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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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Harko, T., Koivisto, T. S., Lobo, F. S. N., & Olmo, G. J. (2012). Metric-Palatini gravity unifying local constraints and late-time cosmic acceleration. Phys. Rev. D, 85(8), 084016–5pp.
Abstract: We present a novel approach to modified theories of gravity which consists of adding to the Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian an f(R) term constructed a la Palatini. Using the respective dynamically equivalent scalar-tensor representation, we show that the theory can pass the Solar System observational constraints even if the scalar field is very light. This implies the existence of a long-range scalar field, which is able to modify the cosmological and galactic dynamics but leaves the Solar System unaffected. We also verify the absence of instabilities in perturbations and provide explicit models which are consistent with local tests and lead to the late-time cosmic acceleration.
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Olmo, G. J. (2012). Birkhoff's theorem and perturbations in f(R) theories. Ann. Phys.-Berlin, 524(5), 87–88.
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Olmo, G. J., & Rubiera-Garcia, D. (2012). Reissner-Nordstrom black holes in extended Palatini theories. Phys. Rev. D, 86(4), 044014–15pp.
Abstract: We study static, spherically symmetric solutions with an electric field in an extension of general relativity containing a Ricci-squared term and formulated in the Palatini formalism. We find that all the solutions present a central core whose area is proportional to the Planck area times the number of charges. Far from the core, curvature invariants quickly tend to those of the usual Reissner-Nordstrom solution, though the structure of horizons may be different. In fact, besides the structures found in the Reissner-Nordstrom solution of general relativity, we find black hole solutions with just one nondegenerate horizon (Schwarzschild-like) and nonsingular black holes and naked cores. The charge-to-mass ratio of the nonsingular solutions implies that the core matter density is independent of the specific amounts of charge and mass and of order the Planck density. We discuss the physical implications of these results for astrophysical and microscopic black holes, construct the Penrose diagrams of some illustrative cases, and show that the maximal analytical extension of the nonsingular solutions implies a bounce of the radial coordinate.
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Olmo, G. J., & Rubiera-Garcia, D. (2012). Nonsingular black holes in quadratic Palatini gravity. Eur. Phys. J. C, 72(8), 2098–5pp.
Abstract: We find that if general relativity is modified at the Planck scale by a Ricci-squared term, electrically charged black holes may be nonsingular. These objects concentrate their mass in a microscopic sphere of radius r(core) approximate to N(q)(1/2)l(P)/3, where l(P) is the Planck length and N-q is the number of electric charges. The singularity is avoided if the mass of the object satisfies the condition M-0(2) approximate to m(P)(2)alpha N-3/2(em)q(3)/2, where m(P) is the Planck mass and alpha(em) is the fine-structure constant. For astrophysical black holes this amount of charge is so small that their external horizon almost coincides with their Schwarzschild radius. We work within a first-order (Palatini) approach.
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