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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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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Martinez-Asencio, J., Olmo, G. J., & Rubiera-Garcia, D. (2012). Black hole formation from a null fluid in extended Palatini gravity. Phys. Rev. D, 86(10), 104010–8pp.
Abstract: We study the formation and perturbation of black holes by null fluxes of neutral matter in a quadratic extension of general relativity formulated a la Palatini. Working in a spherically symmetric space-time, we obtain an exact analytical solution for the metric that extends the usual Vaidya-type solution to this type of theory. We find that the resulting space-time is formally that of a Reissner-Nordstrom black hole but with an effective charge term carrying the wrong sign in front of it. This effective charge is directly related to the luminosity function of the radiation stream. When the ingoing flux vanishes, the charge term disappears and the space-time relaxes to that of a Schwarzschild black hole. We provide two examples that illustrate the formation of a black hole from Minkowski space and the perturbation by a finite pulse of radiation of an existing Schwarzschild black hole.
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Olmo, G. J., Sanchis-Alepuz, H., & Tripathi, S. (2012). Stellar structure equations in extended Palatini gravity. Phys. Rev. D, 86(10), 104039–8pp.
Abstract: We consider static spherically symmetric stellar configurations in Palatini theories of gravity in which the Lagrangian is an unspecified function of the form f(R, R μnu R μnu). We obtain the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkov equations corresponding to this class of theories and show that they recover those of f(R) theories and general relativity in the appropriate limits. We show that the exterior vacuum solutions are of Schwarzschild-de Sitter type and comment on the possible expected modifications, as compared to general relativity, of the interior solutions.
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Capozziello, S., Harko, T., Koivisto, T. S., Lobo, F. S. N., & Olmo, G. J. (2012). Wormholes supported by hybrid metric-Palatini gravity. Phys. Rev. D, 86(12), 127504–5pp.
Abstract: Recently, a modified theory of gravity was presented, which consists of the superposition of the metric Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian with an f(R) term constructed a la Palatini. The theory possesses extremely interesting features such as predicting the existence of a long-range scalar field, that explains the late-time cosmic acceleration and passes the local tests, even in the presence of a light scalar field. In this brief report, we consider the possibility that wormholes are supported by this hybrid metric-Palatini gravitational theory. We present here the general conditions for wormhole solutions according to the null energy conditions at the throat and find specific examples. In the first solution, we specify the redshift function, the scalar field and choose the potential that simplifies the modified Klein-Gordon equation. This solution is not asymptotically flat and needs to be matched to a vacuum solution. In the second example, by adequately specifying the metric functions and choosing the scalar field, we find an asymptotically flat spacetime.
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Capozziello, S., Harko, T., Koivisto, T. S., Lobo, F. S. N., & Olmo, G. J. (2013). Cosmology of hybrid metric-Palatini f(X)-gravity. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 04(4), 011–25pp.
Abstract: A new class of modified theories of gravity, consisting of the superposition of the metric Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian with an f(R) term constructed a la Palatini was proposed recently. The dynamically equivalent scalar-tensor representation of the model was also formulated, and it was shown that even if the scalar field is very light, the theory passes the Solar System observational constraints. Therefore the model predicts the existence of a long-range scalar field, modifying the cosmological and galactic dynamics. An explicit model that passes the local tests and leads to cosmic acceleration was also obtained. In the present work, it is shown that the theory can be also formulated in terms of the quantity X equivalent to kappa T-2 + R, where T and R are the traces of the stress-energy and Ricci tensors, respectively. The variable X represents the deviation with respect to the field equation trace of general relativity. The cosmological applications of this hybrid metric-Palatini gravitational theory are also explored, and cosmological solutions coming from the scalar-tensor representation of f(X)-gravity are presented. Criteria to obtain cosmic acceleration are discussed and the field equations are analyzed as a dynamical system. Several classes of dynamical cosmological solutions, depending on the functional form of the effective scalar field potential, describing both accelerating and decelerating Universes are explicitly obtained. Furthermore, the cosmological perturbation equations are derived and applied to uncover the nature of the propagating scalar degree of freedom and the signatures these models predict in the large-scale structure.
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Capozziello, S., Harko, T., Koivisto, T. S., Lobo, F. S. N., & Olmo, G. J. (2013). The virial theorem and the dark matter problem in hybrid metric-Palatini gravity. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 07(7), 024–19pp.
Abstract: Hybrid metric-Palatini gravity is a recently proposed theory, consisting of the superposition of the metric Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian with an f(R) term constructed a la Palatini. The theory predicts the existence of a long-range scalar field, which passes the Solar System observational constraints, even if the scalar field is very light, and modifies the cosmological and galactic dynamics. Thus, the theory opens new possibilities to approach, in the same theoretical framework, the problems of both dark energy and dark matter. In this work, we consider the generalized virial theorem in the scalar-tensor representation of the hybrid metric-Palatini gravity. More specifically, taking into account the relativistic collisionless Boltzmann equation, we show that the supplementary geometric terms in the gravitational field equations provide an effective contribution to the gravitational potential energy. We show that the total virial mass is proportional to the effective mass associated with the new terms generated by the effective scalar field, and the baryonic mass. In addition to this, we also consider astrophysical applications of the model and show that the model predicts that the mass associated to the scalar field and its effects extend beyond the virial radius of the clusters of galaxies. In the context of the galaxy cluster velocity dispersion profiles predicted by the hybrid metric-Palatini model, the generalized virial theorem can be an efficient tool in observationally testing the viability of this class of generalized gravity models.
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