This is a review with the ambitious goal of covering the recent progress in: 1) universal relations (in general relativity and alternative theories of gravity), and 2) neutron star models in alternative theories. We also aim to be complementary to recent reviews in the literature that are covering the topic of universal relations of neutron stars.
We are investigating universal relations between different normalisations of the moment of inertia and the compactness of neutron and strange stars. Slowly rotating as well as rapidly rotating models are studied in General Relativity, $\mathcal{R}^2$ gravity and scalar--tensor theories of gravity. Moment of inertia -- compactness relations are examined for different normalisations of the moment of inertia. It is shown that for all studied cases the deviations from EOS universality are small for the examined equations of state. It turns out that in some of the cases the examined relations are a…
Critical collapse in tensor-multi-scalar gravity theories is studied, and found that for any given target space all the theories conformally related belong to the same universal class. When only one scalar field is present, the universality is extended to include a class of non-linear gravity theories.
Gravitational Wave (GW) observations of coalescing compact binaries will be unique probes of strong-field, dynamical aspects of relativistic gravity. We present a short review of various schemes proposed in the literature to test General Relativity (GR) and alternative theories of gravity using inspiral waveforms. Broadly these schemes may be classified into two types: model dependent and model independent. In the model dependent category, GW observations are compared against a specific waveform model representative of a particular theory or a class of theories like Scalar-Tensor theories, Dyn…
The paper deals with universal thermodynamics for FRW model of the universe bounded by apparent (or event) horizon. Assuming Hawking temperature on the horizon, the unified first law is examined on the horizon for different gravity theories. The results show that equilibrium configuration is preserved with a modification to Bekenstein entropy on the horizon.
We study how rapid rotation influences the relation between the normalized moment of inertia $\bar{I}$ and quadrupole moment $\bar{Q}$ for scalarized neutron stars. The questions one has to answer are whether the EOS universality is preserved in this regime and what are the deviations from general relativity. Our results show that the $\bar{I}-\bar{Q}$ relation is nearly EOS independent for scalarized rapidly rotating stars, but the differences with pure Einstein's theory increase compared to the slowly rotating case. In general, smaller negative values of the scalar field coupling parameters …
We develop a theoretical framework to study slowly rotating compact stars in a rather general class of alternative theories of gravity, with the ultimate goal of investigating constraints on alternative theories from electromagnetic and gravitational-wave observations of compact stars. Our Lagrangian includes as special cases scalar-tensor theories (and indirectly f(R) theories) as well as models with a scalar field coupled to quadratic curvature invariants. As a first application of the formalism, we discuss (for the first time in the literature) compact stars in Einstein-Dilaton-Gauss-Bonnet…
In this article first we present a brief review of some alternative theories of cosmology. Then by referring to some of the main works done in these theories we show that how they can describe the phenomena which are explained nowadays in the framework of standard model of cosmology(SM).
Neutron stars are ideal astrophysical sources to probe general relativity due to their large compactnesses and strong gravitational fields. For example, binary pulsar and gravitational wave observations have placed stringent bounds on certain scalar-tensor theories in which a massless scalar field is coupled to the metric through matter. A remarkable phenomenon of neutron stars in such scalar-tensor theories is spontaneous scalarization, where a normalized scalar charge remains order unity even if the matter-scalar coupling vanishes asymptotically far from the neutron star. While most works on…
In the next decade gravitational waves might be detected using a pulsar timing array. In an effort to develop optimal detection strategies for stochastic backgrounds of gravitational waves in generic metric theories of gravity, we investigate the overlap reduction functions for these theories and discuss their features. We show that the sensitivity to non-transverse gravitational waves is greater than the sensitivity to transverse gravitational waves and discuss the physical origin of this effect. We calculate the overlap reduction functions for the current NANOGrav Pulsar Timing Array (PTA) a…
We analyze spherically symmetric black hole solutions with time-dependent scalar hair in a class of Lovelock-Galileon theories, which are the scalar-tensor theories with second-order field equations in arbitrary dimensions. We first show that known black hole solutions in five dimensions are always plagued by the ghost/gradient instability in the vicinity of the horizon. We then generalize such black hole solutions to higher dimensions and show that the same instability found in five dimensions appears universally in any number of dimensions.
