Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld Gravity Research Articles

Correspondence between modified gravity and general relativity with scalar fields

We describe a novel procedure to map the field equations of nonlinear Ricci-based metric-affine theories of gravity, coupled to scalar matter described by a given Lagrangian, into the field equations of General Relativity coupled to a different scalar field Lagrangian. Our analysis considers examples with a single and $N$ real scalar fields, described either by canonical Lagrangians or by generalized functions of the kinetic and potential terms. In particular, we consider several explicit examples involving $f(R)$ theories and the Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity model, coupled to different scalar field Lagrangians. We show how the nonlinearities of the gravitational sector of these theories can be traded to nonlinearities in the matter fields, and how the procedure allows to find new solutions on both sides of the correspondence. The potential of this procedure for applications of scalar field models in astrophysical and cosmological scenarios is highlighted.

Probing Palatini-type gravity theories through gravitational wave detections via quasinormal modes

The possibility of testing gravity theories with the help of gravitational wave detections has become an interesting arena of recent research. In this paper, we follow this direction by investigating the quasinormal modes (QNMs) of the axial perturbations for charged black holes in the Palatini-type theories of gravity, specifically (1) the Palatini f(R) gravity coupled with Born-Infeld nonlinear electrodynamics and (2) the Eddington-inspired-Born-Infeld gravity (EiBI) coupled with Maxwell electromagnetic fields. The coupled master equations describing perturbations of charged black holes in these theories are obtained with the tetrad formalism. By using the Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) method up to 6th order, we calculate the QNM frequencies of the EiBI charged black holes, the Einstein-Born-Infeld black holes, and the Born-Infeld charged black holes within the Palatini R+alpha R^2 gravity. The QNM spectra of these black holes would deviate from those of the Reissner-Nordström black hole. In addition, we study the QNMs in the eikonal limit and find that for the axial perturbations of the EiBI charged black holes, the link between the eikonal QNMs and the unstable null circular orbit around the black hole is violated.

Overcharging black holes and cosmic censorship in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity

The Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld (EiBI) gravity is a modification of the theory of general relativity inspired by the nonlinear Born-Infeld electrodynamics. The theory is described by a series of higher curvature terms added to the Einstein-Hilbert action with the parameter $\kappa$. The EiBI gravity has several interesting exact neutral and charged black hole solutions. We study the problem of overcharging extremal black hole solutions of EiBI gravity using a charged test particle to create naked singularity. We show that unlike general relativity, the overcharging could be possible for a charged extremal black hole in EiBI gravity as long as the matter sector is described by usual Maxwell's electrodynamics. Once the matter sector is also modified in accordance to the Born-Infeld prescription with the parameter $b$, the overcharging is not possible as long as the parameters obey the condition $4 \kappa b^2 \leq 1$.

On the consistency of the Wheeler-deWitt equation in the quantized Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity

We re-examine the quantum geometrodynamical approach within the Eddington-inspired-Born-Infeld theory of gravity, which was first proposed in our previous work [1]. A thorough analysis of the classical Hamiltonian with constraints is carried and the correctness and self-consistency of the modified Wheeler deWitt equation (WDW) is studied. We find that based on the newly obtained WDW equation derived with the use of the Dirac brackets, the conclusion reached in ref. [2] can be corroborated. The big rip singularity present in the classical theory, and induced by a phantom perfect fluid, is expected to be avoided when quantum effects encoded on the modified WDW equation are taken into account.

Regular instantons in the Eddington-inspired-Born-Infeld gravity: Lorentzian wormholes from bubble nucleations

The O(4)-symmetric regular instanton solutions are studied within the framework of the Eddington-inspired-Born-Infeld gravity (EiBI). We find that the behavior of the solution would deviate from that in Einstein gravity when the kinetic energy of the scalar field is sufficiently large. The tunneling probability is calculated numerically in different parameter space. We find that the tunneling probability would increase with the Born-Infeld coupling constant, which is assumed to be positive in this paper. Furthermore, we discover a neck feature in the physical instanton solutions when the kinetic energy of the scalar field is sufficiently large. This feature can be interpreted as a Lorentzian time-like wormhole geometry formed during the bubble materialization.

Wormholes with nonexotic matter in Born-Infeld gravity

We show that, in contrast to general relativity, in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity (EiBI), a violation of the null convergence condition does not necessarily lead to a violation of the null energy condition, by establishing a relationship between them. This serves as a motivation for finding wormhole solutions which can be supported by nonexotic matter in this gravity theory. We then obtain exact solutions of the field equations in EiBI gravity coupled to arbitrary nonlinear electrodynamics and anisotropic fluids. Depending on the signs and values of different parameters, the general solutions can represent both black holes and wormholes. In this work, we analyze the wormhole solutions. These wormholes are supported by nonexotic matter, i.e., matter satisfying all the energy conditions. As special cases of our general solutions, we work out several specific examples by considering Maxwell, power-law, Born-Infeld electrodynamics models and a particular form of an anisotropic fluid.

