Minimal Theory Of Massive Gravity Research Articles

Observational bounds on extended minimal theories of massive gravity: new limits on the graviton mass

In this work, we derive for the first time observational constraints on the extended Minimal Theory of Massive Gravity (eMTMG) framework in light of Planck-CMB data, geometrical measurements from Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO), Type Ia supernovae from the recent Pantheon+ samples, and also using the auto and cross-correlations cosmic shear measurements from KIDS-1000 survey. Given the great freedom of dynamics choice for the theory, we consider an observationally motivated subclass in which the background evolution of the Universe goes through a transition from a (positive or negative) value of the effective cosmological constant to another value. From the statistical point of view, we did not find evidence of such a transition, i.e. deviation from the standard ΛCDM behavior, and from the joint analysis using Planck + BAO + Pantheon+ data, we constrain the graviton mass to < 6.6 × 10-34 eV at 95% CL. We use KIDS-1000 survey data to constrain the evolution of the scalar perturbations of the model and its limits for the growth of structure predicted by the eMTMG scenario. In this case, we find small evidence at 95% CL for a non-zero graviton mass. We interpret and discuss these results in light of the current tension on the S 8 parameter. We conclude that, within the subclass considered, the current data are only able to impose upper bounds on the eMTMG dynamics. Given its potentialities beyond the subclass, eMTMG can be classified as a good candidate for modified gravity, serving as a framework in which observational data can effectively constrain (or confirm) the graviton mass and deviations from the standard ΛCDM behavior.

Minimal theory of massive gravity and constraints on the gravitonmass

The Minimal theory of Massive Gravity (MTMG) is endowed non-linearlywith only two tensor modes in the gravity sector which acquire a non-zeromass. On a homogeneous and isotropic background the theory is knownto possess two branches: the self-accelerating branch with a phenomenologyin cosmology which, except for the mass of the tensor modes, exactlymatches the one of ΛCDM; and the normal branch which insteadshows deviation from General Relativity in terms of both backgroundand linear perturbations dynamics. For the latter branch we studyusing several early and late times data sets the constraints on today'svalue of the graviton mass μ0, finding that (μ0/H 0)2 = 0.119-0.098 +0.12at 68% CL, which in turn gives an upper bound at 95% CL as μ0 < 8.4 × 10-34 eV. This corresponds to the strongest bound on the mass of the gravitonfor the normal branch of MTMG.

Minimal theory of massive gravity in the light of CMB data and the S8 tension

We investigate the minimal theory of massive gravity (MTMG) in the light of different observational datasets that are in tension within the $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ cold dark matter cosmology. In particular, we analyze the MTMG model, for the first time, with the Planck--cosmic microwave background (CMB) data, and how these precise measurements affect the free parameters of the theory. The MTMG model can affect the CMB power spectrum at large angular scales and cause a suppression on the amplitude of the matter power spectrum. We find that on adding Planck-CMB data, the graviton has a small, positive, but nonzero mass at 68% confidence level, and from this perspective, we show that the tension between redshift space distortions measurements and Planck-CMB data in the parametric space ${S}_{8}\ensuremath{-}{\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Omega}}}_{m}$ can be resolved within the MTMG scenario. Through a robust and accurate analysis, we find that the ${H}_{0}$ tension between the CMB and the local distance ladder measurements still remains but can be reduced to $\ensuremath{\sim}3.5\ensuremath{\sigma}$ within the MTMG theory. The MTMG is very well consistent with the CMB observations, and undoubtedly, it can serve as a viable candidate among other modified gravity theories.

Non-linear dynamics of the minimal theory of massive gravity

We investigate cosmological signatures of the minimal theory of massive gravity (MTMG). To this aim, we simulate the normal branch of the MTMG by employing the RAMSESN-body code and extending it with an effective gravitational constant Geff. We implement an environment-dependent Geff as a function of the graviton mass and the local energy density as predicted by MTMG. We find that halo density profiles are not a good probe for MTMG because deviations from general relativity (GR) are quite small. Similarly, the matter power spectra show deviations only at the percentage level. However, we find a clear difference between MTMG and GR in that voids are denser in MTMG than in GR. As measuring void profiles is quite a complex task from an observational point of view, a better probe of MTMG would be the halo abundances. In this case, MTMG creates a larger amount of massive halos, while there is a suppression in the abundance of small halos.