We present, in closed analytic form, a general stationary, slowly rotating black hole, which is solution to a large class of alternative theories of gravity in four dimensions. In these theories, the Einstein-Hilbert action is supplemented by all possible quadratic, algebraic curvature invariants coupled to a scalar field. The solution is found as a deformation of the Schwarzschild metric in General Relativity. We explicitly derive the changes to the orbital frequency at the innermost stable circular orbit and at the light ring in closed form. These results could be useful when comparing Gener…
A way to probe alternative theories of gravitation is to study if they could account for the structures of the universe. We then modified the well-known Gadget-2 code to probe alternative theories of gravitation through galactic dynamics. As an application, we simulate the evolution of spiral galaxies to probe alternative theories of gravitation whose weak field limits have a Yukawa-like gravitational potential. These simulations show that galactic dynamics can be used to constrain the parameters associated with alternative theories of gravitation. It is worth stressing that the recipe given i…
More than 50 abstracts were submitted to the A4 session on "Alternatives Theories of Gravity" at the GRG18 conference. About 30 of them were scheduled as oral presentations, that we summarize below. We do not intend to give a critical review, but rather pointers to the corresponding papers. The main topics were (i) brane models both from the mathematical and the phenomenological viewpoints; (ii) Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity in higher dimensions or coupled to a scalar field; (iii) modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND); (iv) scalar-tensor and f(R) theories; (v) alternative models involving Lorentz…
We address the possibility of taking advantage of high accuracy gravitational space experiments in the Solar System and complementary cosmological tests to distinguish between the usual general relativistic theory from the alternative modified Newtonian dynamics paradigm.
We argue that from the point of view of gauge theory and of an appropriate interpretation of the interferometer experiments with matter waves in a gravitational field, the Einstein-Cartan theory is the best theory of gravity available. Alternative viable theories are general relativity and a certain teleparallelism model. Objections of Ohanian and Ruffini against the Einstein-Cartan theory are discussed. Subsequently we list the papers which were read at the `Alternative 4D Session' and try to order them, at least partially, in the light of the structures discussed.
We show that almost all metric--affine theories of gravity yield Einstein equations with a non--null cosmological constant $Λ$. Under certain circumstances and for any dimension, it is also possible to incorporate a Weyl vector field $W_μ$ and therefore the presence of an anisotropy. The viability of these field equations is discussed in view of recent astrophysical observations.
Recently LIGO and VIRGO collaborations reported about observation of gravitational-wave signal corresponding to the inspiral and merger of two black holes, resulting into formation of the final black hole. It was shown that the observations are consistent with the Einstein theory of gravity with high accuracy limited mainly by the statistical error. Angular momentum and mass of the final black hole were determined with rather large allowance of tens of percents. Here we shall show that this indeterminacy in the range of the black-hole parameters allows for some not negligible deformations of t…
The "Universality Theorem" for gravity shows that f(R) theories (in their metric-affine formulation) in vacuum are dynamically equivalent to vacuum Einstein equations with suitable cosmological constants. This holds true for a generic (i.e. except sporadic degenerate cases) analytic function f(R) and standard gravity without cosmological constant is reproduced if f is the identity function (i.e. f(R)=R). The theorem is here extended introducing in dimension 4 a 1-parameter family of invariants R' inspired by the Barbero-Immirzi formulation of GR (which in the Euclidean sector includes also sel…
The general misconception regarding velocity measurements of a test particle as it approaches black hole is addressed by introducing generalized observer set. For a general static spherically symmetric metric applicable to both Einstein and alternative gravities as well as for some well known solutions in alternative gravity theories, we find that velocity of the test particle do not approach that of light at event horizon by considering ingoing observers and test particles.
