The Averaging Problem in Cosmology and Macroscopic Gravity
Roustam Zalaletdinov
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8 pages, LaTeX, ws-ijmpa.cls, few style and typo corrections. Based on the plenary talk given at the Second Stueckelberg Workshop, ICRANet Coordinating Center, Pescara, Italy, September 3-7, 2007. To appear in International Journal of Modern Physics A (2008)
The averaging problem in cosmology and the approach of macroscopic gravity to resolve the problem is discussed. The averaged Einstein equations of macroscopic gravity are modified on cosmological scales by the macroscopic gravitational correlation tensor terms as compared with the Einstein equations of general relativity. This correlation tensor satisfies a system of structure and field equations. An exact cosmological solution to the macroscopic gravity equations for a constant macroscopic gravitational connection correlation tensor for a flat spatially homogeneous, isotropic macroscopic space-time is presented. The correlation tensor term in the macroscopic Einstein equations has been found to take the form of either a negative or positive spatial curvature term. Thus, macroscopic gravity provides a cosmological model for a flat spatially homogeneous, isotropic Universe which obeys the dynamical law for either an open or closed Universe.
The Averaging problem in general relativity and cosmology is discussed. The approach of macroscopic gravity to resolve the problem is presented. An exact cosmological solution to the equations of macroscopic gravity is given and its properties are discussed. Contents: 1. Introduction to General Relativity 2. General Relativity -> Relativistic Cosmology 3. Introduction to Relativistic Cosmology 4. Relativistic Cosmology -> Mathematical Cosmology 5. Averaging Problem in Relativistic Cosmology 6. History of the Averaging Problem 7. Averaging and FLRW Cosmologies 8. Averaging Problem in General Re…
We present a new approach for averaging in general relativity and cosmology. After a short review of the theory originally taken from the equivalence problem, we consider two ways how to deal with averaging based on Cartan scalars. We apply the theory for two different LTB models. In the first one, correlation term behaves as a positive cosmological constant, in the second example leading correlation term behaves like spatial curvature. We also show nontriviality of averaging for linearized monochromatic gravitational wave.
Several problems in physics, in particular the averaging problem in gravity, can be described in a formalism derived from the real-space Renormalization Group (RG) methods. It is shown that the RG flow is provided by the Ricci-Hamilton equations which are thereby provided with a {\it physical} interpretation. The connection between a manifold deformation according to these equations and Thurston's conjecture is exhibited. The significance of criticality which naturally appears in this framework is briefly discussed. This article summarizes also recent work with M. Carfora. Moreover, a report o…
We investigate the averaging problem in cosmology as the problem of introducing a distance between spaces. We first introduce the spectral distance, which is a measure of closeness between spaces defined in terms of the spectra of the Laplacian. Then we define a space S, the space of all spaces equipped with the spectral distance. We argue that this space S can be regarded as a metric space and that it also possess other desirable properties. These facts make the space S a suitable arena for spacetime physics. We apply the spectral framework to the averaging problem: We sketch the model-fittin…
Based on the macroscopic equations of cosmological evolution obtained earlier by the Author, a closed system of macroscopic Einstein equations in the short-wave approximation for perturbations of the scalar Higgs and gravitational fields has been obtained and examined. The obtained exact solutions of macroscopic equations are determined by three microscopic parameters, depending on the spectrum of perturbations.
The question of the averaging of inhomogeneous spacetimes in cosmology is important for the correct interpretation of cosmological data. In this paper we suggest a conceptually simpler approach to averaging in cosmology based on the averaging of scalars within unimodular gravity. As an illustration, we consider the example of an exact spherically symmetric dust model, and show that within this approach averaging introduces correlations (corrections) to the effective dynamical evolution equation in the form of a spatial curvature term.