Warped AdS3 black hole in minimal massive gravity with first order formalism

We obtain a black hole solution of minimal massive gravity theory with Maxwell and electromagnetic Chern-Simons terms using the first order formalism. This black hole solution can be translated into the spacelike warped $AdS_3$ black hole solution with some parameters' conditions changing their coordinates system into a Schwarzschild one. Applying the Wald formalism to this theory with the first order formalism, we also find out the entropy, mass, and angular momentum of this black hole solution satisfies the first law of black hole thermodynamics. Under the assumption that minimal massive gravity theory with suitable asymptotically warped $AdS_3$ boundary conditions is holographically dual to a two dimensional boundary conformal field theory, we find appropriate central charges by using the relations between entropy of this black hole and the Cardy formula in dual conformal field theory described by left and right moving central charges and temperatures.

Black holes and stars in the minimal theory of massive gravity

In this letter, we show that any solution of general relativity (GR) that can be rendered spatially flat by a coordinate change is also a solution of the self-accelerating branch of the minimal theory of massive gravity (MTMG), with or without matter. We then for the first time obtain black hole and star solutions in a theory of massive gravity that agree with the corresponding solutions in GR and that are free from strong coupling issues. This in particular implies that the parametrized post-Newtonian parameters $\beta^{\rm PPN}$ and $\gamma^{\rm PPN}$ are unity, as in GR. We further show how these solutions can be embedded in a cosmological setting. While cosmological scales have already been considered in previous works, this is the first study of the phenomenology at shorter scales of the self-accelerating branch of MTMG.

Integrated Sachs-Wolfe-galaxy cross-correlation bounds on the two branches of the minimal theory of massive gravity

The minimal theory of massive gravity (MTMG) has two branches of stable cosmological solutions: a self-accelerating branch, which, except for the mass of tensor modes has exactly the same behavior of linear perturbations as $\Lambda$CDM in general relativity (GR), and a normal branch with nontrivial behavior. We explore the influence of the integrated Sachs-Wolfe-galaxy correlation constraints on the normal branch of MTMG, which, in its simplest implementation, has one free parameter more than $\Lambda$CDM in GR (or the self-accelerating branch of MTMG): $\theta$. This parameter is related to the graviton mass and only affects the behavior of the cosmological linear perturbation dynamics. Using 2d-mass and SDSS data, we check which values of $\theta$ lead to a positive or negative cross-correlation. We find that positive cross-correlation is achieved for a large parameter-space interval. Within this allowed region of parameter space, we perform a $\chi^2$ analysis in terms of the parameter $\theta$, while keeping the other background parameters fixed to the best-fit values of Planck. We then infer that the normal branch of MTMG fits the data well in a nontrivial portion of the parameter space, and future experiments should be able to distinguish such a model from $\Lambda$CDM in GR (or the self-accelerating branch of MTMG).

Mass and angular momentum of black holes in 3D gravity theories with first order formalism

We apply the Wald formalism to obtain masses and angular momenta of black holes in three dimensional gravity theories using the first order formalism. Wald formalism suggests that the entropy of a black hole can be defined by an integration of a conserved charge on the bifurcation horizon, and mass and angular momentum of a black hole as an integration of some charge variation form at spatial infinity. The action of three dimensional gravity theories can be represented by a form including some auxiliary fields. As well-known examples we have calculated masses and angular momenta of some black holes in topologically massive gravity and new massive gravity theories using the first order formalism. We have also calculated mass and angular momentum of BTZ black hole and new type black hole in minimal massive gravity theory with the action represented by the first order formalism. We have also calculated the entropy and central charges of new type black hole. According to AdS / CFT correspondence we suggest that the left and right moving temperatures should be equal to the Hawking temperature in the case of new type black hole in minimal massive gravity.