We study almost universal spacetimes - spacetimes for which the field equations of any generalized gravity with the Lagrangian constructed from the metric, the Riemann tensor and its covariant derivatives of arbitrary order reduce to one single differential equation and one algebraic condition for the Ricci scalar. We prove that all d-dimensional Kundt spacetimes of Weyl type III and traceless Ricci type N are almost universal. Explicit examples of Weyl type II almost universal Kundt metrics are also given. The considerable simplification of the field equations of higher-order gravity theories…
In this communication, we focus on the possibility to test General Relativity (GR) with radioscience experiments. We present simulations of observables performed in alternative theories of gravity using a software that simulates Range/Doppler signals directly from the space time metric. This software allows one to get the order of magnitude and the signature of the modifications induced by an alternative theory of gravity on radioscience signals. As examples, we present some simulations for the Cassini mission in Post-Einsteinian gravity (PEG) and with Standard Model Extension (SME).
In this paper, we investigate the conservation laws of different type of particles in theories with a universal gravity/matter coupling. The result brings new insights about previous studies on universal gravity/matter theories. Especially, the paper demonstrates that for perfect fluids, there is an equivalence between the assumption $Ł_m=-ε$, where $ε$ is the total energy density; and the assumption that the matter fluid current is conserved ($\nabla_σ(ρu^σ)=0$, where $ρ$ is the rest mass density). However, the main result is given in the general case where one does not make any assumption on…
Alternative theories of gravity have been recently studied in connection with their cosmological applications, both in the Palatini and in the metric formalism. The aim of this paper is to propose a theoretical framework (in the Palatini formalism) to test these theories at the solar system level and possibly at the galactic scales. We exactly solve field equations in vacuum and find the corresponding corrections to the standard general relativistic gravitational field. On the other hand, approximate solutions are found in matter cases starting from a Lagrangian which depends on a phenomenolog…
In this review we examine the amplitude intensity associated to tensorial and non-tensorial polarization modes generated by binary systems at their inspiral stage, within the alternative theories of gravity of Brans Dicke, Rosen, and Lightman Lee. This study is performed without making an explicit use of the Transverse Traceless gauge of the General Relativity approach, and at the Newtonian limit. Consequently such additional polarization modes appear (non-tensorial) due to additional degrees of freedom in modified theories of gravitation. We model and compare the different polarization modes …
In this communication, we focus on the possibility to test GR with radioscience experiments. We present a new software that in a first step simulates the Range/Doppler signals directly from the space time metric (thus in GR and in alternative theories of gravity). In a second step, a least-squares fit of the involved parameters is performed in GR. This software allows one to get the order of magnitude and the signature of the modifications induced by an alternative theory of gravity on radioscience signals. As examples, we present some simulations for the Cassini mission in Post-Einsteinian gr…
In this paper we investigate graviton-photon oscillation in the presence of an external magnetic field in alternative theories of gravity. Whereas the effect of an effective refractive index for the electromagnetic radiation was already considered in the literature, we develop the first approach to take into account the effect of the modification of the predictions for gravitational waves in alternative theories of gravity in the phenomenon of graviton-photon mixing.
