9 pages, based on invited lectures delivered at the XIV Brazilian School of Cosmology and Gravitation (August 30 - September 11, 2010); v2: minor improvements, published in: Cosmology and Gravitation, edited by M. Novello and S. E. Perez Begliaffa (Cambridge Scientific Publishers, UK, 2011), pp. 1-9
The analysis of measurements of accelerated observers in Minkowski spacetime has led to the development of nonlocal special relativity theory. Inertia and gravitation are intimately connected in accordance with the principle of equivalence. We therefore seek a nonlocal generalization of the theory of gravitation such that in the new theory the field equations are integro-differential equations for the local gravitational field. We show that it is possible to develop a nonlocal generalization of Einstein's theory of gravitation via the introduction of a scalar "constitutive" kernel in the teleparallel equivalent of general relativity. The resulting nonlocal theory is essentially equivalent to Einstein's theory plus "dark matter". That is, nonlocality simulates dark matter by introducing a new source term into general relativity. In the linear approximation for the nonlocal modification of Newtonian gravity, we recover the theoretical basis for the phenomenological Tohline-Kuhn modified gravity approach to the explanation of the astrophysical evidence for dark matter.
Despite many nice properties and numerous achievements, general relativity is not a complete theory. One of actual approaches towards more complete theory of gravity is its nonlocal modification. We present here a brief review of nonlocal gravity with its cosmological solutions. In particular, we pay special attention to two nonlocal models and their nonsingular bounce solutions for the cosmic scale factor.
In nonlocal general relativity, linearized gravitational waves are damped as they propagate from the source to the receiver in the Minkowski vacuum. Nonlocal gravity is a generalization of Einstein's theory of gravitation in which nonlocality is due to the gravitational memory of past events. That nonlocal gravity is dissipative is demonstrated in this paper within certain approximation schemes. The gravitational memory drag leads to the decay of the amplitude of gravitational waves given by the exponential damping factor exp (-t/τ), where $τ$ depends on the kernel of nonlocal gravity. The dam…
During hundred years of General Relativity (GR), many significant gravitational phenomena have been predicted and discovered. General Relativity is still the best theory of gravity. Nevertheless, some (quantum) theoretical and (astrophysical and cosmological) phenomenological difficulties of modern gravity have been motivation to search more general theory of gravity than GR. As a result, many modifications of GR have been considered. One of promising recent investigations is Nonlocal Modified Gravity. In this article we present a brief review of some nonlocal gravity models with their cosmolo…
We consider some cosmological aspects of nonlocal modified gravity with $Λ$ term, where nonlocality is of the type $R \mathcal{F}(\Box) R$. Using ansatz of the form $\Box R = r R +s,$ we find a few a(t) nonsingular bounce cosmological solutions for all three values of spatial curvature parameter k. We also discuss this modified gravity model from F(R) theory point of view.
The Newtonian regime of a recent nonlocal extension of general relativity (GR) is investigated. Nonlocality is introduced via a scalar "constitutive" kernel in a special case of the translational gauge theory of gravitation, namely, the teleparallel equivalent of GR. In this theory, the nonlocal aspect of gravity simulates dark matter. A nonlocal and nonlinear generalization of Poisson's equation of Newtonian gravitation is presented. The implications of nonlocality for the gravitational physics in the solar system are briefly studied.