In this paper we discuss the effect of local inhomogeneities on the global expansion of nearly FLRW universes, in a perturbative setting. We derive a generic linearized averaging operation for metric perturbations from basic assumptions, and we explicify the issue of gauge invariance. We derive a gauge invariant expression for the back-reaction of density inhomogeneities on the global expansion of perturbed FLRW spacetimes, in terms of observable quantities, and we calculate the effect quantitatively. Since we do not adopt a comoving gauge, our result incorporates the back-reaction on the metr…
The averaging problem in general relativity is briefly discussed. A new setting of the problem as that of macroscopic description of gravitation is proposed. A covariant space-time averaging procedure is described. The structure of the geometry of macroscopic space-time, which follows from averaging Cartan's structure equations, is described and the correlation tensors present in the theory are discussed. The macroscopic field equations (averaged Einstein's equations) derived in the framework of the approach are presented and their structure is analysed. The correspondence principle for macros…
We introduce the notion of general K=-1 Friedman-Lemaître (compact) cosmologies and the notion of averaged evolution by means of an averaging map. We then analyze the Friedman-Lemaître equations and the role of gravitational energy on the universe evolution. We distinguish two asymptotic behaviors: radiative and mass gap. We discuss the averaging problem in cosmology for them through precise definitions. We then describe in quantitative detail the radiative case, stressing on precise estimations on the evolution of the gravitational energy and its effect in the universe's deceleration. Also in…
This thesis deals with the averaging problem in cosmology, which has gained considerable interest in recent years, and is concerned with correction terms (after averaging inhomogeneities) that appear in the Einstein equations when working on the large scales appropriate for cosmology. It has been claimed in the literature that these terms may account for the phenomenon of dark energy which causes the late time universe to accelerate. We investigate the nature of these terms by using averaging schemes available in the literature and further developed to be applicable to the problem at hand. We …
We propose comparing cosmological solutions in terms of their total spatial volumes $V(τ)$ as functions of proper time $τ$, assuming synchronous gauge, and with this intention evaluate the variations of $V(τ)$ about the Friedmann-Lema\^ıtre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) solutions for dust. This can be done successfully in a simple manner without solving perturbation equations. In particular, we find that first variations vanish with respect to all directions which do not possess homogeneity and isotropy preserving components; in other words, every FLRW solution is a {\it critical point} for $V(τ)$ i…
The Hubble tension cast a blight on the standard cosmology. As a possible attitude to the problem, the local variation of the expansion rate in an inhomogeneous cosmology has been proposed where the spatial averaging over a finite domain was introduced in order to construct local Friedmann spacetime. However, it is not clear that the concept of the spatial averaging itself is gauge invariant or not. Namely the conclusion obtained by the averaging in a particular gauge is physically meaningful or not. In this paper we address this question, namely the gauge invariance of the spatial averaging i…
Structure occurs over a vast range of scales in the universe. Our large-scale cosmological models are coarse-grained representations of what exists, which have much less structure than there really is. An important problem for cosmology is determining the influence the small-scale structure in the universe has on its large-scale dynamics and observations. Is there a significant, general relativistic, backreaction effect from averaging over structure? One issue is whether the process of smoothing over structure can contribute to an acceleration term and so alter the apparent value of the cosmol…
A consistent approach to Cosmology requires an explicit averaging of the Einstein equations, to describe a homogeneous and isotropic geometry. Such an averaging will in general modify the Einstein equations. The averaging procedure due to Buchert has attracted considerable attention recently since it offers the tantalizing hope of explaining the phenomenon of dark energy through such corrections. This approach has been criticized, however, on the grounds that its effects may be gauge artifacts. We apply the fully covariant formalism of Zalaletdinov's Macroscopic Gravity and show that, after ma…
The basic concepts and equations of Newtonian Cosmology are presented in the form necessary for the derivation and analysis of the averaged Navier-Stokes-Poisson equations. A particular attention is paid to the physical and cosmological hypotheses about the structure of Newtonian universes. The system of the Navier-Stokes-Poisson equations governing the cosmological dynamics of Newtonian universes is presented and discussed. A reformulation of the Navier-Stokes-Poisson equations in terms of the fluid kinematic quantities is given and the structure of this system of equations is analyzed.
The backreaction of inhomogeneities on the cosmic dynamics is studied in the context of scalar-tensor gravity. Due to terms of indefinite sign in the non-canonical effective energy tensor of the Brans-Dicke-like scalar field, extra contributions to the cosmic acceleration can arise. Brans-Dicke and metric f(R) gravity are presented as specific examples. Certain representation problems of the formalism peculiar to these theories are pointed out.
