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Lobo, F. S. N., Olmo, G. J., & Rubiera-Garcia, D. (2015). Crystal clear lessons on the microstructure of spacetime and modified gravity. Phys. Rev. D, 91(12), 124001–7pp.
Abstract: We argue that a microscopic structure for spacetime such as that expected in a quantum foam scenario, in which microscopic wormholes and other topological structures should play a relevant role, might lead to an effective metric-affine geometry at larger scales. This idea is supported by the role that microscopic defects play in crystalline structures. With an explicit model, we show that wormhole formation is possible in a metric-affine scenario, where the wormhole and the matter fields play a role analogous to that of defects in crystals. Such wormholes also arise in Born-Infeld gravity, which is favored by an analogy with the estimated mass of a point defect in condensed matter systems. We also point out that in metric-affine geometries, Einstein's equations with an effective cosmological constant appear as an attractor in the vacuum limit for a vast family of theories of gravity. This illustrates how lessons from solid state physics can be useful in unveiling the properties of the microcosmos and defining new avenues for modified theories of gravity.
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Olmo, G. J., Rubiera-Garcia, D., & Sanchez-Puente, A. (2015). Geodesic completeness in a wormhole spacetime with horizons. Phys. Rev. D, 92(4), 044047–16pp.
Abstract: The geometry of a spacetime containing a wormhole generated by a spherically symmetric electric field is investigated in detail. These solutions arise in high-energy extensions of general relativity formulated within the Palatini approach and coupled to Maxwell electrodynamics. Even though curvature divergences generically arise at the wormhole throat, we find that these spacetimes are geodesically complete. This provides an explicit example where curvature divergences do not imply spacetime singularities.
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Bazeia, D., Losano, L., Olmo, G. J., Rubiera-Garcia, D., & Sanchez-Puente, A. (2015). Classical resolution of black hole singularities in arbitrary dimension. Phys. Rev. D, 92(4), 044018–15pp.
Abstract: A metric-affine approach is employed to study higher-dimensional modified gravity theories involving different powers and contractions of the Ricci tensor. It is shown that the field equations are always second-order, as opposed to the standard metric approach, where this is only achieved for Lagrangians of the Lovelock type. We point out that this property might have relevant implications for the AdS/CFT correspondence in black hole scenarios. We illustrate these aspects by considering the case of Born-Infeld gravity in d dimensions, where we work out exact solutions for electrovacuum configurations. Our results put forward that black hole singularities in arbitrary dimensions can be cured in a purely classical geometric scenario governed by second-order field equations.
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Bambi, C., Cardenas-Avendano, A., Olmo, G. J., & Rubiera-Garcia, D. (2016). Wormholes and nonsingular spacetimes in Palatini f(R) gravity. Phys. Rev. D, 93(6), 064016–8pp.
Abstract: We reconsider the problem of f(R) theories of gravity coupled to Born-Infeld theory of electrodynamics formulated in a Palatini approach, where metric and connection are independent fields. By studying electrovacuum configurations in a static and spherically symmetric spacetime, we find solutions which reduce to their Reissner-Nordstrom counterparts at large distances but undergo important nonperturbative modifications close to the center. Our new analysis reveals that the pointlike singularity is replaced by a finite-size wormhole structure, which provides a geodesically complete and thus nonsingular spacetime, despite the existence of curvature divergences at the wormhole throat. Implications of these results, in particular for the cosmic censorship conjecture, are discussed.
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Bejarano, C., Olmo, G. J., & Rubiera-Garcia, D. (2017). What is a singular black hole beyond general relativity? Phys. Rev. D, 95(6), 064043–18pp.
Abstract: Exploring the characterization of singular black hole spacetimes, we study the relation between energy density, curvature invariants, and geodesic completeness using a quadratic f(R) gravity theory coupled to an anisotropic fluid. Working in a metric-affine approach, our models and solutions represent minimal extensions of general relativity (GR) in the sense that they rapidly recover the usual Reissner-Nordstrm solution from near the inner horizon outwards. The anisotropic fluid helps modify only the innermost geometry. Depending on the values and signs of two parameters on the gravitational and matter sectors, a breakdown of the correlations between the finiteness/ divergence of the energy density, the behavior of curvature invariants, and the (in) completeness of geodesics is obtained. We find a variety of configurations with and without wormholes, a case with a de Sitter interior, solutions that mimic nonlinear models of electrodynamics coupled to GR, and configurations with up to four horizons. Our results raise questions regarding what infinities, if any, a quantum version of these theories should regularize.