Quasinormal modes of massless scalar fields for charged black holes in the Palatini-type gravity

The scrutiny of black hole perturbations and its application to testing gravity theories have been a very crucial frontier in modern physics. In this paper we study the quasi-normal modes (QNM) of massless scalar perturbations for various charged black holes in the Palatini-type theories of gravity. Specifically, we consider the Palatini $f(R)$ theory coupled with Born-Infeld nonlinear electrodynamics and the Eddington-inspired-Born-Infeld gravity (EiBI) coupled with Maxwell electromagnetic fields. Special attention is paid to Einstein-Born-Infeld black holes, EiBI charged black holes and Born-Infeld charged black holes within $R\pm R^2$ gravity. These charged black holes are shown to be stable and their quasi-normal frequencies, including the frequencies in the eikonal limit, are calculated by using the WKB method up to the 6th order. We compare the results with the Reissner-Nordstr\"om charged black hole and prove that both the changes in the gravity sector and the matter sector of the action alter the QNM spectra.

Gravitational collapse in ( 2+1 )-dimensional Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity

We study here the gravitational collapse of dust in $(2+1)$-dimensional spacetimes for the formation of black holes (BH) and naked singularities (NS) as final states in a modified theory of gravity, with vanishing cosmological constant. From the perspective of cosmic censorship, we investigate the collapse of a dust cloud in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity (EiBI) and compare the results with those of general relativity (GR). It turns out that, as opposed to the general relativistic situation, where the outcome of dust collapse in $(2+1)$ dimensions is always a naked singularity, the EiBI theory has a certain range of parameter values that avoid the naked singularity. This indicates that a $(3+1)$-dimensional generalization of these results could be useful and worth examining. Finally, using the results here, we show that the singularity avoidance through homogeneous bounce in cosmology in this modified gravity is not stable.

Local fragmentation of thin discs in Eddington-inspired gravity

We find the generalized version of the Toomre's criterion for the stability of a rotating thin disk in the context of Eddington inspired Born-Infeld (EiBI) gravity which possesses one free parameter $\chi$. To do so we use the weak field limit of the theory and find the dispersion relation for the propagation of matter density waves on the surface of a self-gravitating and differentially rotating disk. Finally we find a new version of Toomre's stability criterion for thin disks. We show that EiBI gravity with negative $\chi$ destabilizes all the rotating thin disks. On the other hand EiBI with positive $\chi$ substantially can suppress the local fragmentation, and has stabilizing effects against axi-symmetric perturbations. More specifically, we show that only an annulus remains unstable on the surface of the disk. The width of the annulus directly depends on the magnitude of $\chi$.

Metric-affine f(R,T) theories of gravity and their applications

We study f(R,T) theories of gravity, where T is the trace of the energy-momentum tensor T_{\mu\nu}, with independent metric and affine connection (metric-affine theories). We find that the resulting field equations share a close resemblance with their metric-affine f(R) relatives once an effective energy-momentum tensor is introduced. As a result, the metric field equations are second-order and no new propagating degrees of freedom arise as compared to GR, which contrasts with the metric formulation of these theories, where a dynamical scalar degree of freedom is present. Analogously to its metric counterpart, the field equations impose the non-conservation of the energy-momentum tensor, which implies non-geodesic motion and consequently leads to the appearance of an extra force. The weak field limit leads to a modified Poisson equation formally identical to that found in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity. Furthermore, the coupling of these gravity theories to perfect fluids, electromagnetic, and scalar fields, and their potential applications are discussed.