The problems of coarse-graining and averaging of inhomogeneous cosmologies, and their backreaction on average cosmic evolution, are reviewed from a physical viewpoint. A particular focus is placed on comparing different notions of average spatial homogeneity, and on the interpretation of observational results. Among the physical questions we consider are: the nature of an average Copernican principle, the role of Mach's principle, the issue of quasilocal gravitational energy and the different roles of spacetime, spatial and null cone averages. The observational interpretation of the timescape …
In the macroscopic gravity approach to the averaging problem in cosmology, the Einstein field equations on cosmological scales are modified by appropriate gravitational correlation terms. We study the averaging problem within the class of spherically symmetric cosmological models. That is, we shall take the microscopic equations and effect the averaging procedure to determine the precise form of the correlation tensor in this case. In particular, by working in volume preserving coordinates, we calculate the form of the correlation tensor under some reasonable assumptions on the form for the in…
Quantum cosmology is traditionally formulated in a minisuperspace setting, implicitly averaging fields over space to obtain homogeneous models. For universal reasons related to the uncertainty principle, quantum corrections then depend on the size of the averaging volume. In minisuperspace truncations, the value of this volume remains an arbitrary parameter devoid of physical meaning, but in an effective field theory it is identified with the infrared scale of inhomogeneous modes. Moreover, the infrared scale is running during gravitational collapse, when regions in which homogeneity remains a…
We construct cosmological models consisting of large numbers of identical, regularly spaced masses. These models do not rely on any averaging procedures, or on the existence of a global Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) background. They are solutions of Einstein's equations up to higher order corrections in a perturbative expansion, and have large-scale dynamics that are well modelled by the Friedmann equation. We find that the existence of arbitrarily large density contrasts does not change either the magnitude or scale of the background expansion, at least when masses are regularly arranged, …
We investigate the scale-dependence of Eulerian volume averages of scalar functions on Riemannian three-manifolds. We propose a complementary view of a Lagrangian scaling of variables as opposed to their Eulerian averaging on spatial domains. This program explains rigorously the origin of the Ricci deformation flow for the metric, a flow which, on heuristic grounds, has been already suggested as a possible candidate for averaging the initial data set for cosmological spacetimes.
We present a general gauge invariant formalism for defining cosmological averages that are relevant for observations based on light-like signals. Such averages involve either null hypersurfaces corresponding to a family of past light-cones or compact surfaces given by their intersection with timelike hypersurfaces. Generalized Buchert-Ehlers commutation rules for derivatives of these light-cone averages are given. After introducing some adapted "geodesic light-cone" coordinates, we give explicit expressions for averaging the redshift to luminosity-distance relation and the so-called "redshift …
We introduce a generalization of the 4-dimensional averaging window function of Gasperini, Marozzi and Veneziano (2010) that may prove useful for a number of applications. The covariant nature of spatial scalar averaging schemes to address the averaging problem in relativistic cosmology is an important property that is implied by construction, but usually remains implicit. We employ here the approach of Gasperini et al. for two reasons. First, the formalism and its generalization presented here are manifestly covariant. Second, the formalism is convenient for disentangling the dependencies on …
The definition of the covariant space-time averaging scheme for the objects (tensors, geometric objects, etc.) on differentiable metric manifolds with a volume n-form, which has been proposed for the formulation of macroscopic gravity, is analyzed. An overview of the space-time averaging procedure in Minkowski spacetime is given and comparison between this averaging scheme and that adopted in macroscopic gravity is carried out throughout the paper. Some new results concerning the algebraic structure of the averaging operator are precisely formulated and proved, the main one being that the aver…
It is known that any explicit averaging scheme of the type essential for describing the large scale behaviour of the Universe, must necessarily yield corrections to the Einstein equations applied in the Cosmological setting. The question of whether or not the resulting corrections to the Einstein equations are significant, is still a subject of debate, partly due to possible ambiguities in the averaging schemes available. In particular, it has been argued in the literature that the effects of averaging could be gauge artifacts. We apply the formalism of Zalaletdinov's Macroscopic Gravity (MG) …
The present matter density of the Universe, while highly inhomogeneous on small scales, displays approximate homogeneity on large scales. We propose that whereas it is justified to use the Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) line element (which describes an exactly homogeneous and isotropic universe) as a template to construct luminosity distances in order to compare observations with theory, the evolution of the scale factor in such a construction must be governed not by the standard Einstein equations for the FLRW metric, but by the modified Friedmann equations derived by Buchert [7, …
The averaging of the dynamic functions of the standard cosmological model (SCM) at its early stage with the dominance of the scalar field is carried out. It is shown that microscopic oscillations with Compton period provide the major contribution to the macroscopic energy density of the scalar field at large times at this stage. In this case, the effective equation of state of the scalar field oscillates between the inflationary and the extremely rigid ones, while the macroscopic equation of state is non-relativistic.
