Scalar Tensor Theories of Gravity

Abstract

Scalar-tensor theories of gravity are currently of great interest, partially due to the fact that such theories occur as the low-energy limit in superstring theory (see [188] and references therein) . The first scalar-tensor theories to appear (with ω = ω 0 ) were due to Jordan [205, 206], Fierz [146] and Brans and Dicke [60] and the most general scalar-tensor theories were formulated by Bergmann [40], Nordtvedt [289] and Wagoner [356] . The observational limits on scalar-tensor theories include solar system tests [2, 59, 64, 189] and cosmological tests such as Big Bang nucleosynthesis constraints [17, 322].