A nonlocal gravity model (2.1) was introduced and considered recently [49], and two exact cosmological solutions in flat space were presented. The first solution is related to some radiation effects generated by nonlocal dynamics on dark energy background, while the second one is a nonsingular time symmetric bounce. In the present paper we investigate other possible exact cosmological solutions and find some the new ones in nonflat space. Used nonlocal gravity dynamics can change background topology. To solve the corresponding eqations of motion, we first look for a solution of the eigenvalue …
Earlier constructed a simple nonlocal de Sitter gravity model has a cosmological solution in a very good agreement with astronomical observations. In this paper, we continue the investigation of the nonlocal de Sitter model of gravity, focusing on finding an appropriate solution for the Schwarzschild-de Sitter metric. We succeeded to solve the equations of motion in a certain approximation. The obtained approximate solution is of particular interest for examining the possible role of non-local de Sitter gravity in describing the effects in galactic dynamics that are usually attributed to dark …
The recent nonlocal generalization of Einstein's theory of gravitation reduces in the Newtonian regime to a nonlocal and nonlinear modification of Poisson's equation of Newtonian gravity. The nonlocally modified Poisson equation implies that nonlocality can simulate dark matter. Observational data regarding dark matter provide limited information about the functional form of the reciprocal kernel, from which the original nonlocal kernel of the theory must be determined. We study this inverse problem of nonlocal gravity in the linear domain, where the applicability of the Fourier transform meth…
We discuss the cosmological implications of nonlocal modifications of general relativity containing tensorial structures. Assuming the presence of standard radiation- and matter-dominated eras, we show that, except in very particular cases, the nonlocal terms contribute a rapidly growing energy density. These models therefore generically do not have a stable cosmological evolution.
We investigate the nonlocal gravity theory by deriving nonlocal equations of motion using the traditional variation principle in a homogeneous background. We focus on a class of models with a linear nonlocal modification term in the action. It is found that the resulting equations of motion contain the advanced Green's function, implying that there is an acausality problem. As a consequence, a divergence arises in the solutions due to contributions from the future infinity unless the Universe will go back to the radiation dominated era or become the Minkowski spacetime in the future. We also d…
Nonlocal gravity has been shown to provide a phenomenologically viable infrared modification of GR. A natural question is whether the required nonlocality can emerge from perturbative quantum loop corrections due to light particles. We show that this is not the case. For the value of the mass scale of the non-local models required by cosmology, the perturbative form factors obtained from the loop corrections, in the present cosmological epoch, are in the regime where they are local. The mechanism behind the generation of the required nonlocality must be more complex, possibly related to strong…
Contrary to recent claims in the literature, a simple test for reflection positivite, which we call perturbative reflection positivity in the coincidence limit, is shown to be satisfied for nonlocal field theories. Particular attention is given to weakly nonlocal gravity and gauge theories.
Università di Napoli “Federico II”（那不勒斯费德里科二世大学）；Scuola Superiore Meridionale（南方高等学院）；INFN Sezione di Napoli（意大利国家核物理研究所那不勒斯分部）；Van Swinderen Institute, University of Groningen（格罗宁根大学范斯温德伦研究所）
We investigate gravitational radiation in the linear approximation within the framework of the recent nonlocal generalization of Einstein's theory of gravitation. In this theory, nonlocality can simulate dark matter; in fact, in the Newtonian regime, we recover the phenomenological Tohline-Kuhn approach to modified gravity. To account for the observational data regarding the rotation curves of spiral galaxies, nonlocality is associated with a characteristic length scale of order λ_0 = 10 kpc. It follows that in nonlocal gravity, the treatment of extremely low-frequency (~ 10^{-12} Hz) gravitat…
We study the impact of the limit on $|\dot{G}|/G$ from Lunar Laser Ranging on "nonlocal gravity", i.e. on models of the quantum effective action of gravity that include nonlocal terms relevant in the infrared, such as the "RR" and "RT" models proposed by our group, and the Deser-Woodard (DW) model. We elaborate on the analysis of Barreira et al. [1] and we confirm their findings that (under plausible assumptions such as the absence of strong backreaction from non-linear structures), the RR model is ruled out. We also show that the mechanism of "perfect screening for free" suggested for the DW …
We study the causal structure of a class of weakly nonlocal gravitational theories (eventually coupled to matter) that are compatible with perturbative unitarity and finiteness at quantum level. In particular, we show that in nonlocal quantum gravity a Shapiro's time advance never occurs. Moreover, we provide a recipe to construct a general ultraviolet complete gravitational theory coupled to matter (with or without supersymmetry) compatible with causality. Therefore, nonlocal gravity is consistent with causality, as well as string theory.
