In this work, we consider different forms of relativistic perfect fluid Lagrangian densities, that yield the same gravitational field equations in General Relativity. A particularly intriguing example is the case with couplings of the form $[1+f_2(R)]{\cal L}_m$, where $R$ is the scalar curvature, which induces an extra force that depends on the form of the Lagrangian density. It has been found that, considering the Lagrangian density ${\cal L}_m = p$, where $p$ is the pressure, the extra-force vanishes. We argue that this is not the unique choice for the matter Lagrangian density, and that more natural forms for ${\cal L}_m$ do not imply the vanishing of the extra-force. Particular attention is paid to the impact on the classical equivalence between different Lagrangian descriptions of a perfect fluid.
The generalized Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau equation in curved space-time is proposed for non-minimal coupling to the curvature and external fields. The corresponding scalar and vector fields equation are found. Equations are presented, which are equivalent to those of a scalar field with conformal coupling and electromagnetic field with non-minimal coupling to the curvature. The gauge-invariant Duffin-Kemmer-Petiau equation with non-minimal coupling is given.
We study black hole solutions in an extension of General Relativity (GR) with an explicit non-minimal coupling between matter and curvature. General black hole solutions satisfying the known energy conditions are derived including the ones with anti-de Sitter background. These solutions differ from those of GR just by a coupling function dependent rescaling of the mass and charge of the black hole and by a "dressing" of the cosmological constant. The existence of black hole solutions of the nonminimally coupled theory as well as the conditions for a suitable weak field limit are considered as …
Recently, exact solutions of wormhole geometries supported by a nonminimal curvature-matter coupling were found, where the nonminimal coupling minimizes the violation of the null energy condition of normal matter at the throat. In this brief report, we present a solution where normal matter satisfies the energy conditions at the throat and it is the higher order curvature derivatives of the nonminimal coupling that is responsible for the null energy condition violation, and consequently for supporting the respective wormhole geometries. For simplicity, we consider a linear R nonmiminal curvatu…
In the context of nonminimally coupled $f(R)$ gravity theories, we study early inflation driven by a nonlinear monopole magnetic field which is nonminimally coupled to curvature. In order to isolate the effects of the nonminimal coupling between matter and curvature we assume the pure gravitational sector to have the Einstein-Hilbert form. Thus, we study the most simple model with a nonminimal coupling function which is linear in the Ricci scalar. From an effective fluid description, we show the existence of an early exponential expansion regime of the Universe, followed by a transition to a r…
In this work we study how a nonminimal coupling between matter and gravity can modify the structure of a homogeneous spherical body. The physical relevance of the adopted Lagrangian density is ascertained, with results obtained for two different choices of the latter.
Wormhole geometries in curvature-matter coupled modified gravity are explored, by considering an explicit nonminimal coupling between an arbitrary function of the scalar curvature, R, and the Lagrangian density of matter. It is the effective stress-energy tensor containing the coupling between matter and the higher order curvature derivatives that is responsible for the null energy condition violation, and consequently for supporting the respective wormhole geometries. The general restrictions imposed by the null energy condition violation are presented in the presence of a nonminimal R-matter…
We derive the equations of motion of test bodies for a theory with nonminimal coupling by means of a multipole method. The propagation equations for pole-dipole particles are worked out for a gravity theory with a very general coupling between the curvature scalar and the matter fields. Our results allow for a systematic comparison with the equations of motion of general relativity and other gravity theories.
The nonminimal coupling (NMC) of the scalar field to the Ricci curvature is unavoidable in many cosmological scenarios. Inflation and quintessence models based on nonminimally coupled scalar fields are studied, with particular attention to the balance between the scalar potential and the NMC term in the action. NMC makes acceleration of the universe harder to achieve for the usual potentials, but it is beneficial in obtaining cosmic acceleration with unusual potentials. The slow-roll approximation with NMC, conformal transformation techniques, and other aspects of the physics of NMC are clarif…
An interesting cosmological history was proposed by Prigogine {\it et al.} who considered the Universe as a thermodynamically open system. This scenario is characterized by a process of matter creation, which corresponds to an irreversible energy flow from the gravitational field to the pressureless matter fluid. Here, we show that the gravitationally induced particle production may arise from a nonminimal curvature-matter coupling. By considering the equivalent scalar-tensor theory, the cosmological implications of the model are discussed. As all known natural systems tend to a state of therm…
In this paper we show that the on-shell Lagrangian of a perfect fluid depends on microscopic properties of the fluid, giving specific examples of perfect fluids with different on-shell Lagrangians but with the same energy-momentum tensor. We demonstrate that if the fluid is constituted by localized concentrations of energy with fixed rest mass and structure (solitons) then the average on-shell Lagrangian of a perfect fluid is given by ${\mathcal L}_m=T$, where $T$ is the trace of the energy-momentum tensor. We show that our results have profound implications for theories of gravity where the m…
We consider static spherically symmetric solutions in the scalar-tensor theory of gravity with a scalar field possessing the nonminimal kinetic coupling to the curvature. The lagrangian of the theory contains the term $(\varepsilon g^{μν}+ηG^{μν})ϕ_{,μ}ϕ_{,ν}$ and represents a particular case of the general Horndeski lagrangian, which leads to second-order equations of motion. We use the Rinaldi approach to construct analytical solutions describing wormholes with nonminimal kinetic coupling. It is shown that wormholes exist only if $\varepsilon=-1$ (phantom case) and $η>0$. The wormhole throat…
In neutrinophilic two-Higgs-doublet models, neutrinos acquire mass due to a Higgs field with vacuum expectation value of the order of 10^{-2} eV, corresponding to a Compton wavelength in the 10 micrometer range. This creates a situation in which nonminimal couplings between Higgs fields and spacetime curvature may lead to novel observable effects. Among these, we discuss the possibility of variable neutrino masses, with implications for the dependence of the neutrino oscillation frequency on the spacetime curvature, a further source of dispersion of the neutrino arrival times from supernovae e…
We investigate the inflaton decay and reheating period after the end of inflation in the non-minimal derivative coupling (NDC) model with chaotic potential. In general, this model is known to provide an enhanced slow-roll inflation caused by gravitationally enhanced friction. We find violent oscillations of Hubble parameter which induces oscillations of the sound speed squared, implying the Lagrangian instability of curvature perturbation $ζ$ under the comoving gauge $φ=0$. Also, it is shown that the curvature perturbation blows up at $\dotϕ=0$, leading to the breakdown of the comoving gauge a…
We consider the possibility of a gravitationally induced particle production through the mechanism of a nonminimal curvature-matter coupling. An interesting feature of this gravitational theory is that the divergence of the energy-momentum tensor is nonzero. As a first step in our study we reformulate the model in terms of an equivalent scalar-tensor theory, with two arbitrary potentials. By using the formalism of open thermodynamic systems, we interpret the energy balance equations in this gravitational theory from a thermodynamic point of view, as describing irreversible matter creation proc…
We establish a nonminimal Einstein-Yang-Mills-Higgs model, which contains six coupling parameters. First three parameters relate to the nonminimal coupling of non-Abelian gauge field and gravity field, two parameters describe the so-called derivative nonminimal coupling of scalar multiplet with gravity field, and the sixth parameter introduces the standard coupling of scalar field with Ricci scalar. The formulated six-parameter nonminimal Einstein-Yang-Mills-Higgs model is applied to cosmology. We show that there exists a unique exact cosmological solution of the de Sitter type for a special c…
In this work, the effects of a nonminimally coupled model of gravity on a perturbed Minkowski metric are presented. The action functional of the model involves two functions $f^1(R)$ and $f^2(R)$ of the Ricci scalar curvature $R$. Based upon a Taylor expansion around $R = 0$ for both functions $f^1(R)$ and $f^2(R)$, we find that the metric around a spherical object is a perturbation of the weak-field Schwarzschild metric: the time perturbation is shown to be a Newtonian plus Yukawa term, which can be constrained using the available experimental results. We conclude that the Starobinsky model f…
We generalize the mechanism for gravitational baryogensis in the context of $f(R)$ theories of gravity, including a nonminimal coupling between curvature and matter. In these models, the baryon asymmetry is generated through an effective coupling between the Ricci scalar curvature and the net baryon current that dynamically breaks Charge Conjugation, Parity and Time Reversal (CPT) invariance. We study the combinations of characteristic mass scales and exponents for both non-trivial functions present in the modified action functional and establish the allowed region for these parameters: we fin…
We consider a nonminimally coupled curvature-matter gravity theory at the Solar System scale. Both a fifth force of Yukawa type and a further non-Newtonian extra force that arises from the nonminimal coupling are present in the solar interior and in the solar atmosphere up to interplanetary space. The extra force depends on the spatial gradient of space-time curvature R. The conditions under which the effects of such forces can be screened by the chameleon mechanism and be made consistent with Cassini measurement of PPN parameter $γ$ are examined. This consistency analysis requires a specific …
We derive the field equations and the equations of motion for massive test particles in modified theories of gravity with an arbitrary coupling between geometry and matter by using the Palatini formalism. We show that the independent connection can be expressed as the Levi-Civita connection of an auxiliary, matter Lagrangian dependent metric, which is related with the physical metric by means of a conformal transformation. Similarly to the metric case, the field equations impose the non-conservation of the energy-momentum tensor. We derive the explicit form of the equations of motion for massi…
We study the dynamics and perturbations during inflation and reheating in a multi-field model where a second scalar field $χ$ is nonminimally coupled to the scalar curvature $(\frac12 ξRχ^2$). When $ξ$ is positive, the usual inflationary prediction for large-scale anisotropies is hardly altered while the $χ$ fluctuation in sub-Hubble modes can be amplified during preheating for large $ξ$. For negative values of $ξ$, however, long-wave modes of the $χ$ fluctuation exhibit exponential increase during inflation, leading to the strong enhancement of super-Hubble metric perturbations even when $|ξ|…
Weyl gravity in the presence of a non-minimal matter-curvature coupling is presented. Some properties arising from the non-metricity give rise to a second order theory whose vacuum is compatible with a cosmological constant, under conditions on the vector field.
We revisit the issue of the correct Lagrangian description of a perfect fluid (pressure versus minus energy density) in relation with modified gravity theories in which galactic luminous matter couples nonminimally to the Ricci scalar. These Lagrangians are only equivalent when the fluid couples minimally to gravity and not otherwise; in the presence of nonminimal coupling they give rise to two distinct theories with different predictions.
We investigate two-field inflationary models in which scalar cosmological pertubations are generated via a spectator field nonminimally coupled to gravity, with the particular emphasis on curvaton scenarios. The principal advantage of these models is in the possibility to tune the spectator spectral index via the nonminimal coupling. Our models naturally yield red spectrum of the adiabatic perturbation demanded by observations. We study how the nonminimal coupling affects the spectrum of the curvature perturbation generated in the curvaton scenarios. In particular we find that for small, negat…
In this paper, we continue our study on the curvaton model with nonminimal derivative coupling (NDC) to Einstein gravity proposed in our previous work, focusing on the reheating mechanism. We found that according to whether the curvaton has dominated the background after the end of inflation, it will have two different behaviors of evolution, which should be the general property of curvaton with nonminimal couplings. This will cause diffferent rates of particle creation, which goes on via the parametric resonance process. The reheating temperature is estimated for both cases in which reheating…
Realistic models of particle physics include many scalar fields. These fields generically have nonminimal couplings to the Ricci curvature scalar, either as part of a generalized Einstein theory or as necessary counterterms for renormalization in curved background spacetimes. We develop a gauge-invariant formalism for calculating primordial perturbations in models with multiple nonminimally coupled fields. We work in the Jordan frame (in which the nonminimal couplings remain explicit) and identify two distinct sources of entropy perturbations for such models. One set of entropy perturbations a…
We investigate preheating of an inflaton field $ϕ$ coupled nonminimally to a spacetime curvature. In the case of a self-coupling inflaton potential $V(ϕ)=λϕ^4/4$, the dynamics of preheating changes by the effect of the negative $ξ$. We find that the nonminimal coupling works in two ways. First, since the initial value of inflaton field for reheating becomes smaller with the increase of $|ξ|$, the evolution of the inflaton quanta is delayed for fixed $λ$. Second, the oscillation of the inflaton field is modified and the nonadiabatic change around $ϕ=0$ occurs significantly. That makes the reson…
We present a covariant derivation of the equations of motion for test bodies for a wide class of gravitational theories with nonminimal coupling, encompassing a general interaction via the complete set of 9 parity-even curvature invariants. The equations of motion for spinning test bodies in such theories are explicitly derived by means of Synge's expansion technique. Our findings generalize previous results in the literature and allow for a direct comparison to the general relativistic equations of motion of pole-dipole test bodies.