Constraints on Born-Infeld gravity from the speed of gravitational waves after GW170817 and GRB 170817A

The observations of gravitational waves from the binary neutron star merger event GW170817 and the subsequent observation of its electromagnetic counterparts from the gamma-ray burst GRB 170817A provide us a significant opportunity to study theories of gravity beyond general relativity. An important outcome of these observations is that they constrain the difference between the speed of gravity and the speed of light to less than $10^{-15}c$. Also, the time delay between the arrivals of gravitational waves at different detectors constrains the speed of gravity at the Earth to be in the range $0.55c < v_{gw} < 1.42c$. We use these results to constrain a widely studied modified theory of gravity: Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld (EiBI) gravity. We show that, in EiBI theory, the speed of gravitational waves in matter deviates from $c$. From the time delay in arrival of gravitational wave signals at Earth-based detectors, we obtain the bound on the theory parameter $\kappa$ as $\vert\kappa\vert \lesssim 10^{21}\, m^2$. Similarly, from the time delay between the signals of GW170817 and GRB 170817A, in a background Friedmann-Robertson-Walker universe, we obtain $\vert \kappa \vert \lesssim 10^{37}\, m^2$. Although the bounds on $\kappa$ are weak compared to other earlier bounds from the study of neutron stars, stellar evolution, primordial nucleosynthesis, etc., our bounds are from the direct observations and thus worth noting.

Discussion of a Possible Corrected Black Hole Entropy

Einstein’s equation could be interpreted as the first law of thermodynamics near the spherically symmetric horizon. Through recalling the Einstein gravity with a more general static spherical symmetric metric, we find that the entropy would have a correction in Einstein gravity. By using this method, we investigate the Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld (EiBI) gravity. Without matter field, we can also derive the first law in EiBI gravity. With an electromagnetic field, as the field equations have a more general spherically symmetric solution in EiBI gravity, we find that correction of the entropy could be generalized to EiBI gravity. Furthermore, we point out that the Einstein gravity and EiBI gravity might be equivalent on the event horizon. At last, under EiBI gravity with the electromagnetic field, a specific corrected entropy of black hole is given.

Neutron stars in the braneworld within the Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity

We propose the disappearance of “the hyperon puzzle” in neutron star (NS) by invoking two new-physics prescriptions: modified gravity theory and braneworld scenario. By assuming that NS lives on a 3-brane within a 5d empty AdS bulk, gravitationally governed by Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld (EiBI) theory, the field equations can be effectively cast into the usual Einstein's with “apparent” anisotropic energy-momentum tensor. Solving the corresponding brane-TOV equations numerically, we study its mass-radius relation. It is known that the appearance of finite brane tension λ reduces the compactness of the star. The compatibility of the braneworld results with observational constraints of NS mass and radius can be restored in our model by varying the EiBI's coupling constant, κ. We found that within the astrophysically-accepted range of parameters (0<κ<6×106m2 and λ≫1 MeV4) the NS can have mass ∼2.1 M⊙ and radius ∼10 km.

Born-Infeld cosmology with scalar Born-Infeld matter

Cosmology in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity is investigated using a scalar Born-Infeld field (e.g. tachyon condensate) as matter. In this way, both in the gravity and matter sectors we have Born-Infeld-like structures characterized by their actions and via two separate constants, $\kappa$ and $\alpha_T^2$ respectively. With a particular choice of the form of $\dot{\phi}$ (the time derivative of the Born-Infeld scalar), analytical cosmological solutions are found. Thereafter, we explore some of the unique features of the corresponding cosmological spacetimes. For $\kappa>0$, our solution has a de Sitter-like expansion both at early and late times, with an intermediate deceleration sandwiched between the accelerating phases. On the other hand, when $\kappa<0$, the initial de Sitter phase is replaced by a bounce. Our solutions, at late time, fit well with available supernova data-- a fact we demonstrate explicitly. The estimated properties of the Universe obtained from the fitting of the $\kappa>0$ solution, are as good as in $\Lambda$CDM cosmology. However, the $\kappa<0$ solution has to be discarded due to the occurrence of a bounce at an unacceptably low redshift.

Black hole solutions in functional extensions of Born-Infeld gravity

We consider electrovacuum black hole spacetimes in classical extensions of Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity. By rewriting Born-Infeld action as the square root of the determinant of a matrix $\hat{\Omega}$, we consider the family of models $f (|\hat{\Omega}|)$, and study black hole solutions for a power-law family of models labelled by a simple parameter. We show how the innermost structure of the corresponding black holes is modified as compared to their General Relativity counterparts, discussing in which cases a wormhole structure replaces the point-like singularity. We go forward to argue that in such cases a geodesically complete and thus non-singular spacetime is present, despite the existence of curvature divergences at the wormhole throat.

