Three classical tests of Hořava-Lifshitz gravity theory

Recently, a renormalizable gravity theory has been proposed by Hořava, and it might be an ultraviolet completion of general relativity or its infrared modification. Particular limit of the theory allows for the Minkowski vacuum. A spherical asymptotically flat black hole solution that represents the analogy of Schwarzschild solution of general relativity has been obtained. It will be very interesting to find the difference between traditional general relativity and Hořava-Lifshitz gravity theory. The three classical tests of general relativity including gravitational red-shift, perihelion precession of the planet Mercury, and light deflection in gravitational field in the spherical asymptotically flat black hole solution of infrared modified Hořava-Lifshitz gravity are investigated. The first order corrections from the standard general relativity is obtained. The result can be used to limit the parameters in Hořava-Lifshitz gravity and to show the viability of the theory.     

世界引力波探测网的现状

引力波是广义相对论的重要推论之一,迄今为止尚未被直接探测到。上世纪末共振棒引力波探测网曾联合运行.历经十余年的努力,世界激光干涉引力波探测网已经初步形成。今后一、两年将会同步运行。最新的关于中子双星的天文观测和分析给引力波探测带来了希望。     

粒子在标量张量理论的二阶后闵可夫斯基近似弱引力场中的引力偏转

标量张量理论是目前为止最成功的相对论性引力理论之一,经受住了已有实验和观测的检验.随着实验和观测精度的提高,理论将得到进一步的检验.为此将该理论的可观测效应计算到二阶后牛顿近似非常必要.标量张量理论的二阶后牛顿近似结果已经由Xie等人给出.为得到有质量粒子在弱引力场中的偏转情况,利用二阶后闵可夫斯基近似下的度规解得到了粒子的测地线方程,并通过迭代的方法求得在非束缚条件下,粒子在弱引力场中的轨迹的解析解.进一步利用此结果计算了粒子在弱引力场中的偏转角(与光线的偏转角不同)并与前人的结果进行了比较.     

Probing the Higgs vacuum with general relativity

We show that the structure of the Higgs vacuum could be revealed in gravitational experiments which probe the Schwarzschild geometry to only one order inMG/r beyond that needed for the classical tests of general relativity.     

Tachyonic teleparallel dark energy

Teleparallel gravity is an equivalent formulation of general relativity in which instead of the Ricci scalar R, one uses the torsion scalar T for the Lagrangian density. Recently teleparallel dark energy has been proposed by Geng et al. (in Phys. Lett. B 704, 384, 2011). They have added quintessence scalar field, allowing also a non-minimal coupling with gravity in the Lagrangian of teleparallel gravity and found that such a non-minimally coupled quintessence theory has a richer structure than the same one in the frame work of general relativity. In the present work we are interested in tachyonic teleparallel dark energy in which scalar field is responsible for dark energy in the frame work of torsion gravity. We find that such a non-minimally coupled tachyon gravity can realize the crossing of the phantom divide line for the effective equation of state. Using the numerical calculations we display such a behavior of the model explicitly.     

Shadows as a tool to evaluate black hole parameters and a dimension of spacetime

Shadow formation around supermassive black holes were simulated. Due to enormous progress in observational facilities and techniques of data analysis researchers approach to opportunity to measure shapes and sizes of the shadows at least for the closest supermassive black hole at the Galactic Center. Measurements of the shadow sizes around the black holes can help to evaluate parameters of black hole metric. Theories with extra dimensions (Randall–Sundrum II braneworld approach, for instance) admit astrophysical objects (supermassive black holes, in particular) which are rather different from standard ones. Different tests were proposed to discover signatures of extra dimensions in supermassive black holes since the gravitational field may be different from the standard one in the general relativity (GR) approach. In particular, gravitational lensing features are different for alternative gravity theories with extra dimensions and general relativity. Therefore, there is an opportunity to find signatures of extra dimensions in supermassive black holes. We show how measurements of the shadow sizes can put constraints on parameters of black hole in spacetime with extra dimensions.     

Matter wave explorer of gravity (MWXG)

In response to ESA’s Call for proposals of 5 March 2007 of the COSMIC VISION 2015–2025 plan of the ESA science programme, we propose a M-class satellite mission to test of the Equivalence Principle in the quantum domain by investigating the extended free fall of matter waves instead of macroscopic bodies as in the case of GAUGE, MICROSCOPE or STEP. The satellite, called Matter Wave Explorer of Gravity, will carry an experiment to test gravity, namely the measurement of the equal rate of free fall with various isotopes of distinct atomic species with precision cold atom interferometry in the vicinity of the earth. This will allow for a first quantum test the Equivalence Principle with spin polarised particles and with pure fermionic and bosonic atomic ensembles. Due to the space conditions, the free fall of Rubidium and Potassium isotopes will be compared with a maximum accelerational sensitivity of 5·10^− 16 m/s² corresponding to an accuracy of the test of the Equivalence Principle of 1 part in 10¹⁶. Besides the primary scientific goal, the quantum test of the Equivalence Principle, the mission can be extended to provide additional information about the gravitational field of the earth or for testing theories of fundamental processes of decoherence which are investigated by various theory groups in the context of quantum gravity phenomenology. In this proposal we present in detail the mission objectives and the technical aspects of the proposed mission.     

