Limit Of General Relativity Research Articles

D→4 Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity and beyond

A 'novel' pure theory of Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity in four-spacetime dimensions can be constructed by rescaling the Gauss-Bonnet coupling constant, seemingly eluding Lovelock's theorem. Recently, however, the well-posedness of this model has been called into question. Here we apply a `dimensional regularization' technique, first used by Mann and Ross to write down a D→2 limit of general relativity, to the case of pure Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity. The resulting four-dimensional action is a particular Horndeski theory of gravity matching the result found via a Kaluza-Klein reduction over a flat internal space. Some cosmological solutions of this four-dimensional theory are examined. We further adapt the technique to higher curvature Lovelock theories of gravity, as well as a low-energy effective string action with an α′ correction. With respect to the D→4 limit of the α′-corrected string action, we find we must also rescale the dilaton to have a non-singular action in four dimensions. Interestingly, when the conformal rescaling Φ is interpreted as another dilaton, the regularized string action appears to be a special case of a covariant multi-Galileon theory of gravity.

Dynamics in varying vacuum Finsler\u2013Randers cosmology

In the context of Finsler–Randers theory we consider, for the first time, the cosmological scenario of the varying vacuum. In particular, we assume the existence of a cosmological fluid source described by an ideal fluid and the varying vacuum terms. We determine the cosmological history of this model by performing a detailed study on the dynamics of the field equations. We determine the limit of General Relativity, while we find new eras in the cosmological history provided by the geometrodynamical terms provided by the Finsler–Randers theory.

Quasi-normal modes and stability of Einstein\u2013Born\u2013Infeld black holes in de Sitter space

We study gravitational perturbations of electrically charged black holes in (3+1)-dimensional Einstein–Born–Infeld gravity with a positive cosmological constant. For the axial perturbations, we obtain a set of decoupled Schrödinger-type equations, whose formal expressions, in terms of metric functions, are the same as those without cosmological constant, corresponding to the Regge–Wheeler equation in the proper limit. We compute the quasi-normal modes (QNMs) of the decoupled perturbations using the Schutz–Iyer–Will’s WKB method. We discuss the stability of the charged black holes by investigating the dependence of quasi-normal frequencies on the parameters of the theory, correcting some errors in the literature. It is found that all the axial perturbations are stable for the cases where the WKB method applies. There are cases where the conventional WKB method does not apply, like the three-turning-points problem, so that a more generalized formalism is necessary for studying their QNMs and stabilities. We find that, for the degenerate horizons with the “point-like” horizons at the origin, the QNMs are quite long-lived, close to the quasi-resonance modes, in addition to the “frozen” QNMs for the Nariai-type horizons and the usual (short-lived) QNMs for the extremal black hole horizons. This is a genuine effect of the branch which does not have the general relativity limit. We also study the exact solution near the (charged) Nariai limit and find good agreements even far beyond the limit for the imaginary frequency parts.

The Spinor-Tensor Gravity of the Classical Dirac Field

In this work, with the help of the quantum hydrodynamic formalism, the gravitational equation associated with the classical Dirac field is derived. The hydrodynamic representation of the Dirac equation described by the evolution of four mass densities, subject to the theory-defined quantum potential, has been generalized to the curved space-time in the covariant form. Thence, the metric of space-time has been defined by imposing the minimum action principle. The derived gravity shows the spontaneous emergence of the “cosmological” gravity tensor (CGT), a generalization of the classical cosmological constant (CC), as a part of the energy-impulse tensor density (EITD). Even if the classical cosmological constant is set to zero, the CGT is non-zero, allowing a stable quantum vacuum (out of the collapsed branched polymer phase). The theory shows that in the classical macroscopic limit, the general relativity equation is recovered. In the perturbative approach, the CGT leads to a second-order correction to Newtonian gravity that takes contribution from the space where the mass is localized (and the space-time is curvilinear), while it tends to zero as the space-time approaches the flat vacuum, leading, as a means, to an overall cosmological constant that may possibly be compatible with the astronomical observations. The Dirac field gravity shows analogies with the modified Brans–Dicke gravity, where each spinor term brings an effective gravity constant G divided by its field squared. The work shows that in order to obtain the classical minimum action principle and the general relativity limit of the macroscopic classical scale, quantum decoherence is necessary.

