Energy conditions in f(P) gravity

Abstract

[Formula: see text] gravity is a novel extension of Einsteinian cubic gravity in which the Ricci scalar in the action is replaced by a function of the curvature invariant [Formula: see text] which represents the contractions of the Riemann tensor at the cubic order [C. Erices, E. Papantonopoulos and E. N. Saridakis, Phys. Rev. D 99 (2019) 123527]. This work is concentrated on bounding some [Formula: see text] gravity models using the concept of energy conditions where the functional forms of [Formula: see text] are represented as (a) [Formula: see text] and (b) [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is the sole model parameter. Energy conditions are interesting linear relationships between pressure and density and have been extensively employed to derive interesting results in Einstein’s gravity, and are also an excellent tool to impose constraints on any cosmological model. To place the bounds, we ensured that the energy density must remain positive, the pressure must remain negative, and the equation of state parameter must attain a value close to [Formula: see text] to make sure that the bounds respect the accelerated expansion of the universe and are also in harmony with the latest observational data. We report that for both the models, suitable parameter spaces exist which satisfy the aforementioned conditions, and therefore, posit the [Formula: see text] theory of gravity to be a promising modified theory of gravitation.