Gravitational Waves from Accretion-Induced Descalarization in Massive Scalar-Tensor Theory

Many classes of extended scalar-tensor theories predict that dynamical instabilities can take place at high energies, leading to the formation of scalarized neutron stars. Depending on the theory parameters, stars in a scalarized state can form a solution-space branch that shares a lot of similarities with the so-called mass twins in general relativity appearing for equations of state containing first-order phase transitions. Members of this scalarized branch have a lower maximum mass and central energy density compared to Einstein ones. In such cases, a scalarized star could potentially overaccrete beyond the critical mass limit, thus triggering a gravitational phase transition where the star sheds its scalar hair and migrates over to its nonscalarized counterpart. Such an event resembles, but is distinct from, a nuclear or thermodynamic phase transition. We dynamically track a gravitational transition by first constructing hydrostatic, scalarized equilibria for realistic equations of state, and then allowing additional material to fall onto the stellar surface. The resulting bursts of monopolar radiation are dispersively stretched to form a quasicontinuous signal that persists for decades, carrying strains of order ≳10^{-22}  (kpc/L)^{3/2} Hz^{-1/2} at frequencies of ≲300  Hz, detectable with the existing interferometer network out to distances of L≲10  kpc, and out to a few hundred kpc with the inclusion of the Einstein Telescope. Electromagnetic signatures of such events, involving gamma-ray and neutrino bursts, are also considered.

Dynamical Formation of Scalarized Black Holes and Neutron Stars through Stellar Core Collapse

In a certain class of scalar-Gauss-Bonnet gravity, the black holes and the neutron stars can undergo spontaneous scalarization-a strong gravity phase transition triggered by a tachyonic instability due to the nonminimal coupling between the scalar field and the spacetime curvature. Studies of this phenomenon have, so far, been restricted mainly to the study of the tachyonic instability and stationary scalarized black holes and neutron stars. To date, no realistic physical mechanism for the formation of isolated scalarized black holes and neutron stars has been proposed. We study, for the first time, the spherically symmetric fully nonlinear stellar core collapse to a black hole and a neutron star in scalar-Gauss-Bonnet theories allowing for a spontaneous scalarization. We show that the core collapse can produce scalarized black holes and scalarized neutron stars starting with a nonscalarized progenitor star. The possible paths to reach the end (non)scalarized state are quite rich leading to interesting possibilities for observational manifestations.

Tidal Love numbers of neutron stars in f(R) gravity

The recent detection of gravitational waves from a neutron star merger was a significant step towards constraining the nuclear matter equation of state by using the tidal Love numbers (TLNs) of the merging neutron stars. Measuring or constraining the neutron star TLNs allows us in principle to exclude or constraint many equations of state. This approach, however, has the drawback that many modified theories of gravity could produce deviations from General Relativity similar to the deviations coming from the uncertainties in the equation of state. The first and the most natural step in resolving the mentioned problem is to quantify the effects on the TLNs from the modifications of General Relativity. With this motivation in mind, in the present paper we calculate the TLNs of (non-rotating) neutron stars in R 2 -gravity. More precisely, by solving numerically the perturbation equations, we calculate explicitly the polar and the axial l = 2 TLNs for three characteristic realistic equations of state and compare the results to General Relativity. Our results show that while the polar TLNs are slightly influenced by the R 2 modification of General Relativity, the axial TLNs can be several times larger (in terms of the absolute value) compared to the general relativistic case.

Static and slowly rotating neutron stars in scalar-tensor theory with self-interacting massive scalar field

Binary pulsar observations and gravitational wave detections seriously constrained scalar-tensor theories with massless scalar field allowing only small deviations from general relativity. If we consider a nonzero mass of the scalar field, though, significant deviations from general relativity are allowed for values of the parameters that are in agreement with the observations. In the present paper we extend this idea and we study scalar-tensor theory with massive field with self-interaction term in the potential. The additional term suppresses the scalar field in the neutron star models in addition to the effect of the mass of the scalar field but still, large deviations from pure GR can be observed for values of the parameters that are in agreement with the observations.

New Gauss-Bonnet Black Holes with Curvature-Induced Scalarization in Extended Scalar-Tensor Theories

In the present Letter, we consider a class of extended scalar-tensor-Gauss-Bonnet (ESTGB) theories for which the scalar degree of freedom is excited only in the extreme curvature regime. We show that in the mentioned class of ESTGB theories there exist new black-hole solutions that are formed by spontaneous scalarization of the Schwarzschild black holes in the extreme curvature regime. In this regime, below certain mass, the Schwarzschild solution becomes unstable and a new branch of solutions with a nontrivial scalar field bifurcates from the Schwarzschild one. As a matter of fact, more than one branch with a nontrivial scalar field can bifurcate at different masses, but only the first one is supposed to be stable. This effect is quite similar to the spontaneous scalarization of neutron stars. In contrast to the standard spontaneous scalarization of neutron stars, which is induced by the presence of matter, in our case, the scalarization is induced by the curvature of the spacetime.

Connection between black-hole quasinormal modes and lensing in the strong deflection limit

The purpose of the current Letter is to give some relations between gravitational lensing in the strong-deflection limit and the frequencies of the quasinormal modes of spherically symmetric, asymptotically flat black holes. On the one side, the relations obtained can give a physical interpretation of the strong-deflection limit parameters. On the other side, they also give an alternative method for the measurement of the frequencies of the quasinormal modes of spherically symmetric, asymptotically flat black holes. They could be applied to the localization of the sources of gravitational waves and could tell us what frequencies of the gravitational waves we could expect from a black hole acting simultaneously as a gravitational lens and a source of gravitational waves.