Modified Eddington-inspired-Born-Infeld Gravity with a Trace Term

In this paper, a modified Eddington-inspired-Born-Infeld (EiBI) theory with a pure trace term $g_{\mu\nu}R$ being added to the determinantal action is analysed from a cosmological point of view. It corresponds to the most general action constructed from a rank two tensor that contains up to first order terms in curvature. This term can equally be seen as a conformal factor multiplying the metric $g_{\mu\nu}$. This very interesting type of amendment has not been considered within the Palatini formalism despite the large amount of works on the Born-Infeld-inspired theory of gravity. This model can provide smooth bouncing solutions which were not allowed in the EiBI model for the same EiBI coupling. Most interestingly, for a radiation filled universe there are some regions of the parameter space that can naturally lead to a de Sitter inflationary stage without the need of any exotic matter field. Finally, in this model we discover a new type of cosmic "quasi-sudden" singularity, where the cosmic time derivative of the Hubble rate becomes very large but finite at a finite cosmic time.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures, RevTex4-1. References added and discussion extended. Version accepted in EPJ

Formation of Magnetized Prestellar Cores with Ambipolar Diffusion and Turbulence

We investigate the roles of magnetic fields and ambipolar diffusion during prestellar core formation in turbulent giant molecular clouds (GMCs), using three-dimensional numerical simulations. Our simulations focus on the shocked layer produced by a converging flow within a GMC, and survey varying ionization and angle between the upstream flow and magnetic field. We also include ideal magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) and hydrodynamic models. From our simulations, we identify hundreds of self-gravitating cores that form within 1 Myr, with masses M ~ 0.04 - 2.5 solar-mass and sizes L ~ 0.015 - 0.07 pc, consistent with observations of the peak of the core mass function (CMF). Median values are M = 0.47 solar-mass and L = 0.03 pc. Core masses and sizes do not depend on either the ionization or upstream magnetic field direction. In contrast, the mass-to-magnetic flux ratio does increase with lower ionization, from twice to four times the critical value. The higher mass-to-flux ratio for low ionization is the result of enhanced transient ambipolar diffusion when the shocked layer first forms. However, ambipolar diffusion is not necessary to form low-mass supercritical cores. For ideal MHD, we find similar masses to other cases. These masses are 1 - 2 orders of magnitude lower than the value that defines a magnetically supercritical sphere under post-shock ambient conditions. This discrepancy is the result of anisotropic contraction along field lines, which is clearly evident in both ideal MHD and diffusive simulations. We interpret our numerical findings using a simple scaling argument which suggests that gravitationally critical core masses will depend on the sound speed and mean turbulent pressure in a cloud, regardless of magnetic effects.Comment: 41 pages, 14 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa

Probing Palatini-type gravity theories through gravitational wave detections via quasinormal modes

The possibility of testing gravity theories with the help of gravitational wave detections has become an interesting arena of recent research. In this paper, we follow this direction by investigating the quasinormal modes (QNMs) of the axial perturbations for charged black holes in the Palatini-type theories of gravity, specifically ($i$) the Palatini $f(R)$ gravity coupled with Born-Infeld nonlinear electrodynamics and ($ii$) the Eddington-inspired-Born-Infeld gravity (EiBI) coupled with Maxwell electromagnetic fields. The coupled master equations describing perturbations of charged black holes in these theories are obtained with the tetrad formalism. By using the Wentzel-Kramers- Brillouin (WKB) method up to 6th order, we calculate the QNM frequencies of the EiBI charged black holes, the Einstein-Born-Infeld black holes, and the Born-Infeld charged black holes within the Palatini $R+\alpha R^2$ gravity. The QNM spectra of these black holes would deviate from those of the Reissner-Nordstr\"om black hole. In addition, we study the QNMs in the eikonal limit and find that for the axial perturbations of the EiBI charged black holes, the link between the eikonal QNMs and the unstable null circular orbit around the black hole is violated.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure