The Higher Order Theories of Gravity - $f(R, R_{αβ}R^{αβ})$ - theory, where $R$ is the Ricci scalar, $R_{αβ}$ is the Ricci tensor and $f$ is any analytic function - have recently attracted a lot of interest as alternative candidates to explain the observed cosmic acceleration, the flatness of the rotation curves of spiral galaxies and other relevant astrophysical phenomena. It is a crucial point testing these alternative theories in the so called weak field and newtonian limit of a $f(R, R_{αβ}R^{αβ})$ - theory. With this "perturbation technique" it is possible to find spherically symmetric solutions and compare them with the ones of General Relativity. On both approaches we found a modification of General Relativity: the behaviour of gravitational potential presents a modification Yukawa - like in the newtonian case and a massive propagation in the weak field case. When the modification of the theory is removed (i.e. $f(R, R_{αβ}R^{αβ}) = R$, Hilbert - Einstein lagrangian) we find the usual outcomes of General Relativity. Also the Noether symmetries technique has been investigated to find some time independent spherically symmetric solutions.
Guided by a linearized approximation to Einstein theory, an interim prescription for ``weak source of gravity'' - - in ``particle'' energy-momentum distributed along standpoint light cone - - is formulated for (classical) standpoint cosmology.
In this work we studied the higher order gravity model which corresponds to Hassan-Rosen ghost-free bi-gravity. To do this we absorb one of the metrics in bi-gravity model in favor of the other metric in a recursive way. For the second (recursion) step we get conformal gravity same as what has been done in the literature. We generalize this idea by calculating up to the fourth order gravity. To reach to a ghost-free higher order gravity we need to go to infinite-derivative order gravity but we can see our model as an effective theory. So adding higher order terms results in wider range of vali…
We introduce a new approach for investigating the weak field limit of vacuum field equations in $f(R)$ gravity and we find the weak field limit of $f(R)=R+μ^4/R$ gravity. Furthermore, we study the strong gravity regime in $R+μ^{4}/R$ model of $f(R)$ gravity. We show the existence of strong gravitational field in vacuum for such model. We find out in the limit $μ\rightarrow 0$, the weak field limit and the strong gravitational field can be regarded as a perturbed Schwarzschild metric.
We study the constraints on the dark energy model with constant equation of state parameter $w=p/ρ$ and the holographic dark energy model by using the weak gravity conjecture. The combination of weak gravity conjecture and the observational data gives $w<-0.7$ at the $3σ$ confidence level. The holographic dark energy model realized by a scalar field is in swampland.
In this article we construct a relativistic extended metric theory of gravity, for which its weak field limit reduces to the non-relativistic MOdified Newtonian Dynamics regime of gravity. The theory is fully covariant and the way to achieve this is to introduce torsion in the description of gravity as well as with the addition of a particular function of the matter lagrangian into the gravitational action.
In the paper, we apply the weak gravity conjecture to the holographic quintessence model of dark energy. Three different holographic dark energy models are considered: without the interaction in the non-flat universe; with interaction in the flat universe; with interaction in the non-flat universe. We find that only in the models with the spatial curvature and interaction term proportional to the energy density of matter, it is possible for the weak gravity conjecture to be satisfied.
We use the formulation of thermodynamics of gravity as proposed by Clifton, Ellis and Tavakol on the gravitational collapse of dustlike matter, that violates the strong or weak cosmic censorship conjecture depending on the initial data. We transparently demonstrate that the gravitational entropy prefers the scenario where the stronger version is violated but the weak censorship conjecture is satisfied. This is a novel result, showing the weak cosmic censorship and hence the future asymptotically simple structure of spacetime, is being validated by the nature of gravity, without imposing any ex…
In this communication we discuss the Weak Field Approach, and in particular the Newtonian limit, applied to f(R)-Gravity. Particular emphasis is placed on the spherically symmetric solutions and finally, it is clearly shown that General Relativity results, in the Solar System context, are easily recovered since Einstein theory is a particular case of $f(R)$-Gravity. This is a crucial point against several wrong results in literature stating that these theories are not viable at local scales.
The linear approximation of scalar-tensor theories of gravity is obtained in the physical (Jordan) frame under the 4+0 (covariant) and 3+1 formalisms. Then the weak-field limit is analyzed and the conditions leading to significant deviations of the $1/r^{2}$ Newton's law of gravitation are discussed. Finally, the scalarization effects induced by these theories in extended objects are confronted within the weak-field limit.
An effective time--dependent cosmological constant can be recovered for higher--order theories of gravity by extending to these ones the no--hair conjecture. The results are applied to some specific cosmological models.
By taking the limit that Newton's Gravitational constant tends to zero, the weak coupling loop quantum gravity can be formulated as a $U(1)^3$ gauge theory instead of the original $SU(2)$ gauge theory. In this paper, a parametrization of the $SU(2)$ holonomy-flux variables by the $U(1)^3$ holonomy-flux variables is introduced, and the Hamiltonian operator based on this parametrization is obtained for the weak coupling loop quantum gravity. It is shown that the effective dynamics obtained from the coherent state path integrals in $U(1)^3$ and $SU(2)$ loop quantum gravity respectively are consis…
Among modified theories of gravity, the teleparallel $f(T)$ gravity is an intensively discussed modelin the literature. The best way to investigate its viabilityis to derive observable predictions which yield evidence or constraints for the model, when compared with actual observations. In this paper we derive the photon sphere and the perihelion shift for weak $f(T)$ perturbations of general relativity. We consistently calculate first order teleparallel perturbations of Schwarzschild and Minkowski spacetime geometry, with which we improve and extend existing results in the literature.
Explicit expressions for the bending angle of light deflection arising from phenomenologically deformed black-hole metrics, subject to possible weak and strong quantum gravity effects, respectively, are obtained, by a highly effective method. The accuracy and effectiveness of these expressions are then illustrated by numerically solving the differential equation governing the deflection angle directly in the weak quantum effect situation.
In this paper we wish to find the corresponding Gibbons-Hawking-York term for the most general quadratic in curvature gravity by using Coframe slicing within the Arnowitt-Deser-Misner (ADM) decomposition of spacetime in four dimensions. In order to make sure that the higher derivative gravity is ghost and tachyon free at a perturbative level, one requires infinite covariant derivatives, which yields a generalised covariant infinite derivative theory of gravity. We will be exploring the boundary term for such a covariant infinite derivative theory of gravity.
In this paper, we investigate Einstein's gravity induced from higher-derivative scalar field theories. We develop an approach utilizing an effective theory of multiple fields for the higher-derivative theory. The expressions for induced cosmological constant and the induced gravitational constant are obtained in the present scenario of induced gravity in D dimensions. We also show that finite values for the induced constants can be extracted in certain infinite-derivative theories.
The dynamical system approach has recently acquired great importance in the investigation on higher order theories of gravity. In this talk I review the main results and I give brief comments on the perspectives for further developments.
With the help of Weil polynomials on the Lie algebra of the Poincaré group in D dimensions, we construct a Lagrangian form for higher dimensional gravity on a principal fibre bundle whose base space is an even-dimensional Riemann-Cartan spacetime and whose structure group is the Poincaré group.
We determine the scaling properties of geometric operators such as lengths, areas, and volumes in models of higher derivative quantum gravity by renormalizing appropriate composite operators. We use these results to deduce the fractal dimensions of such hypersurfaces embedded in a quantum spacetime at very small distances.
The influence of higher order (stringly inspired) curvature corrections to the classical General Relativity spherically symmetric solution is studied. In string gravity these curvature corrections have a special form and can provide a singular contribution to the field equations because they generate higher derivatives of metric functions multiplied by a small parameter. Analytically and numerically it is shown that sometimes in 4D string gravity the Schwarzschild solution is not recovered when the string coupling constant vanishes and limited number of higher order curvature corrections is co…
The objective of this paper is to analyze the weak deflection angle of Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity in the presence of plasma medium. To attain our results, we implement the Gibbons and Werner approach and use the Gauss-Bonnet theorem to Einstein gravity to acquire the resulting deflection angle of photon's ray in the weak field limit. Moreover, we illustrate the behavior of plasma medium and non-plasma mediums on the deflection of photon's ray in the framework of Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity. Similarly, we observe the graphical influences of deflection angle on Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity…
The classical central charge for the higher curvature gravity in 3-dimensions is calculated using the Legendre transformation method. The statistical entropy of BTZ black hole is derived by the Cardy's formula and the result completely coincides with the Iyer-Wald formula for the geometrical entropy. This coincidence suggests the generalized AdS/CFT correspondence.
We investigate Einstein theories of gravity, coupled to a scalar field \vphi and point-like matter, which are characterized by a scalar field-dependent matter coupling function e^{H(\vphi)}. We show that under mild constraints on the form of the potential for the scalar field, there are a broad class of Einstein-like gravity models -characterized by the asymptotic behavior of H- which allow for a non-Newtonian weak-field limit with the gravitational potential behaving for large distances as ln r. The Newtonian term GM/r appears only as sub-leading. We point out that this behavior is also share…
This dissertation investigates three main topics, all of which dealing with alternative, higher-order gravity theories in four dimensions. Firstly, we study the variational and conformal structure of those theories. Next, we analyse their Hamiltonian formulation and in particular its relationship with the famous ADM canonical version of general relativity. Finally, we study higher-order spatially homogeneous cosmologies and exemplify how Hamiltonian methods can be utilised to simplify the analysis of the associated field equations.
We consider gravity theories in $4+N$ dimensions which are governed by the Lagrangian written as an extended Gauss-Bonnet density. We can find a naturally generalized Einstein gravity where the maximal symmetric compactification leads to vanishing four-dimensional cosmological constant in the static limit. A later stage in the generalized Kaluza-Klein cosmology is also examined.
Canonical quantum theories with discrete space may imply interesting effects. This article presents a general effective description, paying due attention to the role of higher spatial derivatives in a local expansion and differences to higher time derivatives. In a concrete set of models, it is shown that spatial derivatives one order higher than the classical one are strongly restricted in spherically symmetric effective loop quantum gravity. Moreover, radial holonomy corrections cannot be anomaly-free to this order.
Weak field approximate solutions in the Lambda-->0 limit of a model of de Sitter gravity have been presented in the static and spherically symmetric case. Although the model looks different from general relativity, among those solutions, there still exist the weak Schwarzschild fields with the smooth connection to regular internal solutions obeying the Newtonian gravitational law. The existence of such solutions would determine the value of the coupling constant, which is different from that of the previous literature. Moreover, there also exist solutions that could deduce the galactic rotatio…
We present a unifying approach where weak forces and neutrino oscillations are interpreted under the same standards of torsional hybrid gravity. This gravitational theory mixes metric and metric-affine formalism in presence of torsion and allows to derive an effective scalar field which gives rise to a running coupling for Dirac matter fields. In this picture, two phenomena occurring at different energy scales can be encompassed under the dynamics of such a single scalar field, which represents the further torsional and curvature degrees of freedom.
We study the energy conditions in the framework of the modi- fied gravity with higher-derivative torsional terms in the action. We discuss the viability of the model by studying the energy conditions in terms of the cosmographical parameters like Hubble, deceleration, jerk, snap and lerk parameters. In particular, We consider two spe- cific models that are proposed in literature and examine the viability bounds imposed by the weak energy condition.
Metric variation of higher order theory of gravity requires to fix the Ricci scalar in addition to the metric tensor at the boundary. Fixing Ricci scalar at the boundary implies that the classical solutions are fixed once and forever to the de-Sitter or anti de-Sitter solutions. Here, we justify such requirement from the standpoint of Noether Symmetry.
It is shown that in the weak field approximation solutions of Brans-Dicke equations are simply related to the solutions of General Relativity equations for the same matter distribution. A simple method is developed which permits to obtain Brans-Dicke solutions from Einstein solutions when both theories are considered in their linearized forms. To illustrate the method some examples found in the literature are discussed.
The weak-gravity bound has been discovered in asymptotically safe gravity-matter systems, where it limits the maximum strength of gravitational fluctuations. In the present paper, we explore it for the first time in systems with more than one gauge field, to discover whether systems with 12 gauge fields (like the Standard Model) exhibit a weak-gravity bound and whether the gravitational fixed point evades it. Further, we test the robustness of the present and previous results on the weak-gravity bound by exploring their dependence on a gravitational gauge parameter. Finally, the existence of t…
Common features of known quantum gravity theories may hint at the general nature of quantum gravity. The absence of continuous global symmetries is one such feature. This inspired the Weak Gravity Conjecture, which bounds masses of charged particles. We propose the Lattice Weak Gravity Conjecture, which further requires the existence of an infinite tower of particles of all possible charges under both abelian and nonabelian gauge groups and directly implies a cutoff for quantum field theory. It holds in a wide variety of string theory examples and has testable consequences for the real world a…
CMB measurements reveal an unnaturally smooth early universe. We propose a mechanism to make this smoothness natural by weakening the strength of gravity at early times, and therefore altering which initial conditions have low entropy.
We have recently shown that a class of counterexamples to (weak) cosmic censorship in anti-de Sitter spacetime is removed if the weak gravity conjecture holds. Surprisingly, the minimum value of the charge to mass ratio necessary to preserve cosmic censorship is precisely the weak gravity bound. To further explore this mysterious connection, we investigate two generalizations: adding a dilaton or an additional Maxwell field. Analogous counterexamples to cosmic censorship are found in these theories if there is no charged matter. Even though the weak gravity bound is modified, we show that in e…
A surprising connection between the weak gravity conjecture and cosmic censorship has recently been proposed. In particular, it was argued that a promising class of counterexamples to cosmic censorship in four-dimensional Einstein-Maxwell-$Λ$ theory would be removed if charged particles (with sufficient charge) were present. We test this idea and find that indeed if the weak gravity conjecture is true, one cannot violate cosmic censorship this way. Remarkably, the minimum value of charge required to preserve cosmic censorship appears to agree precisely with that proposed by the weak gravity co…
We derive new positivity bounds for scattering amplitudes in theories with a massless graviton in the spectrum in four spacetime dimensions, of relevance for the weak gravity conjecture and modified gravity theories. The bounds imply that extremal black holes are self-repulsive, $M/|Q|<1$ in suitable units, and that they are unstable to decay to smaller extremal black holes, providing an S-matrix proof of the weak gravity conjecture. We also present other applications of our bounds to the effective field theory of axions, $P(X)$ theories, weakly broken galileons, and curved spacetimes.
We show that the Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) regime can be fully recovered as the weak-field limit of a particular theory of gravity formulated in the metric approach. This is possible when Milgrom's acceleration constant is taken as a fundamental quantity which couples to the theory in a very consistent manner. As a consequence, the scale invariance of the gravitational interaction is naturally broken. In this sense, Newtonian gravity is the weak-field limit of general relativity and MOND is the weak-field limit of that particular extended theory of gravity.
We discover a weak-gravity bound in scalar-gravity systems in the asymptotic-safety paradigm. The weak-gravity bound arises in these systems under the approximations we make, when gravitational fluctuations exceed a critical strength. Beyond this critical strength, gravitational fluctuations can generate complex fixed-point values in higher-order scalar interactions. Asymptotic safety can thus only be realized at sufficiently weak gravitational interactions. We find that within truncations of the matter-gravity dynamics, the fixed point lies beyond the critical strength, unless spinning matter…
It has been suggested that new massive gravity with higher order terms in the curvature may be renormalizable and thus a candidate for renormalizable quantum gravity. We show that three-dimensional gravity that contains quadratic scalar curvature and Ricci tensor is renormalizable, but those theories with special relation between their coefficients including new massive gravity are not.
It has recently been suggested that "gravity is the weakest force" in any theory with a suitable UV completion within quantum gravity. One formulation of this statement is the scalar weak gravity conjecture, which states that gravity is weaker than the force originating from scalar fields. We study the scalar weak gravity conjecture in de Sitter space, and discuss its low-energy consequences in light of the experimental searches for fifth forces and violations of the equivalence principle. We point out that some versions of the scalar weak gravity conjecture forbid the existence of very light …
We search for a possible relation between weak gravity conjecture and conformal field theory in the hyperscaling violating and Kerr-Newman-AdS black holes. We deal with the critical points of the black hole systems through the correlation function introduced in conformal field theory. We discuss the weak gravity conjecture conditions by the imaginary part of the energy obtained from the critical points and their poles. Under the assumptions $z=1$, $d=1$ and $θ\rightarrow0^{-}$, we link weak gravity conjecture to the hyperscaling violating black holes due to the existence of $r_{H}$ larger and …
It has been suggested that higher-derivative gravity theories coupled to a scalar field with shift symmetry may be an important candidate for a quantum gravity. We show that this class of gravity theories are renormalizable in D = 3 and 4 dimensions.
We study the non-perturbative renormalization group flow of higher-derivative gravity employing functional renormalization group techniques. The non-perturbative contributions to the $β$-functions shift the known perturbative ultraviolet fixed point into a non-trivial fixed point with three UV-attractive and one UV-repulsive eigendirections, consistent with the asymptotic safety conjecture of gravity. The implication of this transition on the unitarity problem, typically haunting higher-derivative gravity theories, is discussed.
The weak lensing of cosmic web filaments is investigated in modified gravity (MOG) and it is demonstrated that the detected galaxies and baryonic gas of order $5-15 \%$ in filaments can with the enhanced value of the strength of gravity agree with the lensing data for filaments without dark matter.