Mass inflation in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld black holes: Analytical scaling solutions

We study the inner dynamics of accreting Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld black holes using the homogeneous approximation and taking charge as a surrogate for angular momentum. We show that there is a minimum of the accretion rate below which mass inflation does not occur, and we derive an analytical expression for this threshold as a function of the fundamental scale of the theory, the accretion rate, the mass, and the charge of the black hole. Our result explicitly demonstrates that, no matter how close Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity is to general relativity, there is always a minimum accretion rate below which there is no mass inflation. For larger accretion rates, mass inflation takes place inside the black hole as in general relativity until the extremely rapid density variations bring it to an abrupt end. We derive analytical scaling solutions for the value of the energy density and of the Misner-Sharp mass attained at the end of mass inflation as a function of fundamental scale of the theory, the accretion rate, the mass, and the charge of the black hole, and compare these with the corresponding numerical solutions. We find that, except for unreasonably high accretion rates, our analytical results appear to provide an accurate description of homogeneous mass inflation inside accreting Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld black holes.

A New Solution in Understanding Massive White Dwarfs**Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos 11275073 and 11305063, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities under Grant No 2014ZG0036.

The observed high over-luminous type-Ia supernovae imply the existence of super-Chandrasekhar limit white dwarfs, which raises a challenge to the classical white dwarf theories. By employing the Eddington-inspired Born–Infeld (EiBI) gravity, we reinvestigate the structures and properties of white dwarfs, and find out that the EiBI gravity provides a new way to understand the observations. It is shown that by choosing an appropriate positive Eddington parameter κ, a massive white dwarf with mass up to 2.8M⊙ can be supported by the equation of state of free electron gas. Unlike the classical white dwarf theory, the maximum mass of the white dwarf sequence in the EiBI gravity is not decided by the mass–radius relations, but is decided by the central density, ρc = 4.3 × 1014 kg/m3, above which neutronization cannot be avoided and the white dwarf will transform into a neutron star. On the other hand, if the gravity in the massive white dwarf really behaves as the EiBI gravity predicts, then one can obtain a constraint on the Eddington parameter in the EiBI gravity, that is, 8πρ0κG/c2 ≥ 80 (where ρ0 = 1018 kg/m3) to support a massive white dwarf with mass up to 2.8M⊙. Moreover, we find out that the fast Keplarian frequency of the massive white dwarf raises a degeneration between the two kinds of compact stars, that is, one cannot distinguish whether the observed massive pulsar is a massive neutron star or a massive white dwarf only through the observed pulse frequency and mass.

Resonances of Spin-1/2 Fermions in Eddington-Inspired Born-Infeld Gravity**Supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 11075065, the Huo Ying-Dong Education Foundation of Chinese Ministry of Education under Grant No. 121106 and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities under Grant No. lzujbky-2014-31

We investigate the fermionic resonances for both chiralities in five-dimensional Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld (EiBI) theory. In order to localize fermion on the brane, it needs to be considered the Yukawa coupling between the fermion and the background scalar field. In our models, since the background scalar field has kink, double kink, or anti-kink solution, the system has rich resonant Kaluza–Klein (KK) modes structure. The massive KK fermionic modes feel a volcano potential, which result in a fermionic zero mode and a set of continuous massive KK modes. The inner structure of the branes and a free parameter in background scalar field influence the resonant behaviors of the massive KK fermions.

Inner structure of black holes in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity: The role of mass inflation

We investigate the interior dynamics of accreting black holes in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity using the homogeneous approximation and taking charge as a surrogate for angular momentum, showing that accretion can have an enormous impact on their inner structure. We find that, unlike in general relativity, there is a minimum accretion rate bellow which the mass inflation instability, which drives the centre-of-mass streaming density to exponentially high values in an extremely short interval of time, does not occur. We further show that, above this threshold, mass inflation takes place inside black holes very much in the same way as in general relativity, but is brought to a halt at a maximum energy density which is, in general, much smaller than the fundamental energy density of the theory. We conjecture that some of these results may be a common feature of modified gravity theories in which significant deviations from general relativity manifest themselves at very high densities.

On the generalized wormhole in the Eddington-inspired Born–Infeld gravity

In this paper, we wish to investigate certain observable effects in the recently obtained wormhole solution of the Eddington-inspired Born–Infeld (EiBI) theory, which generalizes the zero-mass Ellis–Bronnikov wormhole of general relativity. The solutions of EiBI theory contain an extra parameter κ having the inverse dimension of the cosmological constant Λ, and which is expected to modify various general relativistic observables such as the masses of wormhole mouths, tidal forces and light deflection. A remarkable result is that a non-zero κ could prevent the tidal forces in the geodesic orthonormal frame from becoming arbitrarily large near a small throat radius () contrary to what happens near a small Schwarzschild horizon radius (). The role of κ in the flare-out and energy conditions is also analyzed, which reveals that the energy conditions are violated. We show that the exotic matter in the EiBI wormhole cannot be interpreted as a phantom () or ghost field ϕ of general relativity due to the fact that both ρ and pr are negative for all κ.