We discuss the construction of cosmological models within the framework of Macroscopic Gravity (MG), which is a theory that models the effects of averaging the geometry of space-time on large scales. We find new exact spatially homogeneous and isotropic FLRW solutions to the MG field equations, and investigate large-scale perturbations around them. We find that any inhomogeneous perturbations to the averaged geometry are severely restricted, but that possible anisotropies in the correlation tensor can have dramatic consequences for the measurement of distances. These calculations are a first s…
A general quantum constraint of the form $C= - \partial_T^2 \otimes B - I\otimes H$ (realized in particular in Loop Quantum Cosmology models) is studied. Group Averaging is applied to define the Hilbert space of solutions and the relational Dirac observables. Two cases are considered. In the first case, the spectrum of the operator $(1/2)π^2 B - H$ is assumed to be discrete. The quantum theory defined by the constraint takes the form of a Schroedinger-like quantum mechanics with a generalized Hamiltonian $\sqrt{B^{-1} H}$. In the second case, the spectrum is absolutely continuous and some pecu…
The averaging problem in cosmology is of considerable importance for the correct interpretation of cosmological data. We review cosmological observations and discuss some of the issues regarding averaging. We present a precise definition of a cosmological model and a rigorous mathematical definition of averaging, based entirely in terms of scalar invariants.
The exact solution of a two-scale Buchert average of the Einstein equations is derived for an inhomogeneous universe which represents a close approximation to the observed universe. The two scales represent voids, and the bubble walls surrounding them within which clusters of galaxies are located. As described elsewhere [gr-qc/0702082], apparent cosmic acceleration can be recognised as a consequence of quasilocal gravitational energy gradients between observers in bound systems and the volume average position in freely expanding space. With this interpretation, the new solution presented here …
The complete theory of cosmological evolution's macroscopic description is constructed with a help of self-consistent field. The theory includes a subsystem of linear equations of perturbations' evolution and nonlinear macroscopic Einstein equations and equations of a scalar field. We provide examples of system's solution which show the principal difference of the cosmological models of the early Universe built on homogenous and locally fluctuating scalar fields. {\bf Keywords}: macroscopic gravitation, self-consistent field, cosmological model, scalar fields, averaging of local fluctuations, …
The meaning of `tunneling' in a timeless theory such as quantum cosmology is discussed. A recent suggestion of `tunneling' of the macroscopic universe at the classical turning point is analyzed in an anisotropic and inhomogeneous toy model. This `inhomogeneous tunneling' is a local process which cannot be interpreted as a tunneling of the universe.
Averaged inhomogeneous cosmologies lie at the forefront of interest, since cosmological parameters like the rate of expansion or the mass density are to be considered as volume-averaged quantities and only these can be compared with observations. For this reason the relevant parameters are intrinsically scale-dependent and one wishes to control this dependence without restricting the cosmological model by unphysical assumptions. In the latter respect we contrast our way to approach the averaging problem in relativistic cosmology with shortcomings of averaged Newtonian models. Explicitly, we in…
The tool of functional averaging over some ``large'' diffeomorphisms is used to describe quantum systems with constraints, in particular quantum cosmology, in the language of quantum Effective Action. Simple toy models demonstrate a supposedly general phenomenon: the presence of a constraint results in ``quantum repel'' from the classical mass shell.
Through averaging the Einstein equations over transverse gravitational perturbations it is obtained a closed system of two ordinary differential equations describing macroscopic cosmological evolution of the isotropic space-flat Universe filled with gravitational radiation. It is found an asymptotic solution of evolution equation for gravitational perturbation amplitude. Making the substitution of this solution into Einstein equation averaged over gravitational perturbations, the single evolution non-linear ordinary differential second-order equation relative to macroscopic scale factor is obt…
We introduce a simple and straight-forward averaging procedure, which is a generalization of one which is commonly used in electrodynamics, and show that it possesses all the characteristics we require for linearized averaging in general relativity and cosmology -- for weak-field and perturbed FLRW situations. In particular we demonstrate that it yields quantities which are approximately tensorial in these situations, and that its application to an exact FLRW metric yields another FLRW metric, to first-order in integrals over the local coordinates. Finally, we indicate some important limits of…
This paper presents a general averaging procedure for a set of observers which are tilted with respect to the cosmological matter fluid. After giving the full set of equations describing the local dynamics, we define the averaging procedure and apply it to the scalar parts of Einstein's field equations. In addition to the standard backreaction, new terms appear that account for the effect of the peculiar velocity of the matter fluid as well as the possible effect of a shift in the coordinate system.