Oscillating Cosmological Force Modifies Newtonian Dynamics

In the Newtonian limit of general relativity a force acting on a test mass in a central gravitational field is conventionally defined by the attractive Newtonian gravity (inverse square) term plus a small repulsive cosmological force, which is proportional to the slow acceleration of the universe expansion. In this paper we considered the cosmological-force correction due to fast quantum oscillations of the universe scale factor as a potential solution of the cosmological constant problem. These fast fluctuations of the cosmological scale factor violate Lorentz invariance at the Planck scale, and they induce strong changes to the current sign and magnitude of the average cosmological force, thus making it one of the potential probable causes for the modification of Newtonian dynamics in galaxy-scale systems. The modified cosmological force may be responsible for the recently discovered “cosmic-clock” behavior of disk galaxies in the low-redshift universe. The obtained results have strong implications for astroparticle physics since they demonstrate that typical galaxy rotation curves may be obtained without (or almost without) dark-matter particles.

Charged black holes in AdS spaces in 4D Einstein Gauss-Bonnet gravity

Recently a non-trivial 4-dimensional theory of gravity that claims to circumvent Lovelock's theorem and avoid Ostrogradsky instability was formulated in Glavan and Lin (2020) [1]. This theory, named “4D Einstein Gauss-Bonnet gravity”, presents several novel predictions for cosmology and black hole physics. In this paper, we generalize the vacuum black hole solution of Glavan & Lin to include electric charge in an anti-de Sitter space and explore some properties of this solution such as the asymptotics, properties of the horizons, the general relativity limit and thermodynamics.

Existence of life in 2 + 1 dimensions

There are anthropic reasons to suspect that life in more than three spatial dimensions is not possible, and if the same could be said of fewer than three, then one would have an anthropic argument for why we experience precisely three large spatial dimensions. There are two main arguments levelled against the possibility of life in 2 + 1 dimensions: the lack of a local gravitational force and Newtonian limit in 3D general relativity, and the claim that the restriction to a planar topology means that the possibilities are 'too simple' for life to exist. I will examine these arguments and show how a purely scalar theory of gravity may evade the first one, before considering certain families of planar graphs which share properties which are observed in real-life biological neural networks and are argued to be important for their functioning.

Mass-radius relation for neutron stars in f(R)=R+αR2 gravity: A comparison between purely metric and torsion formulations

Within the framework of $f(R)=R+\alpha R^2$ gravity, we study realistic models of neutron stars, using equations of state compatible with the LIGO constraints. i.e. APR4, MPA1, SLy, and WW1. By numerically solving modified Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equations, we investigate the Mass--Radius relation in both metric and torsional $f(R)=R+\alpha R^2$ gravity models. In particular, we observe that torsion effects decrease the compactness and total mass of neutron star with respect to the General Relativity predictions, therefore mimicking the effects of a repulsive massive field. The opposite occurs in the metric theory, where mass and compactness increase with $\alpha$, thus inducing an excess of mass that overtakes the standard General Relativity limit. We also find that the sign of $\alpha$ must be reversed whether one considers the metric theory (positive) or torsion (negative) to avoid blowing up solutions. This could draw an easy test to either confirm or discard one or the other theory by determining the sign of parameter $\alpha$.

Pushing the limits of General Relativity beyond the Big Bang singularity

AbstractThe predictions of General Relativity suggest a universe in which, as we follow time backward, the hotter and the more dense it was, and the more rapidly it was expanding and that, around 13.7 billion years ago, at the extreme gravitational regime of its evolutionary process, the density, temperature, and expansion rate of the universe would start off as infinite. The General Relativity prediction of a singularity in the early universe would impose a limitation to our understanding of the cosmos and gravity, implying loss of logic and of formal consistency and predictability, making it impossible to impose initial conditions. These extreme conditions of the initial state of the universe are very far from our experimental possibilities, and presently, theoretical models allow only speculations about the avoidance of physical singularities or about the physical conditions that allow circumvent this drastic consequence of General Relativity. Speculations aside, in this study, we follow an analytical line in which we apply the tools of singular semi‐Riemannian geometry to push the limits of General Relativity beyond the Big Bang singularity.

