Estimating the parameters of the Sgr A* black hole

The measurement of relativistic effects around the galactic center may allow in the near future to strongly constrain the parameters of the supermassive black hole likely present at the galactic center (Sgr A*). As a by-product of these measurements it would be possible to severely constrain, in addition, also the parameters of the mass-density distributions of both the innermost star cluster and the dark matter clump around the galactic center.Comment: Accepted for publication on General Relativity and Gravitation, 2010. 11 Pages, 1 Figur

Gravitational Lensing by Black Holes

We review the theoretical aspects of gravitational lensing by black holes, and discuss the perspectives for realistic observations. We will first treat lensing by spherically symmetric black holes, in which the formation of infinite sequences of higher order images emerges in the clearest way. We will then consider the effects of the spin of the black hole, with the formation of giant higher order caustics and multiple images. Finally, we will consider the perspectives for observations of black hole lensing, from the detection of secondary images of stellar sources and spots on the accretion disk to the interpretation of iron K-lines and direct imaging of the shadow of the black hole.Comment: Invited article for the GRG special issue on lensing (P. Jetzer, Y. Mellier and V. Perlick Eds.). 31 pages, 12 figure

f(R)f(R) gravity constrained by PPN parameters and stochastic background of gravitational waves

We analyze seven different viable $f(R)$-gravities towards the Solar System tests and stochastic gravitational waves background. The aim is to achieve experimental bounds for the theory at local and cosmological scales in order to select models capable of addressing the accelerating cosmological expansion without cosmological constant but evading the weak field constraints. Beside large scale structure and galactic dynamics, these bounds can be considered complimentary in order to select self-consistent theories of gravity working at the infrared limit. It is demonstrated that seven viable $f(R)$-gravities under consideration not only satisfy the local tests, but additionally, pass the above PPN-and stochastic gravitational waves bounds for large classes of parameters.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figure

Constraining the electric charges of some astronomical bodies in Reissner-Nordstrom spacetimes and generic r^-2-type power-law potentials from orbital motions

We put model-independent, dynamical constraints on the net electric charge Q of some astronomical and astrophysical objects by assuming that their exterior spacetimes are described by the Reissner-Nordstroem metric, which induces an additional potential U_RN \propto Q^2 r^-2. Our results extend to other hypothetical power-law interactions inducing extra-potentials U_pert = r^-2 as well (abridged).Comment: LaTex2e, 16 pages, 3 figures, no tables, 128 references. Version matching the one at press in General Relativity and Gravitation (GRG). arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1112.351

Formation of dense partonic matter in relativistic nucleus-nucleus collisions at RHIC: Experimental evaluation by the PHENIX collaboration

Extensive experimental data from high-energy nucleus-nucleus collisions were recorded using the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). The comprehensive set of measurements from the first three years of RHIC operation includes charged particle multiplicities, transverse energy, yield ratios and spectra of identified hadrons in a wide range of transverse momenta (p_T), elliptic flow, two-particle correlations, non-statistical fluctuations, and suppression of particle production at high p_T. The results are examined with an emphasis on implications for the formation of a new state of dense matter. We find that the state of matter created at RHIC cannot be described in terms of ordinary color neutral hadrons.Comment: 510 authors, 127 pages text, 56 figures, 1 tables, LaTeX. Submitted to Nuclear Physics A as a regular article; v3 has minor changes in response to referee comments. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm

A Kinematical Approach to Conformal Cosmology

We present an alternative cosmology based on conformal gravity, as originally introduced by H. Weyl and recently revisited by P. Mannheim and D. Kazanas. Unlike past similar attempts our approach is a purely kinematical application of the conformal symmetry to the Universe, through a critical reanalysis of fundamental astrophysical observations, such as the cosmological redshift and others. As a result of this novel approach we obtain a closed-form expression for the cosmic scale factor R(t) and a revised interpretation of the space-time coordinates usually employed in cosmology. New fundamental cosmological parameters are introduced and evaluated. This emerging new cosmology does not seem to possess any of the controversial features of the current standard model, such as the presence of dark matter, dark energy or of a cosmological constant, the existence of the horizon problem or of an inflationary phase. Comparing our results with current conformal cosmologies in the literature, we note that our kinematic cosmology is equivalent to conformal gravity with a cosmological constant at late (or early) cosmological times. The cosmic scale factor and the evolution of the Universe are described in terms of several dimensionless quantities, among which a new cosmological variable delta emerges as a natural cosmic time. The mathematical connections between all these quantities are described in details and a relationship is established with the original kinematic cosmology by L. Infeld and A. Schild. The mathematical foundations of our kinematical conformal cosmology will need to be checked against current astrophysical experimental data, before this new model can become a viable alternative to the standard theory.Comment: Improved version, with minor changes. 58 pages, including 7 figures and one table. Accepted for publication in General Relativity and Gravitation (GERG

Studies of jet quenching using isolated-photon + jet correlations in PbPb and pp collisions at sqrt(s[NN]) = 2.76 TeV

Results from the first study of isolated-photon + jet correlations in relativistic heavy ion collisions are reported. The analysis uses data from PbPb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 2.76 TeV per nucleon pair corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 150 inverse microbarns recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC. For events containing an isolated photon with transverse momentum pt(gamma) > 60 GeV and an associated jet with pt(Jet) > 30 GeV, the photon + jet pt imbalance is studied as a function of collision centrality and compared to pp data and PYTHIA calculations at the same collision energy. Using the pt(gamma) of the isolated photon as an estimate of the momentum of the associated parton at production, this measurement allows an unbiased characterisation of the in-medium parton energy loss. For more central PbPb collisions, a significant decrease in the ratio pt(Jet)/pt(gamma) relative to that in the PYTHIA reference is observed. Furthermore, significantly more pt(gamma) > 60 GeV photons in PbPb are observed not to have an associated pt(Jet) > 30 GeV jet, compared to the reference. However, no significant broadening of the photon + jet azimuthal correlation is observed.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters