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Abstract We construct an explicit model for the black hole to white hole transition (known as the black hole fireworks scenario) using the cut-and-paste technique. We model a black hole collapse using the evolution of a time-like shell in the background of the loop quantum gravity inspired metric and then the space-like shell analysis to construct the firework geometry. Our simple and well-defined analysis removes some subtle issues that were present in the previous literature [1] and makes the examination of the junction conditions easier. We further point out that the infalling and asymptotic observers, both in ours and the original scenario in ref. [1], encounter quite different physics. While the proper time of the bounce for an infalling observer can be determined without ambiguity, the bouncing time interval for the asymptotic observer can be chosen arbitrarily by changing how one cuts and pastes the spacetimes outside the event horizons. It is puzzling that the proper time of a distant (rather than infalling) observer is subject to randomness since the infalling observer is supposed to experience a stronger quantum gravity effect. This result might suggest that a black hole firework scenario does not allow for the existence of an effectively classical spacetime inside the horizon. The main message is therefore that even if we strictly follow the thin shell formalism to cut and paste spacetimes, this does not guarantee that the resulting spacetime offers a physically reasonable background. 

A<sc>bstract</sc> We present a calculation of pseudoscalar Higgs production in association with a jet at Next-to-Next-to Leading Order (NNLO) accuracy in QCD. We work in an effective field theory in whichm_t→ ∞ resulting in effective operators which couple the pseudoscalar to gluons and (massless) quarks. We have calculated all of the relevant amplitudes for the two-loop, one-loop and tree-level contributions. As a cross-check of our calculation we have re-calculated all of the scalar Higgs plus parton amplitudes and perform a detailed comparison to the literature. In order to regulate the infra-red singularities present at this order we employ theN-jettiness slicing method. In addition to a detailed validation of our calculation at this order we investigate LHC phenomenology for a selection of pseudoscalar Higgs masses. Our results are implemented into the parton-level Monte Carlo code MCFM. 

A<sc>bstract</sc> We present next-to-leading order perturbative QCD predictions for four-jet-like event-shape observables in hadronic Higgs decays. To this end, we take into account two Higgs-decay categories: involving either the Yukawa-induced decay to a$${\text{b}}\overline{{\text{b}} }$$pair or the loop-induced decay to two gluons via an effective Higgs-gluon-gluon coupling. We present results for distributions related to the event-shape variables thrust minor, light-hemisphere mass, narrow jet broadening,D-parameter, and Durham four-to-three-jet transition variable. For each of these observables we study the impact of higher-order corrections and compare their size and shape in the two Higgs-decay categories. We find large NLO corrections with a visible shape difference between the two decay modes, leading to a significant shift of the peak in distributions related to the H→gg decay mode. 

Abstract We demonstrate that a model with extra dimensions formulated in Csaki et al. (Phys Rev D 62:045015, 2000), which fatefully reproduces Friedmann–Robertson–Walker (FRW) equations on the brane, allows for an apparent superluminal propagation of massless signals. Namely, a massive brane curves the spacetime and affects the trajectory of a signal in a way that allows a signal sent from the brane through the bulk to arrive (upon returning) to a distant point on the brane faster than the light can propagate along the brane. In particular, the signal sent along the brane suffers a greater gravitational time delay than the bulk signal due to the presence of matter on the brane. While the bulk signal never moves with the speed greater than the speed of light in its own locality, this effect still enables one to send signals faster than light from the brane observer’s perspective. For example, this effect might be used to resolve the cosmological horizon problem. In addition, one of the striking observational signatures would be arrival of the same gravitational wave signal at two different times, where the first signals arrives before its electromagnetic counterpart. We used GW170104 gravitational wave event to impose a strong limit on the model with extra dimensions in question. 