It is well known that standard gauge theories are renormalizable in D=4 while Einstein gravity is renormalizable in D=2. This is where the research in the field of two derivatives theories is currently standing. We hereby present a class of weakly non-local higher derivative gravitational and gauge theories universally consistent at quantum level in any spacetime dimension. These theories are unitary (ghost-free) and perturbatively renormalizable. Moreover, we can always find a simple extension of these theories that is super-renormalizable or finite at quantum level in even and odd spacetime …
Although general relativity (GR) passes all present experimental tests with flying colors, it remains important to study alternative theories of gravity for several theoretical and phenomenological reasons that we recall in these lecture notes. The various possible ways of modifying GR are presented, and we notably show that the motion of massive bodies may be changed even if one assumes that matter is minimally coupled to the metric as in GR. This is illustrated with the particular case of scalar-tensor theories of gravity, whose Fokker action is discussed, and we also mention the consequence…
We investigate the late-time cosmological behaviour of scalar-tensor theories with a universal multiplicative coupling between the scalar field and the matter Lagrangian in the matter era. This class of theory encompasses the case of the massless string dilaton (see Damour and Polyakov, General Relativity and Gravitation, 26, 1171) as well as a theory with an intrinsic decoupling mechanism in the solar system (see Minazzoli and Hees, Phys. Rev. D 88, 041504). The cosmological evolution is studied in the General Relativity limit justified by solar system constraints on the gravitation theory. T…
In this contribution to the conference "Beyond Einstein: Historical Perspectives on Geometry, Gravitation and Cosmology in the Twentieth Century", we give a critical status report of attempts to explain the late accelerated expansion of the universe by modifications of general relativity. Our brief review of such alternatives to the standard cosmological model addresses mainly readers who have not pursued the vast recent literature on this subject.
In this paper, we show the existence of static and rotating universal horizons and black holes in gravitational theories with the broken Lorentz invariance. We pay particular attention on the ultraviolet regime, and show that universal horizons and black holes exist not only in low energy scales but also in the UV scales. This is realized by presenting various static and stationary exact solutions of the full theory of the projectable Hořava gravity with an extra U(1) symmetry in (2+1)-dimensions, which, by construction, is power-counting renormalizable.
We briefly review some recent advances in the study of the shadows of rotating black holes in alternative theories. The size and the shape of the shadow depend on the mass and the angular momentum, and they can also depend on other parameters specific of the particular model adopted. As an example, we show the results corresponding to a rotating braneworld black hole.
A new approach, "$\mathfrak{B}\text{-Function}$ Method", to the analysis of the reconstruction methods, phase space, and exact solutions of the alternative theories of gravity is suggested. The $\mathfrak{B}\text{-function}$ method which is constructed by suggesting eight new model-independent physical theorems, extracts the physically admissible ranges of the evolution of the parameters (i.e. the variables and constant parameters of action and those which emerged by differential equations as the constants of integration) and helps one for quick data analysis. The most significant feature and …
It has recently been shown via an equivalence of gravitational radius and Compton wavelength in four dimensions that the trans-Planckian regime of gravity may by semi-classical, and that this point is defined by a minimum horizon radius commensurate with the Planck mass. We extend the formalism to gravity in the context of Randall-Sundrum and the generalized uncertainty principle.
The most general scalar-tensor theories of gravity predict a weakening of the gravitational force inside astrophysical bodies. There is a minimum mass for hydrogen burning in stars that is set by the interplay of plasma physics and the theory of gravity. We calculate this for alternative theories of gravity, and find that it is always significantly larger than the general relativity prediction. The observation of several low mass Red Dwarf stars therefore rules out a large class of scalar-tensor gravity theories, and places strong constraints on the cosmological parameters appearing in the eff…
We study the contribution to the entanglement entropy of (2+1)-dimensional conformal field theories coming from a sharp corner in the entangling surface. This contribution is encoded in a function $a(θ)$ of the corner opening angle, and was recently proposed as a measure of the degrees of freedom in the underlying CFT. We show that the ratio $a(θ)/C_T$, where $C_T$ is the central charge in the stress tensor correlator, is an almost universal quantity for a broad class of theories including various higher-curvature holographic models, free scalars and fermions, and Wilson-Fisher fixed points of…