Forthcoming close angular approaches of planets to radio sources and possibilities to use them as GR tests

During close angular approaches of solar system planets to astrometric radio sources, the apparent positions of these sources shift due to relativistic effects and, thus, these events may be used for testing the theory of general relativity; this fact was successfully demonstrated in the experiments on the measurements of radio source position shifts during the approaches of Jupiter carried out in 1988 and 2002. An analysis, performed within the frames of the present work, showed that when a source is observed near a planet’s disk edge, i.e., practically in the case of occultation, the current experimental accuracy makes it possible to measure the relativistic effects for all planets. However, radio occultations are fairly rare events. At the same time, only Jupiter and Saturn provide noticeable relativistic effects approaching the radio sources at angular distances of about a few planet radii. Our analysis resulted in the creation of a catalog of forthcoming occultations and approaches of planets to astrometric radio sources for the time period of 2008–2050, which can be used for planning experiments on testing gravity theories and other purposes. For all events included in the catalog, the main relativistic effects are calculated both for ground-based and space (Earth-Moon) interferometer baselines.     

Vacuum solution of a quadratic red-shift based correction in f(R) gravity

In the present paper, using action derivative with respect to Ricci scalar and its expansion relative to red-shift, to the second-order and consequently without needing dark energy, the history of cosmos expansion is reconstructed in vacuum. Then, employing supernova data, free parameters of the model which are the expansion coefficients, are calculated. It will be seen that if the free parameters of the model are zero, action of general relativity, which is a boundary mode of the gravity, is found. Also the cosmic age for this model in vacuum is calculated. Finally, it is attempted to reconstruct the reference action in terms of its Taylor expansion. Thus, it will be found that the reconstructed action and their actions definitely pass the Solar system tests.     

Advancing fundamental physics with the Laser Astrometric Test of Relativity

The Laser Astrometric Test of Relativity (LATOR) is an experiment designed to test the metric nature of gravitation—a fundamental postulate of the Einstein’s general theory of relativity. The key element of LATOR is a geometric redundancy provided by the long-baseline optical interferometry and interplanetary laser ranging. By using a combination of independent time-series of gravitational deflection of light in the immediate proximity to the Sun, along with measurements of the Shapiro time delay on interplanetary scales (to a precision respectively better than 0.1 picoradians and 1 cm), LATOR will significantly improve our knowledge of relativistic gravity and cosmology. The primary mission objective is i) to measure the key post-Newtonian Eddington parameter γ with accuracy of a part in 10⁹. $\frac{1}{2}(1-\gamma)$ is a direct measure for presence of a new interaction in gravitational theory, and, in its search, LATOR goes a factor 30,000 beyond the present best result, Cassini’s 2003 test. Other mission objectives include: ii) first measurement of gravity’s non-linear effects on light to ～0.01% accuracy; including both the traditional Eddington β parameter and also the spatial metric’s 2nd order potential contribution (never measured before); iii) direct measurement of the solar quadrupole moment J ₂ (currently unavailable) to accuracy of a part in 200 of its expected size of ??10^???7; iv) direct measurement of the “frame-dragging” effect on light due to the Sun’s rotational gravitomagnetic field, to 0.1% accuracy. LATOR’s primary measurement pushes to unprecedented accuracy the search for cosmologically relevant scalar-tensor theories of gravity by looking for a remnant scalar field in today’s solar system. We discuss the science objectives of the mission, its technology, mission and optical designs, as well as expected performance of this experiment. LATOR will lead to very robust advances in the tests of fundamental physics: this mission could discover a violation or extension of general relativity and/or reveal the presence of an additional long range interaction in the physical law. There are no analogs to LATOR; it is unique and is a natural culmination of solar system gravity experiments.     

Thermodynamics of the universe filled with perfect fluid having variable equation of state

Recently, a field theoretic model for a UV complete theory of gravity has been proposed by Hor̃ava. This theory is a non-relativistic renormalizable gravity theory which coincides with Einstein’s general relativity at large distances. Subsequently Lü et al. have formulated the modified Friedmann equations and have presented a solution in vacuum. In the present work, we rewrite the modified FRW equations in the form of usual FRW equations in Einstein gravity and consequences have been analyzed. Also the thermodynamics of the FRW universe has been studied.     

Energy distributions of Kantowski-Sachs space-time in the theory of teleparallel gravity

We calculate the energy density and energy distribution of Kantowski-Sachs space-time, using Einstein, Bergmann-Thomson and Landau-Lifshitz energy-momentum complexes, in the theory of teleparallel gravity. A comparison of the results shows that the Einstein and Bergmann-Thomson definitions furnish a consistent result for the energy density and energy distribution, but the definition of Landau-Lifshitz does not concur with them. We show that the space-time under consideration gives a counterexample that the energy distribution is the same either in general relativity or teleparallel gravity.     