By considering linear-order departures from general relativity, we compute a novel expression for the weak lensing convergence power spectrum under alternative theories of gravity. This comprises an integral over a 'kernel' of general relativistic quantities multiplied by a theory-dependent 'source' term. The clear separation between theory-independent and -dependent terms allows for an explicit understanding of each physical effect introduced by altering the theory of gravity. We take advantage of this to explore the degeneracies between gravitational parameters in weak lensing observations.
We study the higher spin black holes in a truncated version of higher spin gravity in $AdS_3$. This theory contains only finite number of even spins s=2,4,...,2N. We mainly focus on the simplest case, so-called (Type I and II) spin ${\tilde 4}$ gravity, which contains only spin 2 and spin 4 fields. This spin ${\tilde 4}$ gravity is as simple as spin 3 gravity, thus provides another example to test various ideas on higher spin gravity. We find that the asymptotical symmetry of this spin ${\tilde 4}$ gravity is a classical W(2,4)-symmetry. Moreover, we study the black hole solution with pure spi…
Many new linearized coefficients for Lorentz violation are discovered in our recent work on the construction of a generic Lorentz-violating effective field theory in curved spacetime. The new coefficients can be constrained by experiments in weak gravity fields. In this work, we compare experiments in different gravitational potentials and study three types of gravity-related experiments: free-fall, gravitational interferometer, and gravitational bound-state experiments. First constraints on the new coefficients for Lorentz violation are extracted from those experiments.
The zeroth law of black hole mechanics is an assertion of constancy of the surface gravity on a stationary Killing horizon. The Hawking temperature of the black hole horizon is proportional to the surface gravity. Therefore, the constancy of the surface gravity is reminiscent of the zeroth law of ordinary thermodynamics. In this work, we provide a proof of the zeroth law in Lanczos-Lovelock theories of gravity, where the Einstein Hilbert action is supplemented by higher curvature terms.
The large scale structure formation in the standard Einstein gravity at later time is uniquely determined by the expansion history H(z) measured by the geometrical factor. A possible departure from the expected standard structure formation is detectable by growth structure test. We design new deviation parameters to test standard gravity at large scales and estimate the expected errors by weak lensing experiment. The effective Newtonian constant G_N at the present time can be constrained around 10% accuracy by measuring the difference curvature perturbations (Φ-Ψ)/2 within 2% accuracy.
The charge of an electron is vastly larger than its mass. We found that black hole evolution under Hawking evaporation is very sensitive to the value of electron charge. If the electron charge is weakened by a mere one order of magnitude, then the evolutionary paths of Reissner-Nordström black holes under Hawking evaporation change substantially. In particular, weakening the electron charge causes some black holes that would otherwise immediately discharge towards Schwarzschild limit to first evolve towards extremality before turning around. We discuss the possible connections between the weak…
We take the first steps towards non-AdS holography in higher spin gravity. Namely, we propose a variational principle for generic 3-dimensional higher spin gravity that accommodates asymptotic backgrounds beyond AdS, like asymptotically Schrodinger, Lifshitz or warped AdS spacetimes. As examples we study in some detail the four sl(2) embeddings of spin-4 gravity and provide associated geometries, including an asymptotic Lifshitz black hole.
The purpose of this work is to present a model for 3D massive gravity with topological and higher-derivative terms. Causality and unitarity are discussed at tree-level. Power-counting renormalizability is also contemplated.
2D $R^2$ quantum gravity in infinitely large invariant volume is considered. In weak coupling limit the dynamics is reduced to quantum mechanics of a single degree of freedom. The correspondent two - point Green function is calculated explicitly in Gaussian approximation.
We examine the effectiveness of the weak gravity conjecture in constraining the dark energy by comparing with observations. For general dark energy models with plausible phenomenological interactions between dark sectors, we find that although the weak gravity conjecture can constrain the dark energy, the constraint is looser than that from the observations.
In this paper we establish the correspondence between ghost-free bimetric theory and a class of higher derivative gravity actions, including conformal gravity and New Massive Gravity. We also characterize the relation between the respective equations of motion and classical solutions. We illustrate that, in this framework, the spin-2 ghost of higher derivative gravity is an artifact of the truncation to a 4-derivative theory. The analysis also gives a relation between the proposed partially massless (PM) bimetric theory and conformal gravity, showing, in particular, the equivalence of their eq…