The article discusses and substantiates a self-consistent approach to the macroscopic description of systems with gravitational interaction. Corrections to the equation of state of the fluid are found based on macroscopic Einstein equations which were obtained by averaging over microscopic spherically symmetric metric fluctuations created by the primary Black Holes in a fluid medium. It is shown that these corrections are effectively equivalent to addition of a fluid to the system with the equation of state $p=-\varepsilon$. In addition, it is shown that, in this case, the mass of Black Holes …
We investigate the effect of averaging inhomogeneities on expansion and large-scale structure growth observables using the exact and covariant framework of Macroscopic Gravity (MG). It is well-known that applying the Einstein's equations and spatial averaging do not commute and lead to the averaging problem. For the MG formalism applied to the Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) metric, this gives an extra dynamical term encapsulated as an averaging density parameter denoted $Ω_A$. An exact isotropic cosmological solution of MG for the flat FLRW metric is already known in the literature…
The Universe is homogeneous and isotropic on large scales, so on those scales it is usually modelled as a Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) space-time. The non-linearity of the Einstein field equations raises concern over averaging over small-scale deviations form homogeneity and isotropy, with possible implications on the applicability of the FLRW metric to the Universe, even on large scales. Here I present a technique, based on the multiple-scales method of singular perturbation theory, to handle the small-scale inhomogeneities consistently. I obtain a leading order effective Einste…
In the macroscopic gravity approach to the averaging problem in cosmology, the Einstein field equations on cosmological scales are modified by appropriate gravitational correlation terms. We present exact cosmological solutions to the equations of macroscopic gravity for a spatially homogeneous and isotropic macroscopic space-time and find that the correlation tensor is of the form of a spatial curvature term. We briefly discuss the physical consequences of these results.
The basic concepts and equations of classical fluid mechanics are presented in the form necessary for the formulation of Newtonian cosmology and for derivation and analysis of a system of the averaged Navier-Stokes-Poisson equations. A special attention is paid to the analytic formulation of the definitions and equations of moving fluids and to their physical content.
Schwarzschild's solution to the Einstein Field Equations was one of the first and most important solutions that lead to the understanding and important experimental tests of Einstein's theory of General Relativity. However, Schwarzschild's solution is essentially based on an ideal theory of gravitation, where all inhomogeneities are ignored. Therefore, any generalization of the Schwarzschild solution should take into account the effects of small perturbations that may be present in the gravitational field. The theory of Macroscopic Gravity characterizes the effects of the inhomogeneities throu…
Cosmological models typically neglect the complicated nature of the spacetime manifold at small scales in order to hypothesize idealized general relativistic solutions for describing the average dynamics of the Universe. Although these solutions are remarkably successful in accounting for data, they introduce a number of puzzles in cosmology, and their foundational assumptions are therefore important to test. In this paper, we go beyond the usual assumptions in cosmology and propose a formalism for averaging the local general relativistic spacetime on an observer's past null cone: we formulate…
In this paper the macroscopic Einstein and Maxwell equations for system, in which the electromagnetic interactions are dominating (for instance, the cosmological plasma before the moment of recombination), are derived. Ensemble averaging of the microscopic Einstein - Maxwell equations and the iouville equations for the random functions leads to a closed system of macroscopic Einstein - Maxwell equations and kinetic equations for one-particle distribution functions. The macroscopic Einstein equations for a relativistic plasma differ from the classical Einstein equations in that their left-hand …
The averaging problem in cosmology is of considerable importance for the correct interpretation of cosmological data. A rigorous mathematical definition of averaging in a cosmological model is necessary. In general, a spacetime is completely characterized by its scalar curvature invariants, and this suggests a particular spacetime averaging scheme based entirely on scalars. We clearly identify the problems of averaging in a cosmological model. We then present a precise definition of a cosmological model, and based upon this definition, we propose an averaging scheme in terms of scalar curvatur…
From a macroscopic theory of the quantum vacuum in terms of conserved relativistic charges (generically denoted by q^{(a)} with label a), we have obtained, in the low-energy limit, a particular type of f(R) model relevant to cosmology. The macroscopic quantum-vacuum theory allows us to distinguish between different phenomenological f(R) models on physical grounds.