Stiff matter solution in Brans–Dicke theory and the general relativity limit

Generally the Brans–Dicke (BD) theory reduces to general relativity (GR) in the limit [Formula: see text] if the scalar field goes as [Formula: see text]. However, it is also known that there are examples with [Formula: see text] that does not tend to GR. We discuss another case: a homogeneous and isotropic universe filled with stiff matter. The power of time dependence of these solutions does not depend on [Formula: see text], and there is no GR limit even though we have [Formula: see text]. A perturbative and a dynamical system analysis of this exotic case are carried out.

Experiment to Detect Dark Energy Forces Using Atom Interferometry.

The accelerated expansion of the universe motivates a wide class of scalar field theories that modify general relativity (GR) on large scales. Such theories require a screening mechanism to suppress the new force in regions where the weak field limit of GR has been experimentally tested. We have used atom interferometry to measure the acceleration of an atom toward a macroscopic test mass inside a high vacuum chamber, where new forces can be unscreened. Our measurement shows no evidence of new forces, a result that places stringent bounds on chameleon and symmetron theories of modified gravity.

Dynamics of Einstein\u2013Aether scalar field cosmology

We study the cosmological evolution of the field equations in the context of Einstein–Aether cosmology by including a scalar field in a spatially flat Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker spacetime. Our analysis is separated into two separate where a pressureless fluid source is included or absent. In particular, we determine the critical points of the field equations and we study the stability of the specific solutions. The limit of general relativity is fully recovered, while the dynamical system admits de Sitter solutions which can describe the past inflationary era and the future late-time attractor. Results for generic scalar field potentials are presented while some numerical behaviours are given for specific potential forms.

Galactic dynamics and long-range quantum gravity

We explore in a systematic way the possibility that long-range quantum gravity effects could play a role at galactic scales and could be responsible for the phenomenology commonly attributed to dark matter. We argue that the presence of baryonic matter breaks the scale symmetry of the de Sitter (dS) spacetime generating an IR scale $r_0$, corresponding to the scale at which the typical dark matter effects we observe in galaxies arise. It also generates a huge number of bosonic excitations with wavelength larger than the size of the cosmological horizon and in thermal equilibrium with dS spacetime. We show that for $r\gtrsim r_0$ these excitations produce a new component for the radial acceleration of stars in galaxies which leads to the result found by McGaugh {\sl et al.} by fitting a large amount of observational data and with the MOND theory. We also propose a generalized thermal equivalence principle and use it to give another independent derivation of our result. Finally, we show that our result can be also derived as the weak field limit of Einstein's general relativity sourced by an anisotropic fluid.

Birkhoff’s theorem in Hořava gravity

We study Birkhoff's theorem, which states the absence of time-dependent, spherically symmetric vacuum solutions in four-dimensional Horava gravity, which has been proposed as a renormalizable quantum gravity without the ghost problem. We prove that the theorem is still valid for the usual type of solutions which admit the general relativity limit in the low energy (IR) region. However, for the unusual type of solutions, it can be violated in high-energy (UV) region, due to the non-linear effects. This implies that the scalar graviton can emerge as the results of non-linear UV effects but is decoupled in IR regime. An important implication of the non-linear, UV scalar graviton in Big Bang cosmology is also discussed.

Non-relativistic limits and 3D massive gravity

The non-relativistic version of General Relativity, called Newton-Cartan gravity, has received renewed attention as a tool to explore (non-perturbative) properties of non-relativistic quantum field theories. The first part of this talk is a non-specialist introduction to Newton-Cartan geometry; in particular, it is shown how Newton-Cartan gravity arises as a special limit of General Relativity. The second part reviews a novel non-relativistic limit of the 3D massive spin-2 Fierz-Pauli theory to a spin-2 planar Schrodinger equation that has been proposed to describe the so-called GMP gapped spin-2 mode of fractional Quantum Hall states. The talk concludes with speculations on an extension of this non-relativistic limit to interacting massive 3D gravity theories.

