chern-Simons gravity using curvature perturbations. The master equations we obtain can then be numerically integrated to obtain the quasinormal mode spectrum of slowly rotating black holes in this theory, making progress in the study of ringdown in dynamical Chern-Simons gravity. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Gravitational radiation from eccentric binary black hole system in dynamical Chern-Simons gravity

Dynamical Chern-Simons (DCS) gravity, a typical parity-violating gravitational theory, modifies both the generation and propagation of gravitational waves from general relativity (GR). In this work, we derive the gravitational waveform radiated from a binary slowly-rotating black hole system with eccentric orbits under the spin-aligned assumption in the DCS theory. Compared with GR, DCS modification enters the second-order post-Newtonian (2PN) approximation, affecting the spin-spin coupling and monopole-quadrupole coupling of binary motion. This modification produces an extra precession rate of periastron. This effect modulates the scalar and gravitational waveform through a quite low frequency. Additionally, the dissipation of conserved quantities results in the secular evolution of the semimajor axis and the eccentricity of binary orbits. Finally, the frequency-domain waveform is given in the post-circular scheme, requiring the initial eccentricity to be ≲ 0.3. This ready-to-use template will benefit the signal searches and improve the future constraint on DCS theory.

Non-relativistic limit of the Mielke–Baekler gravity theory

In this paper, we present a generalized non-relativistic Chern–Simons gravity model in three spacetime dimensions. We first study the non-relativistic limit of the Mielke–Baekler gravity through a contraction process. The resulting non-relativistic theory contains a source for the spatial component of the torsion and the curvature measured in terms of two parameters, denoted by p and q. We then extend our results by defining a Newtonian version of the Mielke–Baekler gravity theory, based on a Newtonian like algebra which is obtained from the non-relativistic limit of an enhanced and enlarged relativistic algebra. Remarkably, in both cases, different known non-relativistic and Newtonian gravity theories can be derived by fixing the p,q\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\left( p,q\\right) $$\\end{document} parameters. In particular, torsionless models are recovered for q=0\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$q=0$$\\end{document}.

Cosmic implications of Kaniadakis HDE model in Chern-Simons modified gravity

In this study, we investigate the FRW model in the Chern–Simons modified gravity framework, considering holographic dark energy and Kaniadakis holographic dark energy models. Employing the field equation of Chern–Simons gravity, it is analyzed some important cosmological parameters such as density, equation of state, and deceleration parameters for both models. Our findings, presented visually through graphs, reveal that holographic dark energy places the equation of state within ω∈(−1,−0.4), while Kaniadakis holographic dark energy spans ω∈(−0.8,−0.4). These results demonstrate the dynamic nature of dark energy’s influence. Our study highlights the interplay of quintessence and ΛCDM across cosmic eras. We identify the ranges of q∈(−0.89,−0.86) and q∈(−0.9925,−0.9922) for Kaniadakis holographic dark energy and holographic dark energy, offering insights into their roles in cosmic inflation which implies that the universe attributes are impacted by both quintessence and the ΛCDM model in Chern–Simons modified gravity. In addition, this study implies that the universe’s expansion is decelerating in its current state.

Extended kinematical 3D gravity theories

In this work, we classify all extended and generalized kinematical Lie algebras that can be obtained by expanding the so\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathfrak{so} $$\\end{document} (2, 2) algebra. We show that the Lie algebra expansion method based on semigroups reproduces not only the original kinematical algebras but also a family of non- and ultra-relativistic algebras. Remarkably, the extended kinematical algebras obtained as sequential expansions of the AdS algebra are characterized by a non-degenerate bilinear invariant form, ensuring the construction of a well-defined Chern-Simons gravity action in three spacetime dimensions. Contrary to the contraction process, the degeneracy of the non-Lorentzian theories is avoided without extending the relativistic algebra but considering a bigger semigroup. Using the properties of the expansion procedure, we show that our construction also applies at the level of the Chern-Simons action.