The huge amounts of undetected and exotic dark matter and dark energy needed to make general relativity work on large scales argue that we should investigate modifications of gravity. The only stable, metric-based and invariant alternative to general relativity is $f(R)$ models. These models can explain primordial inflation, but they cannot dispense with either dark matter or dark energy. I advocate nonlocal modifications of gravity, not as new fundamental theories but rather as the gravitational vacuum polarization engendered by infrared quanta produced during primordial inflation. I also dis…
We consider a nonlocal gravity model motivated by nonperturbative Quantum Gravity studies. This model, if correct, suggests the existence of strong IR relevant effects which can lead to an interesting late time cosmology. We implement the IR modification directly in the effective action. We show that, upon some assumptions on initial conditions, this model describes an observationally viable background cosmology being also consistent with local gravity tests.
We suggest a class of generally covariant ghost-free nonlocal gravity models generating de Sitter or Anti-de Sitter background with an arbitrary value of the effective cosmological constant and featuring a mechanism of dark matter simulation. These models interpolate between the general relativistic phase on a flat spacetime background and their strongly coupled infrared (Anti)-de Sitter phase with two propagating massless graviton modes.
The analogy between electrodynamics and the translational gauge theory of gravity is employed in this paper to develop an ansatz for a nonlocal generalization of Einstein's theory of gravitation. Working in the linear approximation, we show that the resulting nonlocal theory is equivalent to general relativity with "dark matter". The nature of the predicted "dark matter", which is the manifestation of the nonlocal character of gravity in our model, is briefly discussed. It is demonstrated that this approach can provide a basis for the Tohline-Kuhn treatment of the astrophysical evidence for da…
We consider a new modified gravity model with nonlocal term of the form $R^{-1} \mathcal{F}(\Box) R. $ This kind of nonlocality is motivated by investigation of applicability of a few unusual ansätze to obtain some exact cosmological solutions. In particular, we find attractive and useful quadratic ansatz $\Box R = q R^{2}.$
We address the stability issue of Ricci-flat and maximally symmetric spacetimes in nonlocal gravity to all perturbative orders in the gravitational perturbation. Assuming a potential at least cubic in curvature tensors but quadratic in the Ricci tensor, our proof consists on a mapping of the stability analysis in nonlocal gravity to the same problem in Einstein-Hilbert theory. One of the consequences is that only the graviton field can propagate and the theory is ghost-free at all perturbative orders. All the results known in Einstein gravity in vacuum with or without a cosmological constant c…
Gravitational perturbations of nonlocal black holes
INAF–Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma（意大利国家天体物理研究所罗马天文台）；INFN, Sezione di Roma 1（意大利国家核物理研究所罗马第一分部）；Ministero dell’Istruzione e del Merito (M.I.M., ex M.I.U.R.)（意大利教育与Merit部）
Based on the ultraviolet asymptotic freedom of nonlocal quantum gravity, we show that the trans-Planckian energy regime is unattainable in laboratory experiments. As physical implications, it turns out that the violation of causality, typical of nonlocal field theories, can never be detected in particle accelerators, while the asymptotic freedom of the theory provides an elegant solution to the so called trans-Planckian cosmological problem.
We consider nonlocal modified Einstein gravity without matter, where nonlocal term has the form $P(R) F(\Box) Q(R)$. For this model, in this paper we give the derivation of the equations of motion in detail. This is not an easy task and presented derivation should be useful to a researcher who wants to investigate nonlocal gravity. Also, we present the second variation of the related Einstein-Hilbert modified action and basics of gravity perturbations.