This thesis concerns research undertaken in two related topics concerning high-energy gravitational physics. The first is the construction of a manifestly diffeomorphism-invariant Exact Renormalization Group (ERG). This is a procedure that constructs effective theories of gravity by integrating out high-energy modes down to an ultraviolet cutoff scale without gauge-fixing. The manifest diffeomorphism invariance enables us to construct a fully background-independent formulation. This thesis will explore both the fixed-background and background-independent forms of the manifestly diffeomorphism-…
We apply the many-particle Schrödinger-Newton equation, which describes the co-evolution of an many-particle quantum wave function and a classical space-time geometry, to macroscopic mechanical objects. By averaging over motions of the objects' internal degrees of freedom, we obtain an effective Schrödinger-Newton equation for their centers of mass, which are degrees of freedom that can be monitored and manipulated at the quantum mechanical levels by state-of-the-art optoemchanics experiments. For a single macroscopic object moving quantum mechanically within a harmonic potential well, we foun…
A simple idea of relating the LQG and LQC degrees of freedom is discussed in context of toroidal Bianchi I model. The idea is an expansion of the construction originally introduced by Ashtekar and Wilson-Ewing and relies on explicit averaging of certain sub-class of spin-networks over the subgroup of the diffeomorphisms remaining after the gauge fixing used in homogeneous LQC. It is based on the set of clearly defined principles, thus is a convenient tool to control the emergence and behavior of the cosmological degrees of freedom in studies of dynamics in canonical LQG. Relating the proposed …
The first objective of this thesis is to fill the lack in cosmology of a description on the past light cone: the null hypersurface on which observed signals propagate. Its second goal is to evaluate the importance of inhomogeneities in the determination of dark energy parameters, whose real nature is still unknown and for which the influence of matter structures has been proposed as a cosmological alternative. We start with the definition of a "geodesic lightcone" gauge simplifying greatly the study of light propagation in the Universe. We then define a gauge invariant average of scalars on th…
The Hubble constant problem is the discrepancy between different measurements of the Hubble constant in different scales. We show that this problem can be resolved within the general relativistic framework of the perturbation theory in the inhomogeneous universe, with the help of spatial averaging procedure over a finite local domain in the $t=\mbox{const.}$ hypersurface. The idea presented in this paper is unique in the sense that it has all of the following properties. a) It is based on the general relativistic perturbation theory, with ordinary dust matter only. No strange matter nor energy…
This paper is a sequel to the series of papers [gr-qc/9409010, gr-qc/9505034, gr-qc/9603022, gr-qc/9609035, gr-qc/9609046, gr-qc/9704033, gr-qc/9704038]. Gravitational autolocalization of a body is considered. A self-consistent problem is solved: A quantum state of the center of mass of the body gives rise to a classical gravitational field, and the state, on the other hand, is an eigenstate in the field. We call a resulting solution gravilon. Gravilons are classified, and their properties are studied. Gravitational autolocalization is predominantly a macroscopic effect. The motion of a gravil…
The gravitational field equations on cosmological scales are obtained by averaging the Einstein field equations of general relativity. By assuming spatial homogeneity and isotropy on the largest scales, the local inhomogeneities affect the dynamics though correction (backreaction) terms, which can lead to behaviour qualitatively and quantitatively different from the Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker models. The effects of averaging on cosmological observations are discussed. It is argued that, based on estimates from observational data, the backreaction (and, in particular, the averaged spat…
We show that, within modified gravity, the non-linear nature of the field equations implies that the usual naive averaging procedure (replacing the microscopic energy-momentum by its cosmological average) is invalid. We discuss then how the averaging should be performed correctly and show that, as a consequence, at classical level the physical masses and geodesics of particles, cosmology and astrophysics in Palatini modified gravity theories are all indistinguishable from the results of general relativity plus a cosmological constant. Palatini gravity is however a different theory from general…