We study the constraints on alternative theories of gravity that can be determined by multi-band observations of gravitational wave signals emitted from binary black hole coalescences. We focus on three types of General Relativity modifications induced by a generalised Brans-Dicke theory, and two classes of quadratic gravity, Einstein-dilaton-Gauss-Bonnet and dynamical Chern-Simons. Considering a network of space and ground-based detectors, supplied by a population of spinning binaries black hole, we show how the multi-band analysis improves the existing bounds on the theory's parameters by se…
The neutrino flavor oscillation is studied in some classes of alternative gravity theories in a plane specified by $θ=π/2$, exploiting the spherical symmetry and general equations for oscillation phases are given. We first calculate the phase in a general static spherically symmetric model and then we discuss some spherically symmetric solutions in alternative gravity theories. Among them we discuss the effect of cosmological term in Schwarzschild-(anti)de Sitter solution, which is the vacuum solution in $F(R)$ theory, the effect of charge and Gauss-Bonnet coupling parameter on the oscillation…
Cosmological Gravitational Waves (GWs) are usually associated with the transverse-traceless part of the metric perturbations in the context of the theory of cosmological perturbations. These modes are just the usual polarizations `+' and `x' which appear in the general relativity theory. However, in the majority of the alternative theories of gravity, GWs can present more than these two polarization states. In this context, the Newman-Penrose formalism is particularly suitable for evaluating the number of non-null GW modes. In the present work we intend to take into account these extra polariz…
We study two large classes of alternative theories, modifying the action through algebraic, quadratic curvature invariants coupled to scalar fields. We find one class that admits solutions that solve the vacuum Einstein equations and another that does not. In the latter, we find a deformation to the Schwarzschild metric that solves the modified field equations in the small coupling approximation. We calculate the event horizon shift, the innermost stable circular orbit shift, and corrections to gravitational waves, mapping them to the parametrized post-Einsteinian framework.
In this report we discuss three aspects: 1) Semiclassical gravity theory (SCG): 4 levels of theories describing the interaction of quantum matter with classical gravity; 2) Alternative Quantum Theories: Discerning those which are derivable from general relativity (GR) plus quantum field theory (QFT) from those which are not; 3) Gravitational Decoherence: Derivation of a master equation and examination of the assumptions which led to the claims of observational possibilities. We list three sets of corresponding problems worthy of pursuit: a) Newton-Schrödinger Equations in relation to SCG; b) M…
The recently reported gravitational wave events GW$150914$ and GW$151226$ caused by the mergers of binary black holes [arXiv:1602.03841],[arXiv:1606.04855],[arXiv:1606.04856] provide a formidable way to set constraints on alternative metric theories of gravity in the strong field regime. In this paper, we develop an approach where an arbitrary theory of gravity can be parametrised by an effective coupling $G_{eff}$ and an effective gravitational potential $Φ(r)$. The standard Newtonian limit of General Relativity is recovered as soon as $G_{eff}\rightarrow G_N$ and $Φ(r)\rightarrow Φ_{N}$. The…
Einstein's equations in a tetrad formulation are derived from a linear theory in flat spacetime with an asymmetric potential using free field gauge invariance, local Lorentz invariance and universal coupling. The gravitational potential can be either covariant or contravariant and of almost any density weight. These results are adapted to produce universally coupled massive variants of Einstein's equations, yielding two one-parameter families of distinct theories with spin 2 and spin 0. The theories derived, upon fixing the local Lorentz gauge freedom, are seen to be a subset of those found by…
In this paper we present the results of our calculations of the Einsteinian strengths S_E(d) and numbers dynamical degrees of freedom N_{DF}(d) for alternative gravity theories in d >= 4 dimensions. In the first part we consider the numbers S_E(d) and N_{DF}(d) for metric-compatible and quadratic in curvature (or quadratic in curvature and in torsion) gravity. We show that in the entire set of the metric-compatible quadratic gravity in d >= 4 dimensions the 2-nd order Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet theory has the smallest numbers S_E(d) and N_{DF}(d), i.e., this quadratic theory of gravity has the stro…