Horndeski extension of the minimal theory of quasidilaton massive gravity

The minimal theory of quasidilaton massive gravity allows for a stable self-accelerating de Sitter solution in a wide range of parameters. On the other hand, in order for the theory to be compatible with local gravity tests, the fifth force due to the quasidilaton scalar needs to be screened at local scales. The present paper thus extends the theory by inclusion of a cubic Horndeski term in a way that (i) respects the quasidilaton global symmetry, that (ii) maintains the physical degrees of freedom in the theory being three, that (iii) can accommodate the Vainshtein screening mechanism and that still (iv) allows for a stable self-accelerating de Sitter solution. After adding the Horndeski term (and a k-essence type nonlinear kinetic term as well) to the precursor action, we switch to the Hamiltonian language and find a complete set of independent constraints. We then construct the minimal theory with three physical degrees of freedom by carefully adding a pair of constraints to the total Hamiltonian of the precursor theory. Switching back to the Lagrangian language, we study cosmological solutions and their stability in the minimal theory. In particular, we show that a self-accelerating de Sitter solution is stable for a wide range of parameters. Furthermore, as in the minimal theory of massive gravity, the propagation speed of the massive gravitational waves in the high momentum limit precisely agrees with the speed of light.

Minimal theory of quasidilaton massive gravity

We introduce a quasidilaton scalar field to the minimal theory of massive gravity with the Minkowski fiducial metric, in such a way that the quasidilaton global symmetry is maintained and that the theory admits a stable self-accelerating de Sitter solution. We start with a precursor theory that contains three propagating gravitational degrees of freedom without a quasidilaton scalar and introduce St\"uckelberg fields to covariantize its action. This makes it possible for us to formulate the quasidilaton global symmetry that mixes the St\"uckelberg fields and the quasidilaton scalar field. By the Hamiltonian analysis we confirm that the precursor theory with the quasidilaton scalar contains four degrees of freedom, three from the precursor massive gravity and one from the quasidilaton scalar. We further remove one propagating degree of freedom to construct the minimal quasidilaton theory with three propagating degrees of freedom, corresponding to two polarizations of gravitational waves from the minimal theory of massive gravity and one scalar from the quasidilaton field, by carefully introducing two additional constraints to the system in the Hamiltonian language. Switching to the Lagrangian language, we find self-accelerating de Sitter solutions in the minimal quasidilaton theory and analyze their stability. It is found that the self-accelerating de Sitter solution is stable in a wide range of parameters.

Graviton Mass Might Reduce Tension between Early and Late Time Cosmological Data.

The standard cold dark matter model with a cosmological constant (Λ-CDM) predicts a growth of structures which tends to be higher than the values of redshift space distortion (RSD) measurements if the cosmological parameters are fixed by the cosmic microwave background data. In this Letter, we point out that this discrepancy can be resolved or understood if we assume that the graviton has a small but nonzero mass. In the context of the minimal theory of massive gravity (MTMG), due to infrared Lorentz violations measurable only at present cosmological scales, the graviton acquires a mass without being haunted by unwanted extra degrees of freedom. While the so-called self-accelerating branch of cosmological solutions in the MTMG has the same phenomenology for the background as well as the scalar- and vector-type linear perturbations as the ΛCDM in general relativity (GR), it is possible to choose another branch so that the background is the same as that in GR, but the evolution of matter perturbations gets modified by the graviton mass. In studying the fit of such modified dynamics to the above-mentioned RSD measurements, we find that the ΛCDM model is less probable than the MTMG by 2 orders of magnitude. With the help of the cross-correlation between the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect and the large-scale structure, the data also pin down the graviton mass squared around μ^{2}≈-(3×10^{-33} eV)^{2}, which is consistent with the latest bound |μ^{2}|<(1.2×10^{-22} eV)^{2} set by the recent LIGO observation.

