Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Scientific paper
2009-08-06
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
18 pages, 1 figure, accepted for publication in Physics Letters B
Scientific paper
The direct observation of gravitational waves (GWs) in the near future, and the corresponding determination of the number of independent polarizations, is a powerful tool to test general relativity and alternative theories of gravity. In the present work we use the Newman-Penrose formalism to characterize GWs in quadratic gravity and in a particular class of f(R) Lagrangians. We find that both quadratic gravity and the f(R) theory belong to the most general invariant class of GWs, i.e., they can present up to six independent polarizations of GWs. For a particular combination of the parameters, we find that quadratic gravity can present up to five polarizations states. On the other hand, if we use the Palatini approach for f(R) theories, GWs present only the usual two transverse-traceless polarizations such as in general relativity. Thus, we conclude that the observation of GWs can strongly constrain the suitable formalism for these theories.
Alves Márcio E. S.
de Araujo Jose Carlos N.
Miranda Oswaldo D.
No associations
LandOfFree
Probing the f(R) formalism through gravitational wave polarizations does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Probing the f(R) formalism through gravitational wave polarizations, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Probing the f(R) formalism through gravitational wave polarizations will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-705997