A Nonlocal Realization of MOND that Interpolates from Cosmology to Gravitationally Bound Systems
Laboratoire de Physique de l’Ecole Normale Supérieure, ENS, Université PSL, CNRS Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité（巴黎高等师范学院物理实验室，ENS，巴黎文理研究大学，法国国家科学研究中心，索邦大学，巴黎西岱大学）；Department of Physics, University of Florida（佛罗里达大学物理系）
The Weinberg no-go theorem for cosmological constant and nonlocal gravity
Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”（那不勒斯费德里科二世大学）；Scuola Superiore Meridionale（南方高等学院）；INFN Sezione di Napoli（意大利国家核物理研究所那不勒斯分部）；Van Swinderen Institute for Particle Physics and Gravity, University of Groningen（格罗宁根大学范斯温德恩粒子物理与引力研究所）
We study the matter one-loop quantum corrections to the gravitational sector in a gravity theory coupled with a nonlocal scalar field. We find that non-renormalizable divergences disappear when the propagator of the scalar field approaches to a non-zero constant at high momentum, while the vacuum energy is still divergent. We also comment on non-local modification of fermion, gauge field and graviton.
We study two nonlinear extensions of the nonlocal $R\,\Box^{-2}R$ gravity theory. We extend this theory in two different ways suggested by conformal symmetry, either replacing $\Box^{-2}$ with $(-\Box + R/6)^{-2}$, which is the operator that enters the action for a conformally-coupled scalar field, or replacing $\Box^{-2}$ with the inverse of the Paneitz operator, which is a four-derivative operator that enters in the effective action induced by the conformal anomaly. We show that the former modification gives an interesting and viable cosmological model, with a dark energy equation of state t…
Even though it is not possible to differentiate General Relativity from Teleparallel Gravity using classical experiments, it could be possible to discriminate between them by quantum gravitational effects. These effects have motivated the introduction of nonlocal deformations of General Relativity, and similar effects are also expected to occur in Teleparallel Gravity. Here, we study nonlocal deformations of Teleparallel Gravity along with its cosmological solutions. We observe that Nonlocal Teleparallel Gravity (like nonlocal General Relativity) is consistent with the present cosmological dat…
Even if the fundamental action of gravity is local, the corresponding quantum effective action, that includes the effect of quantum fluctuations, is a nonlocal object. These nonlocalities are well understood in the ultraviolet regime but much less in the infrared, where they could in principle give rise to important cosmological effects. Here we systematize and extend previous work of our group, in which it is assumed that a mass scale $Λ$ is dynamically generated in the infrared, giving rise to nonlocal terms in the quantum effective action of gravity. We give a detailed discussion of concept…
This chapter of the Handbook of Quantum Gravity aims to illustrate how nonlocality can be implemented in field theories, as well as the manner it solves fundamental difficulties of gravitational theories. We review Stelle's quadratic gravity, which achieves multiplicative renormalizability successfully to remove quantum divergences by modifying the Einstein's action but at the price of breaking the unitarity of the theory and introducing Ostrogradski's ghosts. Utilizing nonlocal operators, one is able not only to make the theory renormalizable, but also to get rid of these ghost modes that ari…
In metric-affine theories of gravity such as the C-theories, the spacetime connection is associated to a metric that is nontrivially related to the physical metric. In this article, such theories are rewritten in terms of a single metric and it is shown that they can be recast as effectively nonlocal gravity. With some assumptions, known ghost-free theories with non-singular and cosmologically interesting properties may be recovered. Relations between different formulations are analysed at both perturbative and nonperturbative levels taking carefully into account subtleties with boundary condi…
We present extensions of the treatment contained in our recent paper on nonlocal Newtonian cosmology [C. Chicone and B. Mashhoon, J. Math. Phys. 57, 072501 (2016)]. That is, the implications of the recent nonlocal generalization of Einstein's theory of gravitation are further investigated within the regime of Newtonian cosmology. In particular, we treat the nonlocal problem of structure formation for a spherically symmetric expanding dust model and show numerically that as the central density contrast grows, it tends to decrease slowly with radial distance as the universe expands. The nonlocal…
This paper is devoted to a simple nonlocal de Sitter gravity model and its exact vacuum cosmological solutions. In the Einstein-Hilbert action with $Λ$ term, we introduce nonlocality by the following way: $R - 2 Λ= \sqrt{R-2Λ}\ \sqrt{R-2Λ} \to \sqrt{R-2Λ}\ F(\Box)\ \sqrt{R-2Λ} ,$ where ${F} (\Box) = 1 + \sum_{n= 1}^{+\infty} \big( f_n \Box^n + f_{-n} \Box^{-n} \big) $ is an analytic function of the d'Alembert-Beltrami operator $\Box$ and its inverse $\Box^{-1}$. By this way, $R$ and $Λ$ enter with the same form into nonlocal version as they are in the local one, and nonlocal operator $F(\Box)$…
We present a method to solve the nonlinear dynamical equations of motion in gravitational theories with fundamental nonlocalities of a certain type. For these specific form factors, which appear in some renormalizable theories, the number of field degrees of freedom and of initial conditions is finite.