Phenomenology in minimal theory of massive gravity

We investigate the minimal theory of massive gravity (MTMG) recently introduced. After reviewing the original construction based on its Hamiltonian in the vielbein formalism, we reformulate it in terms of its Lagrangian in both the vielbein and the metric formalisms. It then becomes obvious that, unlike previous attempts in the literature of Lorentz-violating massive gravity, not only the potential but also the kinetic structure of the action is modified from the de Rham-Gabadadze-Tolley (dRGT) massive gravity theory. We confirm that the number of physical degrees of freedom in MTMG is two at fully nonlinear level. This proves the absence of various possible pathologies such as superluminality, acausality and strong coupling. Afterwards, we discuss the phenomenology of MTMG in the presence of a dust fluid. We find that on a flat homogeneous and isotropic background we have two branches. One of them (self-accelerating branch) naturally leads to acceleration without the genuine cosmological constant or dark energy. For this branch both the scalar and the vector modes behave exactly as in general relativity (GR). The phenomenology of this branch differs from GR in the tensor modes sector, as the tensor modes acquire a non-zero mass. Hence, MTMG serves as a stable nonlinear completion of the self-accelerating cosmological solution found originally in dRGT theory. The other branch (normal branch) has a dynamics which depends on the time-dependent fiducial metric. For the normal branch, the scalar mode sector, even though as in GR only one scalar mode is present (due to the dust fluid), differs from the one in GR, and, in general, structure formation will follow a different phenomenology. The tensor modes will be massive, whereas the vector modes, for both branches, will have the same phenomenology as in GR.

Minimal theory of massive gravity

We propose a new theory of massive gravity with only two propagating degrees of freedom. While the homogeneous and isotropic background cosmology and the tensor linear perturbations around it are described by exactly the same equations as those in the de Rham–Gabadadze–Tolley (dRGT) massive gravity, the scalar and vector gravitational degrees of freedom are absent in the new theory at the fully nonlinear level. Hence the new theory provides a stable nonlinear completion of the self-accelerating cosmological solution that was originally found in the dRGT theory. The cosmological solution in the other branch, often called the normal branch, is also rendered stable in the new theory and, for the first time, makes it possible to realize an effective equation-of-state parameter different from (either larger or smaller than) −1 without introducing any extra degrees of freedom.

Kundt solutions of minimal massive 3D gravity

We construct Kundt solutions of Minimal Massive Gravity theory and show that, similar to Topologically Massive Gravity (TMG), most of them are constant scalar invariant (CSI) spacetimes, that correspond to deformations of round and warped (A)dS. We also find an explicit non-CSI Kundt solution at the merger point. Finally, we give their algebraic classification with respect to the traceless Ricci tensor (Segre classification) and show that their Segre-types match with the types of their counterparts in TMG.

On the generalized minimal massive gravity

In this paper we study the Generalized Minimal Massive Gravity (GMMG) in asymptotically AdS3 background. The generalized minimal massive gravity theory is realized by adding the CS deformation term, the higher derivative deformation term, and an extra term to pure Einstein gravity with a negative cosmological constant. We study the linearized excitations around the AdS3 background and find that at special point (tricritical) in parameter space the two massive graviton solutions become massless and they are replaced by two solutions with logarithmic and logarithmic-squared boundary behavior. So it is natural to propose that GMMG model could also provide a holographic description for a 3-rank Logarithmic Conformal Field Theory (LCFT). We calculate the energy of the linearized gravitons in AdS3 background, and show that the theory is free of negative-energy bulk modes. Then we obtain the central charges of the CFT dual explicitly and show GMMG also avoids the aforementioned “bulk-boundary unitarity clash”. After that we show that General Zwei–Dreibein Gravity (GZDG) model can reduce to GMMG model. Finally by a Hamiltonian analysis we show that the GMMG model has no Boulware–Deser ghosts and this model propagates only two physical modes.

Black hole conserved charges in Generalized Minimal Massive Gravity

In this paper we construct mass, angular momentum and entropy of black hole solution of Generalized Minimal Massive Gravity (GMMG) in asymptotically Anti-de Sitter (AdS) spacetimes. The Generalized Minimal Massive Gravity theory is realized by adding the CS deformation term, the higher derivative deformation term, and an extra term to pure Einstein gravity with a negative cosmological constant. We apply our result for conserved charge Qμ(ξ¯) to the rotating BTZ black hole solution of GMMG, and find energy, angular momentum and entropy. Then we show that our results for these quantities are consistent with the first law of black hole thermodynamics.