The origin of gravity

It has been shown by Atkinson (1965) that there is a rigorously exact euclidean interpretation of the general relativity field equations if certain arbitrary definitions of mass (m0 and the velocity of light (c) are invoked. With a preferred (euclidean) frame postulatedab initio, a particularly simple explanation in terms of classical physics may be found for very similar definitions ofm andc. It is not unexpected that with this scheme, all the usual tests of general relativity (light deflexion, perihelion motion, gravitational redshift, and radar delay time) are immediately satisfield. The preferred frame is however identified with a real aether and this requires a return to the Lorentzian interpretation of the special relativistic transformations of space and time variables. It is shown that gravity may be attributed to the action of a temperature gradient in the aether and an explanation of its origin in terms of an ideal relativistic gas is proposed. The temperature gradients are thermodynamically stable and do not diffuse if the relativistic aether ( _A ) is effectively adiabatic and matter is fundamentally a species of aether with instantaneous motion at high (> _A ) relative to the aethereal reast frame. To be consistent with such a picture, it is necessary to assume aether particles are capable of forming temporary associations (not recognized as matter) which take on some of the properties of crystalline solids and thereby become the means of transmitting electromagnetic radiation through space. The aether is essentially treated as a virtually incompressible fluid in which the pressure at any point arises from both random (temperature) and bulk (high ) motions. A number of specific predictions arising from this theory of gravity are indicated and these may serve to discriminate it from general relativity.     

Exact cylindrically symmetric solutions in Rastall theory of gravity

In this paper, we explore some exact cylindrically symmetric solutions in the context of Rastall theory of gravity. For this purpose, we consider the general form of a metric in the cylindrical Weyl coordinates. The modified field equations are developed in the presence of charge. In particular, we try to recover the well-known Levi–Civita’s static cylindrically symmetric solution in the framework of Rastall gravity. The graphical behavior of energy density and pressure component is presented along with the discussion of energy conditions. Finally, the solutions in the context of general relativity are discussed. It is concluded that Levi–Civita’s static cylindrically symmetric charged solutions do exist in Rastall theory of gravity.     

Energy Of The Universe In Bianchi-Type I Models In MØLler’S Tetrad Theory Of Gravity

In this paper, using the energy definition in MØller’s tetrad theory of gravity we calculate the total energy of the universe in Bianchi-type I cosmological models which includes both the matter and gravitational fields. The total energy is found to be zero and this result agrees with a previous works of Banerjee and Sen who investigated this problem using the general relativity version of the Einstein energy-momentum complex and Xulu who investigated same problem using the general relativity versions of the Landau and lifshitz, Papapetrou and Weinberg’s energy-momentum complexes. The result that total energy of the universe in Bianchi-type I universes is zero supports the viewpoint of Tryon.     

A Qualitative Analysis of the Attractor Mechanism of General relativity

In this work we present a phase-space analysis of the cosmological relaxation of generalized gravity theories where the gravitational constant G varies towards general relativity. We assess the interplay of the two main mechanisms that yield general relativity as the cosmological attractor: (i) the vanishing of the coupling function α(ϕ), and (ii) the existence of a minimum of the scalar field potential. The latter mechanism is shown to supersede the first. We classify the fixed points associated to different types of potentials and discuss the late time self-similar solutions that arise when the scalar field potential exhibits an asymptotic exponential behaviour from the viewpoint of the relaxation mechanism. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Birkhoff’S Theorem In The Einstein–Cartan–Kalb–Ramond Theory Of Gravity

It is shown that an analog of Birkhoff’s theorem of general relativity exists in the Einstein–Cartan–Kalb–Ramond (ECKR) theory of gravity when Kalb–Ramond (KR) field strength, which occurs in the theory is independent of time.     

Gravitation,global four-momentum conservation and the strong equivalence principle

It is shown that global four-momentum conservation provides all the necessary structure toderive a metric gravity theory which conforms to the requirements of the Strong Equivalence Principle (Will, 1981), and which satisfies all empirical tests up to, and including, those derived from the binary pulsar measurements. Significant consequences arising from this theory are: concepts of curved spacetimes become strictly superfluous to the function of describing gravitational physics; gravitational processes become direct particle/particle interactions; these interactions are arbitrated by wave processes of a kind familiar in electromagnetism; gravitational waves carry energy-momentum in the direction of their propogation vector; the essential singularities at gravitational origins, which are features of both Newtonian gravitation and General Relativity, do not exist.     

Cosmological Constant, Minimal Mass and Electroweak Interaction

A lower bound for the mass of a rotating body is derived in the general relativity theory with positive cosmological term Λ. The bound suggests a neutrino rest mass ∼1 meV and a neutrino magnetic moment of 10⁻⁴¹ erg/gauss ∼ Planck's magnetic moment. A connection between gravity and electroweak interaction is suggested.