In this work, we extend previous analyses of the structure formation in the $f(\Box^{-1}R)$ model of nonlocal gravity proposed by Deser and Woodard (DW), which reproduces the background expansion of $Λ$CDM with no need of a cosmological constant nor of any dimensional constant beside Newton's one. A previous analysis based on redshift-space distortions (RSD) data concluded that the model was ruled out. In this work we revisit the issue and find that, when recast in a localized model, the DW model is not ruled out and actually gives a better fit to RSD data than $Λ$CDM. At the same time, the mo…
We propose a nonlocal scalar-tensor model of gravity with pseudodifferential operators inspired by the effective action of p-adic string and string field theory on flat spacetime. An infinite number of derivatives act both on the metric and scalar field sector. The system is localized via the diffusion equation approach and its cosmology is studied. We find several exact dynamical solutions, also in the presence of a barotropic fluid, which are stationary in the diffusion flow. In particular, and contrary to standard general relativity, there exist solutions with exponential and power-law scal…
The nonlocal theory of accelerated systems is extended to linear gravitational waves as measured by accelerated observers in Minkowski spacetime. The implications of this approach are discussed. In particular, the nonlocal modifications of helicity-rotation coupling are pointed out and a nonlocal wave equation is presented for a special class of uniformly rotating observers. The results of this study, via Einstein's heuristic principle of equivalence, provide the incentive for a nonlocal classical theory of the gravitational field.
Energy-momentum conservation requires the associated gravitational fluxes on an asymptotically flat spacetime to scale as $1/r^2$, as $r \to \infty$, where $r$ is the distance between the observer and the source of the gravitational waves. We expand the equations-of-motion for the Deser-Woodard nonlocal gravity model up to quadratic order in metric perturbations, to compute its gravitational energy-momentum flux due to an isolated system. The contributions from the nonlocal sector contains $1/r$ terms proportional to the acceleration of the Newtonian energy of the system, indicating such nonlo…
A non-local modified gravity model with an analytic function of the d'Alembert operator that has been proposed as a possible way of resolving the singularities problems in cosmology is considered. We show that the anzats that is usually used to obtain exact solutions in this model provides a connection with $f(R)$ gravity models.
A nonlocal gravity model, which does not assume the existence of a new dimensional parameter in the action and includes a function $f(\Box^{-1} R)$, with $\Box$ the d'Alembertian operator, is considered. The model is proven to have de Sitter solutions only if the function f satisfies a certain second-order linear differential equation. The de Sitter solutions corresponding to the simplest case, an exponential function f, are explored, without any restrictions on the parameters. If the value of the Hubble parameter is positive, the de Sitter solution is stable at late times, both for negative a…
A nonlocal generalization of Einstein's theory of gravitation is constructed within the framework of the translational gauge theory of gravity. In the linear approximation, the nonlocal theory can be interpreted as linearized general relativity but in the presence of "dark matter" that can be simply expressed as an integral transform of matter. It is shown that this approach can accommodate the Tohline-Kuhn treatment of the astrophysical evidence for dark matter.