We have studied the induced one-loop energy-momentum tensor of a massive complex scalar field within the framework of nonperturbative quantum electrodynamics (QED) with a uniform electric field background on the Poincaré patch of the two-dimensional de Sitter spacetime ($\mathrm{dS_{2}}$). We also consider a direct coupling the scalar field to the Ricci scalar curvature which is parameterized by an arbitrary dimensionless nonminimal coupling constant. We evaluate the trace anomaly of the induced energy-momentum tensor. We show that our results for the induced energy-momentum tensor in the zero…
We investigate the Universe evolution at late-time stages in models of teleparallel gravity with power-law nonminimal coupling and a decreasing power-law potential of the scalar field $ϕ$. New asymptotic solutions are found analytically for these models in vacuum and with a perfect fluid. Applying numerical integration, we show that the cosmological evolution leads to these solutions for some region of the initial conditions, and these asymptotic regimes are stable with respect to homogeneous variations of the initial data. The physical sense of the results is discussed.
We consider static spherically symmetric wormhole configurations in a gravitational theory of a scalar field with a potential $V(ϕ)$ and nonminimal derivative coupling to the curvature describing by the term $(εg_{μν} + κG_{μν}) ϕ^{,μ}ϕ^{,ν}$ in the action. We show that the flare-out conditions providing the geometry of a wormhole throat could fulfilled both if $ε=-1$ (phantom scalar) and $ε=+1$ (ordinary scalar). Supposing additionally a traversability, we construct numerical solutions describing traversable wormholes in the model with arbitrary $κ$, $ε=-1$ and $V(ϕ)=0$ (no potential). The tr…
We propose a novel enhancement mechanism of the curvature perturbations in the nonminimal derivative coupling inflation model with a coupling parameter related to the inflaton field. By considering a special form of the coupling parameter as a function of the inflaton, a period of ultra-slow-roll inflation can be realized due to the gravitationally enhanced friction, and the resulting power spectrum of the curvature perturbations has a sharp peak, which is large enough to produce the primordial black holes. Under this mechanism, we can easily obtain a sharp mass spectrum of primordial black ho…
We perform a phase space analysis of a generalized modified gravity theory with nonminimally coupling between geometry and matter. We apply the dynamical system approach to this generalized model and find that in the cosmological context, different choices of Lagrangian density will apparently result in different phases of the Universe. By carefully choosing the variables, we prove that there is an attractor solution to describe the late time accelerating universe when the modified gravity is chosen in a simple power-law form of the curvature scalar. We further examine the temperature evolutio…
Anisotropic and isotropic slow-roll inflation supported by n-forms are sought. Canonical field strengths and their duals are taken into account, and they are allowed to have a potential and also, when necessary for slow-roll, a nonminimal curvature coupling. New isotropic solutions are found for three-forms. It is also shown that some n-form actions are equivalent to f(R) gravity and scalar field models with possible nonminimal couplings. Anisotropic solutions are found for two-forms, generalising vector inflation, however, also the two-form is unstable during inflation due to the nonminimal c…
We discuss the problem of identification of coupling constants, which describe interactions between photons and space-time curvature, using exact regular solutions to the extended equations of the nonminimal Einstein-Maxwell theory. We argue the idea that three nonminimal coupling constants in this theory can be reduced to the single guiding parameter, which plays the role of nonminimal radius. We base our consideration on two examples of exact solutions obtained earlier in our works: the first of them describes a nonminimal spherically symmetric object (star or black hole) with regular radial…
We study axial quasinormal modes of static neutron stars in the nonminimal derivative coupling sector of Horndeski theory. We focus on the fundamental curvature mode, which we analyse for ten different equations of state with different matter content. A comparison with the results obtained in pure General Relativity reveals that, apart from modifying the spectrum of the frequencies and the damping times of the stars, this theory modifies several universal relations between the modes and physical parameters of the stars, that are otherwise matter-independent.