Abstract We investigate the Teukolsky equation in horizon-penetrating coordinates to study the behavior of perturbation waves crossing the outer horizon. For this purpose, we use the null ingoing/outgoing Eddington–Finkelstein coordinates. The first derivative of the radial equation is a Fuchsian differential equation with an additional regular singularity to the ones the radial one has. The radial functions satisfy the physical boundary conditions without imposing any regularity conditions. We also observe that the Hertz-Weyl scalar equations preserve their angular and radial signatures in these coordinates. Using the angular equation, we construct the metric perturbation for a circularly orbiting perturber around a black hole in Kerr spacetime in a horizon-penetrating setting. Furthermore, we completed the missing metric pieces due to the massMand angular momentumJperturbations. We also provide an explicit formula for the metric perturbation as a function of the radial part, its derivative, and the angular part of the solution to the Teukolsky equation. Finally, we discuss the importance of the extra singularity in the radial derivative for the convergence of the metric expansion. 

Abstract The Kruskal–Szekeres coordinate construction for the Schwarzschild spacetime could be interpreted simply as a squeezing of thet-line into a single point, at the event horizon $r=2M$. Starting from this perspective, we extend the Kruskal charting to spacetimes with two horizons, in particular the Reissner–Nordström manifold, $M_{\text{RN}}$. We develop a new method to construct Kruskal-like coordinates through casting the metric in new null coordinates, and find two algebraically distinct ways to chart $M_{\text{RN}}$, referred to as classes: type-I and type-II within this work. We pedagogically illustrate our method by crafting two compact, conformal, and global coordinate systems labeled ${\mathrm{GK}}_{\text{I}}$and ${\mathrm{GK}}_{\text{II}}$as an example for each class respectively, and plot the corresponding Penrose diagrams. In both coordinates, the metric differentiability can be promoted to $C^{\mathrm{\infty }}$in a straightforward way. Finally, the conformal metric factor can be written explicitly in terms of thetandrfunctions for both types of charts. We also argued that the chart recently reported in Soltani (2023 arXiv:2307.11026) could be viewed as another example for the type-II classification, similar to ${\mathrm{GK}}_{\text{II}}$. 

We consider the possibility that the cosmic neutrino background might have a nonthermal spectrum, and investigate its effect on cosmological parameters relative to standard $$\Lambda$$-Cold Dark Matter ($$\Lambda$$CDM) cosmology. As a specific model, we consider a thermal $$y$$-distortion, which alters the distribution function of the neutrino background by depleting the population of low-energy neutrinos and enhancing the high-energy tail. We constrain the thermal $$y$$-parameter of the cosmic neutrino background using Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) measurements, and place a $$95\%$$-confidence upper bound of $$y \leq 0.043$$. The $$y$$-parameter increases the number of effective relativistic degrees of freedom, reducing the sound horizon radius and increasing the best-fit value for the Hubble constant $$H_0$$. We obtain an upper bound on the Hubble constant of $$H_0 = 71.12\ \mathrm{km/s/Mpc}$$ at $$95\%$$ confidence, substantially reducing the tension between CMB/BAO constraints and direct measurement of the expansion rate from Type-Ia supernovae. Including a spectral distortion also allows for a higher value of the spectral index of scalar fluctuations, with a best-fit of $$n_{\mathrm{S}} = 0.9720 \pm 0.0063$$, and a $$95\%$$-confidence upper bound of $$n_{\mathrm{S}} \leq 0.9842$$. 

We present a methodology to streamline implementation of massive-quark radiative contributions in calculations with a variable number of active partons in proton-proton collisions. The methodology introduces and heavy-quark parton distribution functions (PDFs) to implement calculations in the Aivazis–Collins–Olness–Tung (ACOT) factorization scheme and its simplified realization in various processes up to the next-to-the-next-to-leading order in the QCD coupling strength. Interpolation tables for bottom-quark subtraction and residual distributions for CT18 NLO and NNLO PDF ensembles are provided in the common LHAPDF6 format. A numerical calculation of $Z$-boson production with at least one $b$jet at the Large Hadron Collider beyond the lowest order in QCD is considered for illustration purposes. Published by the American Physical Society2024