Abstract: We generalize the Chern-Simons modified gravity to the metric-affine case and impose projective invariance by supplementing the Pontryagin density with homothetic curvature terms which do not spoil topologicity. The latter is then broken by promoting the coupling of the Chern-Simons term to a (pseudo)-scalar field. The solutions for torsion and nonmetricity are derived perturbatively, showing that they can be iteratively obtained from the background fields. This allows us to describe the dynamics for the metric and the scalar field perturbations in a self-consistent way, and we apply the formalism to the study of quasi normal modes in a Schwarzschild black hole background. Unlike in the metric formulation of this theory, we show that the scalar field is endowed with dynamics even in the absence of its kinetic term in the action. Finally, using numerical methods we compute the quasinormal frequencies and characterize the late-time power law tails for scalar and metric perturbations, comparing the results with the outcomes of the purely metric approach.

Abstract: Scatterings of galactic dark matter (DM) particles with the constituents of celestial bodies could result in their accumulation within these objects. Nevertheless, the finite temperature of the medium sets a minimum mass, the evaporation mass, that DM particles must have in order to remain trapped. DM particles below this mass are very likely to scatter to speeds higher than the escape velocity, so they would be kicked out of the capturing object and escape. Here, we compute the DM evaporation mass for all spherical celestial bodies in hydrostatic equilibrium, spanning the mass range [10(-)(10) – 10(2)] M-circle dot, for constant scattering cross sections and s-wave annihilations. We illustrate the critical importance of the exponential tail of the evaporation rate, which has not always been appreciated in recent literature, and obtain a robust result: for the geometric value of the scattering cross section and for interactions with nucleons, at the local galactic position, the DM evaporation mass for all spherical celestial bodies in hydrostatic equilibrium is approximately given by E-c/T-chi similar to 30, where E-c is the escape energy of DM particles at the core of the object and T-chi is their temperature. In that case, the minimum value of the DM evaporation mass is obtained for super-Jupiters and brown dwarfs, m(ev)(ap) similar or equal to 0.7 GeV. For other values of the scattering cross section, the DM evaporation mass only varies by a factor smaller than three within the range 10(-41) cm(2) <= sigma(p) <= 10(-31) cm(2), where sigma(p) is the spin-independent DM-nucleon scattering cross section. Its dependence on parameters such as the galactic DM density and velocity, or the scattering and annihilation cross sections is only logarithmic, and details on the density and temperature profiles of celestial bodies have also a small impact.

Abstract: The large distances travelled by neutrinos emitted from the Sun and core -collapse supernovae together with the characteristic energy of such neutrinos provide ideal conditions to probe their lifetime, when the decay products evade detection. We investigate the prospects of probing invisible neutrino decay capitalising on the detection of solar and supernova neutrinos as well as the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB) in the next -generation neutrino observatories Hyper-Kamiokande, DUNE, JUNO, DARWIN, and RES-NOVA. We find that future solar neutrino data will be sensitive to values of the lifetime -to -mass ratio tau 1 /m 1 and tau 2 /m 2 of O(10 – 1 -10 – 2 ) s/eV. From a core -collapse supernova explosion at 10 kpc, lifetime -to -mass ratios of the three mass eigenstates of O(10 5 ) s/eV could be tested. After 20 years of data taking, the DSNB would extend the sensitivity reach of tau 1 /m 1 to 10 8 s/eV. These results promise an improvement of about 6-15 orders of magnitude on the values of the decay parameters with respect to existing limits.