We study a nonminimal derivative coupling (NMDC) of scalar field, where the scalar field is coupled to curvature tensor in the five dimensional universal extra dimension model. We apply the Einstein equation and find its solution. First, we consider a special case of pure free scalar field without NMDC and we find that for static extradimension, the solution is equivalent to the standard cosmology with stiff matter. For a general case of pure free scalar field with NMDC, we find that the de Sitter solution is the solution of our model. For this solution, the scalar field evolves linearly in ti…
We study the preheating and the in-process production of gravitational waves (GWs) after inflation in which the inflaton is nonminimally coupled to the curvature in a self-interacting quartic potential with the method of lattice simulation. We find that the nonminimal coupling enhances the amplitude of the density spectrum of inflaton quanta, and as a result, the peak value of the GW spectrum generated during preheating is enhanced as well and can reach the limit of detection in future GW experiments. The peaks of the GW spectrum not only exhibit distinctive characteristics as compared to thos…
We study an inflation model that inflaton field is non-minimally coupled to the induced scalar curvature on the Randall-Sundrum (RS) II brane. We investigate the effects of the non-minimal coupling on the inflationary dynamics of this braneworld model. Our study shows that the number of e-folds decreases by increasing the value of the non-minimal coupling. We compare our model parameters with the minimal case and also with recent observational data. In comparison with recent observation, we obtain a constraint on the values that the non-minimal coupling attains.
We consider nonminimally coupled scalar fields to explore the Siklos spacetimes in three dimensions. Their interpretation as exact gravitational waves propagating on AdS restrict the source to behave as a pure radiation field. We show that the related pure radiation constraints single out a unique self-interaction potential depending on one coupling constant. For a vanishing coupling constant, this potential reduces to a mass term with a mass fixed in terms of the nonminimal coupling parameter. This mass dependence allows the existence of several free cases including massless and tachyonic sou…
Cosmological consequences of the noncommutative geometry spectral action are presented. Neglecting the nonminimal coupling of the Higgs field to the curvature, background cosmology remains unchanged, and only the inhomogeneous perturbations will evolve differently from the equivalent classical system. However, considering the nonminimal coupling, corrections will be obtained even at the level of the background cosmologies. Finally, the Higgs field may act as an inflaton field, due to its nonminimal coupling with geometry.
The linear theory of massive spin-two field in arbitrary curved background is investigated. In flat spacetime, the Fierz-Pauli model is well-known as the unique linear theory describing the massive spin-two field. On the other hand, in order to construct the massive spin-two theory in fixed curved background with arbitrary metric, infinite series of nonminimal coupling terms are necessary. In [Nucl. Phys. B 584 (2000) 615], Buchbinder et al. have derived the condition for the ghost-freeness and they have solved the condition in small curvature approximation. In the leading order approximation,…
We construct the global phase portraits of inflationary dynamics in teleparallel gravity models with a scalar field nonminimally coupled to torsion scalar. The adopted set of variables can clearly distinguish between different asymptotic states as fixed points, including the kinetic and inflationary regimes. The key role in the description of inflation is played by the heteroclinic orbits which run from the asymptotic saddle points to the late time attractor point and are approximated by nonminimal slow roll conditions. To seek the asymptotic fixed points we outline a heuristic method in terms…
For a theory in which a scalar field $ϕ$ has a nonminimal derivative coupling to the Einstein tensor $G_{μν}$ of the form $ϕ\,G_{μν}\nabla^μ\nabla^ν ϕ$, it is known that there exists a branch of static and spherically-symmetric relativistic stars endowed with a scalar hair in their interiors. We study the stability of such hairy solutions with a radial field dependence $ϕ(r)$ against odd- and even-parity perturbations. We show that, for the star compactness ${\cal C}$ smaller than $1/3$, they are prone to Laplacian instabilities of the even-parity perturbation associated with the scalar-field …
We study static non-critical hairy black holes of four dimensional gravitational model with nonminimal derivative coupling and a scalar potential turned on. By taking an ansatz, namely, the first derivative of the scalar field is proportional to square root of a metric function, we reduce the Einstein field equation and the scalar field equation of motions into a single highly nonlinear differential equation. This setup implies that the hair is secondary-like since the scalar charge-like depends on the non-constant mass-like quantity in the asymptotic limit. Then, we show that near boundaries …