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Menchon, C. C., Olmo, G. J., & Rubiera-Garcia, D. (2017). Nonsingular black holes, wormholes, and de Sitter cores from anisotropic fluids. Phys. Rev. D, 96(10), 104028–16pp.
Abstract: We study Born-Infeld gravity coupled to an anisotropic fluid in a static, spherically symmetric background. The free function characterizing the fluid is selected on the following grounds: i) recovery of the Reissner-Nordstrom solution of General Relativity at large distances, ii) fulfillment of classical energy conditions, and iii) inclusion of models of nonlinear electrodynamics as particular examples. Four branches of solutions are obtained, depending on the signs of two parameters on the gravity and matter sectors. On each branch, we discuss in detail the modifications on the innermost region of the corresponding solutions, which provides a plethora of configurations, including nonsingular black holes and naked objects, wormholes, and de Sitter cores. The regular character of these configurations is discussed according to the completeness of geodesics and the behavior of curvature scalars.
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Afonso, V. I., Olmo, G. J., & Rubiera-Garcia, D. (2018). Mapping Ricci-based theories of gravity Into general relativity. Phys. Rev. D, 97(2), 021503–6pp.
Abstract: We show that the space of solutions of a wide class of Ricci-based metric-affine theories of gravity can be put into correspondence with the space of solutions of general relativity (GR). This allows us to use well-established methods and results from GR to explore new gravitational physics beyond it.
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Barrientos, E., Lobo, F. S. N., Mendoza, S., Olmo, G. J., & Rubiera-Garcia, D. (2018). Metric-affine f(R,T) theories of gravity and their applications. Phys. Rev. D, 97(10), 104041–10pp.
Abstract: We study f (R, T) theories of gravity, where T is the trace of the energy-momentum tensor T-mu v, 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 nonconservation of the energy-momentum tensor, which implies nongeodesic motion arid 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 arc discussed.
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Bazeia, D., Marques, M. A., & Olmo, G. J. (2018). Small and hollow magnetic monopoles. Phys. Rev. D, 98(2), 025017–8pp.
Abstract: We deal with the presence of magnetic monopoles in a non-Abelian model that generalizes the standard 't Hooft-Polyakov model in three spatial dimensions. We investigate the energy density of the static and spherically symmetric solutions to find first order differential equations that solve the equations of motion. The system is further studied and two distinct classes of solutions are obtained, one that can also be described by analytical solutions and is called a small monopole, since it is significantly smaller than the standard 't Hooft-Polyakov monopole. The other type of structure is the hollow monopole, since the energy density is endowed with a hole at its core. The hollow monopole can be smaller or larger than the standard monopole, depending on the value of the parameter that controls the magnetic permeability of the model.
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Harko, T., Koivisto, T. S., Lobo, F. S. N., Olmo, G. J., & Rubiera-Garcia, D. (2018). Coupling matter in modified Q gravity. Phys. Rev. D, 98(8), 084043–13pp.
Abstract: We present a novel theory of gravity by considering an extension of symmetric teleparallel gravity. This is done by introducing, in the framework of the metric-affine formalism, a new class of theories where the nonmetricity Q is nonminimally coupled to the matter Lagrangian. More specifically, we consider a Lagrangian of the form L similar to f(1)(Q) + f(2)(Q)L-M, where f(1) and f(2) are generic functions of Q, and L-M is the matter Lagrangian. This nonminimal coupling entails the nonconservation of the energy-momentum tensor, and consequently the appearance of an extra force. The formulation of the gravity sector in terms of the Q instead of the curvature may result in subtle improvements of the theory. In the context of nonminimal matter couplings, we are therefore motivated to explore whether the new geometrical formulation in terms of the Q, when implemented also in the matter sector, would allow more universally consistent and viable realizations of the nonminimal coupling. Furthermore, we consider several cosmological applications by presenting the evolution equations and imposing specific functional forms of the functions f(1)(Q) and f(2)(Q), such as power-law and exponential dependencies of the nonminimal couplings. Cosmological solutions are considered in two general classes of models, and found to feature accelerating expansion at late times.
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