We argue that quantum gravity is nonlocal, first by recalling well-known arguments that support this idea and then by focusing on a point not usually emphasized: that making a conventional effective field theory (EFT) for quantum gravity is particularly difficult, and perhaps impossible in principle. This inability to realize an EFT comes down to the fact that gravity itself sets length scales for a problem: when integrating out degrees of freedom above some cutoff, the effective metric one uses will be different, which will itself re-define the cutoff. We also point out that even if the previ…
We describe a framework for a generalized nonlocal gravity theory inspired by Poincaré gauge theory. Our theory provides a unified description of previous nonlocal extensions of Einstein's theory of gravitation, in particular it allows for a clear geometrical foundation. Furthermore, it incorporates recent simplifications for the ansatz of the nonlocality, which should allow for a systematic study of the impact of nonlocal concepts on observations.
We construct a quadratic curvature theory of gravity whose graviton propagator around the Minkowski background respects wordline inversion symmetry, the particle approximation to modular invariance in string theory. This symmetry automatically yields a corresponding gravitational theory that is nonlocal, with the action containing infinite order differential operators. As a consequence, despite being a higher order derivative theory, it is ghost-free and has no degrees of freedom besides the massless spin-$2$ graviton of Einstein's general relativity. By working in the linearised regime we sho…
We reconsider here the model where large quantum gravity effects were first found, but now in its Null Surface Formulation (NSF). We find that although the set of coherent states for $Z$, the basic variable of NSF, is as restricted as it is the one for the metric, while some type of small deviations from these states may cause huge fluctuations on the metric, the corresponding fluctuations on $Z$ remain small.
We re-analyze the nonlocal gravity model of Deser and Woodard which was proposed to account for the current phase of cosmic acceleration. We show that the growth of perturbations predicted by this nonlocal gravity model when its background evolution is fixed by some particular non-$Λ$CDM models can be substantially lower than when its background is fixed by $Λ$CDM. This can be seen when we consider the background expansion by a dark energy model with a slightly less negative equation of state with respect to cosmological constant. Our results hints towards a fact that the choice of the backgro…
Nonlocal massive gravity can provide an interesting explanation for the late-time cosmic acceleration, with a dark energy equation of state $w_{\rm DE}$ smaller than $-1$ in the past. We derive the equations of linear cosmological perturbations to confront such models with the observations of large-scale structures. The effective gravitational coupling to nonrelativistic matter associated with galaxy clusterings is close to Newton's gravitational constant $G$ for a mass scale $m$ slightly smaller than today's Hubble parameter $H_0$. Taking into account the background expansion history as well …
We consider nonlocal modification of the Einstein theory of gravity in framework of the pseudo-Riemannian geometry. The nonlocal term has the form $\mathcal{H}(R) \mathcal{F}(\Box)\mathcal {G}(R)$, where $\mathcal{H}$ and $\mathcal{G}$ are differentiable functions of the scalar curvature $R,$ and $ \mathcal{F}(\Box)= \displaystyle \sum_{n =0}^{\infty} f_{n}\Box^{n}$ is an analytic function of the d'Alambert operator $\Box .$ Using calculus of variations of the action functional, we derived the corresponding equations of motion. The variation of action is induced by variation of the gravitation…
The Deser-Woodard (DW) nonlocal gravity model has been proposed in order to describe the late-time acceleration of the universe without introducing dark energy. In this paper we focus, however, on the early stage of the universe and demonstrate how a primordial bounce in the vacuum spacetime can be realized in the framework of the DW nonlocal model. We reconstruct the nonlocal distortion function, which encodes all the modifications to the Einstein-Hilbert action, in order to generate bouncing solutions to solve the initial singularity problem. We show that the initial conditions can be chosen…
A new representation is found for the action of the recently suggested ghost-free nonlocal gravity models generating de Sitter or Anti-de Sitter background with an arbitrary value of the effective cosmological constant. This representation allows one to extend applications of these models from maximally symmetric to generic Einstein spaces and black hole solutions, but clearly indicates violation of the general relativistic limit in this class of theories, induced by their infrared behavior. It is shown that this limit can be recovered in a special conformal frame of these theories, and their …
We prove that the Minkowski spacetime is stable at nonlinear level and to all perturbative orders in the gravitational perturbation in a general class of nonlocal gravitational theories that are unitary and finite at quantum level.