We construct an extension of f(T) gravity with the inclusion of a non-minimal torsion-matter coupling in the action. The resulting theory is a novel gravitational modification, since it is different from both f(T) gravity, as well as from the non-minimal curvature-matter-coupled theory. The cosmological application of this new theory proves to be very interesting. In particular, we obtain an effective dark energy sector whose equation-of-state parameter can be quintessence or phantom-like, or exhibit the phantom-divide crossing, while for a large range of the model parameters the Universe resu…
We study the possibility of the Primordial Black Holes (PBHs) formation with the aim of finding a considerable fraction of Dark Matter (DM), using the gravitationally enhanced friction mechanism which arises from a nonminimal derivative coupling between the scalar field and the gravity. Assuming the nonminimal coupling parameter as a special function of the scalar field and considering the potential of natural inflation, we find three parameter sets that produce a period of ultra slow-roll inflation. This leads to sufficiently large enhancement in the curvature power spectra to form PBHs. We s…
We investigate the possibility of gravitationally generated particle production via the mechanism of nonminimal torsion--matter coupling. An intriguing feature of this theory is that the divergence of the matter energy--momentum tensor does not vanish identically. We explore the physical and cosmological implications of the nonconservation of the energy--momentum tensor by using the formalism of irreversible thermodynamics of open systems in the presence of matter creation/annihilation. The particle creation rates, pressure, and the expression of the comoving entropy are obtained in a covarian…
In the standard model of cosmology, the background evolution of the Universe can in general be adequately described by general relativity and a uniform and isotropic metric minimally coupled with a collection of perfect fluids. These fluids are usually described by their energy-momentum tensor, which can be derived from the fluid's Lagrangian density. Under general relativity, the Lagrangian density is only relevant to the extent that it results in the correct energy-momentum tensor for a specific perfect fluid. This is not the case in theories that feature a nonminimal coupling (NMC) between …
We investigate the cosmological dynamics in teleparallel gravity with nonminimal coupling. We analytically extract several asymptotic solutions and we numerically study the exact phase-space behavior. Comparing the obtained results with the corresponding behavior of nonminimal scalar-curvature theory, we find significant differences, such is the rare stability and the frequent presence of oscillatory behavior.
The weak field limit of the nonminimally coupled Boltzmann equation is studied, and relations between the invariant Bardeen scalar potentials are derived. The Jean's criterion for instabilities is found through the modified dispersion relation. Special cases are scrutinised and considerations on the model parameters are discussed for Bok globules.
We consider cosmological dynamics in the theory of gravity with the scalar field possessing the nonminimal kinetic coupling to curvature given as $ηG^{μν}ϕ_{,μ}ϕ_{,ν}$, where $η$ is an arbitrary coupling parameter, and the scalar potential $V(ϕ)$ which assumed to be as general as possible. With an appropriate dimensionless parametrization we represent the field equations as an autonomous dynamical system which contains ultimately only one arbitrary function $χ(x)= 8 π\vert η\vert V(x/\sqrt{8 π})$ with $x=\sqrt{8 π}ϕ$. Then, assuming the rather general properties of $χ(x)$, we analyze stationar…
We study nonminimal extensions of Einstein-Maxwell theory with exact electromagnetic duality invariance. Any such theory involves an infinite tower of higher-derivative terms whose computation and summation usually represents a challenging problem. Despite that, we manage to obtain a closed form of the action for all the theories with a quadratic dependence on the vector field strength. In these theories we find that the Maxwell field couples to gravity through a curvature-dependent susceptibility tensor that takes a peculiar form, reminiscent of that of Born-Infeld Lagrangians. We study the s…
Models of cosmic inflation suggest that our universe underwent an early phase of accelerated expansion, driven by the dynamics of one or more scalar fields. Inflationary models make specific, quantitative predictions for several observable quantities, including particular patterns of temperature anistropies in the cosmic microwave background radiation. Realistic models of high-energy physics include many scalar fields at high energies. Moreover, we may expect these fields to have nonminimal couplings to the spacetime curvature. Such couplings are quite generic, arising as renormalization count…