UV completions of Chern-Simons gravity

UV completions of Chern-Simons gravity

Parity-violating trispectrum from Chern-Simons gravity

A potential source for parity violation in the Universe is inflation. The simplest inflationary models have two fields: the inflaton and graviton, and the lowest-order parity-violating coupling between them is dynamical Chern-Simons (dCS) gravity with a decay constant f. Here, we show that dCS imprints a parity-violating signal in primordial scalar perturbations. Specifically, we find that, after dCS amplifies one graviton helicity due to a tachyonic instability, the graviton-mediated correlation between two pairs of scalars develops a parity-odd component. This correlation, the primordial scalar trispectrum, is then transferred to the corresponding curvature correlator and thus is imprinted in both large-scale structure (LSS) and the cosmic microwave background (CMB). We find that the parity-odd piece has roughly the same amplitude as its parity-even counterpart, scaled linearly by the degree of gravitational circular polarization Πcirc ∼ √ε[h 2/(M Pl f)] ≤ 1, with ε the slow-roll parameter, H the inflationary Hubble scale, and the upper bound saturated for purely circularly-polarized gravitons. We also find that, in the collapsed limit, the ratio of the two trispectra contains direct information about the graviton's spin. In models beyond standard inflationary dCS, e.g. those with multiple scalar fields or superluminal scalar sound speed, there can be a large enhancement factor F ≳ 106 to the trispectrum. We find that an LSS survey that contains N modes linear modes would place an nσ constraint on Πcirc r of ∼ 0.04 (n/3)(106/F)(106/N modes)1/2 from the parity-odd galaxy trispectrum, for tensor-to-scalar ratio r. We also forecast for several spectroscopic and 21-cm surveys. This constraint implies that, for high-scale single-field inflation parameters, LSS can probe very large dCS decay constants f ≲ 4 × 109 GeV(3/n)(F/106)(N modes/106)1/2. Our result is the first example of a massless particle yielding a parity-odd scalar trispectrum through spin-exchange.

Circularly polarized gravitational waves in Chern-Simons gravity originating from an axion domain wall

Circularly polarized gravitational waves in Chern-Simons gravity originating from an axion domain wall

A new slow-rotating black hole solution in Chern-Simons axion of Einstein gravity

This research aims to incorporate an axionic field within the context of dynamical Chern-Simons (CS) gravity and investigate the behavior of a slowly rotating black hole (BH) within this theoretical framework. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first instance where such a problem has been tackled within the context of (CS) gravitational theory coupled with the axionic field. The Lagrangian of this theory includes two CS scalar field functions, denoted as ω(ϑ) and U(ϑ), where ϑ represents the CS scalar field. Our investigation involves calculating the equation related to the CS scalar field and demonstrating that deriving a solution necessitates imposing constraints on U and ω, specifically in the form of U′=ω, where U′≡dU(ϑ)dϑ. By utilizing the solution for the CS scalar field in other field equations, we reveal that the enigmatic function U can be expressed explicitly as U=ϑ2p+1, where p represents an integer with unrestricted values. In the instance where p=0, the CS Axion Einstein gravity theory [1] aligns with the study carried out in [2]. Furthermore, our analysis establishes that for positive values of p, the theory is capable of generating a significantly potent CS BH compared to the model derived in [2]. Moreover, our study delves into the geodesics of this BH, deriving its conserved quantities, orbital period, as well as its geodesic precession angle.

Three-dimensional hypergravity theories and semigroup expansion method

In this work, we apply the semigroup expansion method of Lie algebras to construct novel and known three-dimensional hypergravity theories. We show that the expansion procedure considered here yields a consistent way of coupling different three-dimensional Chern-Simons gravity theories with massless spin- frac{5}{2} gauge fields. First, by expanding the mathfrak{osp} (1|4) superalgebra with a particular semigroup a generalized hyper-Poincaré algebra is found. Interestingly, the hyper-Poincaré and hyper-Maxwell algebras appear as subalgebras of this generalized hypersymmetry algebra. Then, we show that the generalized hyper-Poincaré CS gravity action can be written as a sum of diverse hypergravity CS Lagrangians. We extend our study to a generalized hyper-AdS gravity theory by considering a different semigroup. Both generalized hyperalgebras are then found to be related through an Inönü-Wigner contraction which can be seen as a generalization of the existing vanishing cosmological constant limit between the hyper-AdS and hyper-Poincaré gravity theories.

Black holes in massive dynamical Chern-Simons gravity: Scalar hair and quasibound states at decoupling

Black holes in massive dynamical Chern-Simons gravity: Scalar hair and quasibound states at decoupling

Scalar-tensor theory with EGB term from Einstein Chern-Simons gravity

It is shown that the compactification á la Randall-Sundrum of the so-called, five-dimensional Einstein-Chern-Simons action gravity leads to an action for a four-dimensional scalar-tensor gravity that includes a Gauss-Bonnet term, which belongs to a particular case of the action of the Horndeski theory. The five-dimensional action includes new gravitational degrees of freedom that were introduced requiring that the action be invariant under symmetries greater than the usual Poincaré or (A)dS symmetries, namely the so-called generalized Poincare algebras B5.

Scalar induced gravitational waves from Chern-Simons gravity during inflation era

We investigate the scalar induced gravitational waves (SIGWs) in the Chern-Simons (CS) gravity with a dynamical scalar field during slow roll inflation. Due to the parity violation in the CS term, the SIGWs are generally polarized, which are effectively characterized by the degree of circular polarization. We derive the semianalytic expression to evaluate the power spectra and the degree of circular polarization of the SIGWs, which receive contributions from the general relativity and the parity-violating term, respectively. We find that the correction from the parity-violating CS term is negligible on large scales, which means that the degree of circular polarization of SIGWs is very small.

