Olmo, G. J. (2011). Palatini actions and quantum gravity phenomenology. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 10(10), 018–15pp.
Abstract: We show that an invariant an universal length scale can be consistently introduced in a generally covariant theory through the gravitational sector using the Palatini approach. The resulting theory is able to capture different aspects of quantum gravity phenomenology in a single framework. In particular, it is found that in this theory field excitations propagating with different energy-densities perceive different background metrics, which is a fundamental characteristic of the DSR and Rainbow Gravity approaches. We illustrate these properties with a particular gravitational model and explicitly show how the soccer ball problem is avoided in this framework. The isotropic and anisotropic cosmologies of this model also avoid the big bang singularity by means of a big bounce.
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Olmo, G. J. (2011). Palatini approach to modified gravity: f(R) theories and beyond. Int. J. Mod. Phys. D, 20(4), 413–462.
Abstract: We review the recent literature on modified theories of gravity in the Palatini approach. After discussing the motivations that lead to consider alternatives to Einstein's theory and to treat the metric and the connection as independent objects, we review several topics that have been recently studied within this framework. In particular, we provide an in-depth analysis of the cosmic speed-up problem, laboratory and solar system tests, the structure of stellar objects, the Cauchy problem, and bouncing cosmologies. We also discuss the importance of going beyond the f(R) models to capture other phenomenological aspects related with dark matter/energy and quantum gravity.
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Olmo, G. J., & Rubiera-Garcia, D. (2012). Nonsingular Charged Black Holes A La Palatini. Int. J. Mod. Phys. D, 21(8), 1250067–6pp.
Abstract: We argue that the quantum nature of matter and gravity should lead to a discretization of the allowed states of the matter confined in the interior of black holes. To support and illustrate this idea, we consider a quadratic extension of general relativity (GR) formulated a la Palatini and show that nonrotating, electrically charged black holes develop a compact core at the Planck density which is nonsingular if the mass spectrum satisfies a certain discreteness condition. We also find that the area of the core is proportional to the number of charges times the Planck area.
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Olmo, G. J., & Rubiera-Garcia, D. (2014). Semiclassical geons at particle accelerators. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 02(2), 010–25pp.
Abstract: We point out that in certain four-dimensional extensions of general relativity constructed within the Palatini formalism stable self-gravitating objects with a discrete mass and charge spectrum may exist. The incorporation of nonlinearities in the electromagnetic field may effectively reduce their mass spectrum by many orders of magnitude. As a consequence, these objects could be within (or near) the reach of current particle accelerators. We provide an exactly solvable model to support this idea.
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Olmo, G. J., & Rubiera-Garcia, D. (2015). Brane-world and loop cosmology from a gravity-matter coupling perspective. Phys. Lett. B, 740, 73–79.
Abstract: We show that the effective brane-world and the loop quantum cosmology background expansion histories can be reproduced from a modified gravity perspective in terms of an f (R) gravity action plus a g(R) term non-minimally coupled with the matter Lagrangian. The reconstruction algorithm that we provide depends on a free function of the matter density that must be specified in each case and allows to obtain analytical solutions always. In the simplest cases, the function f (R) is quadratic in the Ricci scalar, R, whereas g(R) is linear. Our approach is compared with recent results in the literature. We show that working in the Palatini formalism there is no need to impose any constraint that keeps the equations second order, which is a key requirement for the successful implementation of the reconstruction algorithm.
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