We discuss the global properties of static, spherically symmetric configurations of a self-gravitating real scalar field $ϕ$ in general relativity (GR), scalar-tensor theories (STT) and high-order gravity ($L=f(R)$) in various dimensions. In GR, for fields with arbitrary potentials $V(ϕ)$, not necessarily positive-definite, it is shown that the list of all possible types of space-time causal structure in the models under consideration is the same as the one for $ϕ= const$. In particular, there are no regular black holes with any asymptotics. These features are extended to STT and $f(R)$ theori…
Is Cosmic Censorship special to General Relativity, or can it survive a violation of equivalence principle? Recent studies have shown that singularities in Lorentz violating Einstein-Aether (or Horava-Lifhsitz) theories can lie behind a universal horizon in simple black hole spacetimes. Even infinitely fast signals cannot escape these universal horizons. We extend this result, for an incompressible aether, to 3+1d dynamical or spinning spacetimes which possess inner killing horizons, and show that a universal horizon always forms in between the outer and (would-be) inner horizons. This finding…
The theories of gravity which violate local Lorentz invariance do not admit a universal maximum speed of signal-propagation. Different field excitations see a different effective metric and hence a different light cone. In these theories, although one can define the Killing horizon in a conventional way, this definition does not capture the notion of a black hole. This is so because there exist modes which see a wider light cone than the one defined by the Killing Horizon and therefore can escape to infinity. However, there exist solutions of these theories which admit a special spacelike hype…
A number of theories of gravity have been proposed as proxies for dark matter in the regime of galaxies and cosmology. The recent observations of gravitational waves (GW170817) from the merger of two neutron stars, followed by an electromagnetic counterpart (GW170817a) have placed stringent constraints on the difference of the speed of gravity to the speed of light, severely restricting the phenomenological viability of such theories. We revisit the impact of these observations on the Tensor-Vector-Scalar (TeVeS) paradigm of relativistic Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) and demonstrate the e…
It is well known that General Relativity cannot be considered under the standard of a perturbatively renormalizable quantum field theory, but asymptotic safety is taken into account as a possibility for the formulation of gravity as a non-perturbative renormalizable theory. Recently, the entropy argument has however stepped into the discussion claiming for a "no-go" to the asymptotic safety argument. In this paper, we present simple counter-examples, considering alternative theories of gravity, to the entropy argument as further indications, among others, on the possible flows in the assumptio…
The hydrodynamic behaviour of perfect fluid orbiting around black holes in spherically symmetric spacetime for various alternative gravity theories has been investigated. For this purpose we have assumed an uniform distribution for the angular momentum density of the rotating perfect fluid. The contours of equipotential surfaces are illustrated in order to obtain the nature of inflow and outflow of matters. It has been noticed that, the marginally stable circular orbits originating from decreasing angular momentum density lead to closed equipotential surfaces along with cusp allowing existence…
Einstein's equations were derived for a free massless spin-$2$ field using universal coupling in the 1950-70s by various authors; total stress-energy including gravity's served as a source for linear free field equations. A massive variant was likewise derived in the late 1960s by Freund, Maheshwari and Schonberg, and thought to be unique. How broad is universal coupling? In the last decade four $1$-parameter families of massive spin-$2$ theories (contravariant, covariant, tetrad, and cotetrad of almost any density weights) have been derived using universal coupling. The (co)tetrad derivations…
The successful miniaturisation of extremely accurate atomic clocks and atom interferometers invites prospects for satellite missions to perform precision experiments. We discuss the effects predicted by general relativity and alternative theories of gravity that can be detected by a clock, which orbits the Earth. Our experiment relies on the precise tracking of the spacecraft using its observed tick-rate. The spacecraft's reconstructed four-dimensional trajectory will reveal the nature of gravitational perturbations in Earth's gravitational field, potentially differentiating between different …
In this paper, we focus on the possibility to test General Relativity in the Solar System with radioscience measurements. To this aim, we present a new software that simulates Range and Doppler signals directly from the space-time metric. This flexible approach allows one to perform simulations in General Relativity and in alternative metric theories of gravity. In a second step, a least-squares fit of the different initial conditions involved in the situation is performed in order to compare anomalous signals produced by a given alternative theory with the ones obtained in General Relativity.…