Inflationary phenomenology of non-minimally coupled Einstein–Chern–Simons gravity

Inflationary phenomenology of non-minimally coupled Einstein–Chern–Simons gravity

The Hamilton–Jacobi analysis for higher-order Chern–Simons gravity

The Hamilton–Jacobi [ H J ] analysis for higher-order Chern–Simons gravity is performed. The complete set of H J Hamiltonians is identified and a fundamental H J differential is constructed, from which the characteristic equations are obtained. In addition, the symmetries of the theory are identified and the results are compared with other approaches reported in the literature. • We report the Hamilton–Jacobi [HJ] analysis for higher order Chern-simons theory. • We report a fundamental HJ differential. • The complete Hamiltonians are identified. • The generalized HJ brackets are constructed. • The gauge transformations are identified.

The dominating mode of two competing massive modes of quadratic gravity

Over the last two decades, motivations for modified gravity have emerged from both theoretical and observational levels. f(R) and Chern-Simons gravity have received more attention as they are the simplest generalization. However, f(R) and Chern-Simons gravity contain only an additional scalar (spin-0) degree of freedom and, as a result, do not include other modes of modified theories of gravity. In contrast, quadratic gravity (also referred to as Stelle gravity) is the most general second-order modification to 4-D general relativity and contains a massive spin-2 mode that is not present in f(R) and Chern-Simons gravity. Using two different physical settings—the gravitational wave energy-flux measured by the detectors and the backreaction of the emitted gravitational radiation on the spacetime of the remnant black hole—we demonstrate that massive spin-2 mode carries more energy than the spin-0 mode. Our analysis shows that the effects are pronounced for intermediate-mass black holes, which are prime targets for LISA.

Chiral gravitational waves in Palatini-Chern-Simons gravity

We study the parity-breaking higher-curvature gravity theory of Chern-Simons (CS), using the Palatini formulation in which the metric and connection are taken to be independent fields. We first show that Palatini-CS gravity leads to first-order derivative equations of motion and thus avoid the typical instabilities of CS gravity in the metric formalism. As an initial application, we analyze the cosmological propagation of gravitational waves (GWs) in Palatini-CS gravity. We show that, due to parity breaking, the polarizations of GWs suffer two effects during propagation: amplitude birefringence (which changes the polarization ellipticity) and velocity birefringence (which rotates the polarization plane). While amplitude birefringence is known to be present in CS gravity in the metric formalism, velocity birefringence is not present in metric CS gravity for high frequency waves, but now appears in Palatini-CS due to the fact that left-handed and right-handed GW polarizations have a different dispersion relation. In the approximation of small deviations from general relativity (GR), we do find however that velocity birefringence appears at least quadratically in the CS coupling parameter $\ensuremath{\alpha}$, while amplitude birefringence appears linearly in $\ensuremath{\alpha}$. This means that amplitude birefringence will be the most relevant effect in Palatini-CS and hence this model will behave similarly to metric CS. We confirm this by applying current constraints on amplitude and velocity birefringence to Palatini-CS, and showing that those from amplitude birefringence give the tightest bounds.

Shadow revisiting and weak gravitational lensing with Chern-Simons modification

Dynamical Chern-Simons (dCS) gravity has been attracting plenty of attentions due to the fact that it is a parity-violating modified theory of gravity that corresponds to a well-posed effective field theory in weak coupling approximation. In particular, a rotating black hole in dCS gravity is in contrast to the general relativistic counterparts. In this paper, we revisit the shadow of analytical rotating black hole spacetime in dCS modified gravity, based on which we study the shadow observables, discuss the constraint on the model parameters from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations, and analyze the real part of quasi-normal modes (QNMs) in the eikonal limit. In addition, we explore the deflection angle in weak gravitational field limit with the use of Gauss-Bonnet theorem. We find that the shadow related physics and the weak gravitational lensing effect are significantly influenced by the CS coupling, which could provide theoretical predictions for a future test of the dCS theory with EHT observations.

Black hole superradiance in dynamical Chern-Simons gravity

Black hole superradiance provides a window into the dynamics of light scalar fields and their interactions close to a rotating black hole. Due to the rotation of the black hole, the amplitude of the scalar field becomes magnified, leading to a "black hole bomb" effect. Recent work has demonstrated that rotating black holes in dynamical Chern-Simons gravity possess unique structures, the "Chern-Simons caps," which may influence the behavior of matter near the black hole. Motivated by the presence of these caps, we study superradiance in dynamical Chern-Simons gravity in the context of a slowly rotating black hole. We find that additional modes are excited and contribute to the superradiance beyond what is expected for a Kerr black hole. Studying the superradiant spectrum of perturbations, we find that the Chern-Simons contributions give rise to small corrections to the angular dependence of the resulting scalar cloud. Finally, we comment on potential observable consequences and future avenues for investigation.