Outline for a Quantum Theory of Gravity

Abstract By invoking an asymmetric metric tensor, and borrowing ideas from non-commutative geometry, string theory, and trace dynamics, we propose an action function for quantum gravity. The action is proportional to the four-dimensional non-commutative curvature scalar (which is torsion dependent), which is sourced by the Nambu–Goto world-sheet action for a string plus the Kalb–Ramond string action. This ‘quantum gravity’ is actually a non-commutative classical matrix dynamics, and the only two fundamental constants in the theory are the square of the Planck length and the speed of light. By treating the entity described by this action as a microstate, one constructs the statistical thermodynamics of a large number of such microstates, in the spirit of trace dynamics. Quantum field theory (and ℏ) and quantum general relativity (and G) emerge from the underlying matrix dynamics in the thermodynamic limit. Statistical fluctuations, which are inevitably present about equilibrium, are the source for spontaneous localisation, which drives macroscopic quantum gravitational systems to the classical general relativistic limit. While the mathematical formalism governing these ideas remains to be developed, we hope to highlight here the deep connection between quantum foundations and the sought-for quantum theory of gravity. In the sense described in this article, ongoing experimental tests of spontaneous collapse theories are in fact also tests of string theory!

A relativistic interpretation of bias in Newtonian simulations

Observables of cosmic structures are usually not the underlying matter field but biased tracers of matter, such as galaxies or halos. We show how the bias found in Newtonian N-body simulations can be interpreted in terms of the weak-field limit of General Relativity (GR) . For this we employ standard Newtonian simulations of cold dark matter and incorporate GR/radiation via a weak-field dictionary that we have recently developed. We find that even when a simple local biasing scheme is employed in the Newtonian simulation, the relativistic bias becomes inherently scale-dependent due to the presence of radiation and GR corrections. This scale-dependence could be in principle observed on large scales in upcoming surveys. As a working example, we apply our methodology to Newtonian simulations for the spherical collapse and recover permille-level agreement between the approaches for extracting the relativistic bias on all considered scales.

Quasi-normal modes of a natural AdS wormhole in Einstein\u2013Born\u2013Infeld Gravity

We study the matter perturbations of a new AdS wormhole in (3+1)-dimensional Einstein–Born–Infeld gravity, called “natural wormhole”, which does not require exotic matters. We discuss the stability of the perturbations by numerically computing the quasi-normal modes (QNMs) of a massive scalar field in the wormhole background. We investigate the dependence of quasi-normal frequencies on the mass of scalar field as well as other parameters of the wormhole. It is found that the perturbations are always stable for the wormhole geometry which has the general relativity (GR) limit when the scalar field mass m satisfies a certain, tachyonic mass bound m^2>m_*^2 with m_*^2<0, analogous to the Breitenlohner-Freedman (BF) bound in the global-AdS space, m_{mathrm{BF}}^2=3 {Lambda }/4. It is also found that the BF-like bound m_*^2 shifts by the changes of the cosmological constant {Lambda } or angular-momentum number l, with a level crossing between the lowest complex and pure-imaginary modes for zero angular momentum l=0. Furthermore, it is found that the unstable modes can also have oscillatory parts as well as non-oscillatory parts depending on whether the real and imaginary parts of frequencies are dependent on each other or not, contrary to arguments in the literature. For wormhole geometries which do not have the GR limit, the BF-like bound does not occur and the perturbations are stable for arbitrary tachyonic and non-tachyonic masses, up to a critical mass m_{c}^2>0 where the perturbations are completely frozen.

What do gravitons say about (unimodular) gravity?

We revisit the problem of constraining the weak field limit of the gravitational lagrangian from S-matrix properties. From unitarity and Lorentz invariance of the S-matrix of massless gravitons, we derive on-shell gauge invariance to consist on the transverse part of the linearised diffeomorphisms group. Moreover, by looking to the interaction between sources, we conclude that there exist only two possible lagrangians that lead to a welldefined covariant interaction, corresponding to the weak field limits of General Relativity and Unimodular Gravity. Additionally, this result confirms the equivalence of the S-matrix of both theories around flat space-time.

Gravitating scalar stars in the large D limit

We develop the large D limit of general relativity for spherically symmetric scalar fields in both asymptotically flat and asymptotically anti-de Sitter spaces. The leading order equations in the 1/D expansion can be solved analytically, providing a large D description of oscillating soliton stars. When the amplitude reaches a critical threshold, certain divergences occur which we interpret as signal of horizon formation. We estimate the size of the resulting black hole and obtain a scaling exponent. We speculate on some connections to Choptuik critical collapse.