1994/11/29 by T. Damour, Thibault Damour, A. M. Polyakov · 10 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Classical mechanics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Dilaton #Equivalence principle (geometric) #Gravitation #Graviton #Massless particle #Mathematical physics #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Physics #Quantum mechanics #String theory #Theoretical physics #Universality (dynamical systems) #gr-qc #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/bf02106709
published as Gen.Rel.Grav. 26 (1994) 1171-1176 · 5 pages, PLAIN TEX
arxiv created 1994/11/29 · openalex publication_date 1994/12/01 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
It is pointed out that string-loop effects may generate matter couplings for the dilaton allowing this scalar partner of the tensorial graviton to stay massless while contributing to macroscopic gravity in a way naturally compatible with existing experimental data. Under a certain assumption of universality of the dilaton coupling functions (possibly realized through a discrete symmetry such as S-duality), the cosmological evolution drives the dilaton towards values where it decouples from matter. At the present cosmological epoch, the coupling to matter of the dilaton should be very small, but non zero. This provides a new motivation for improving the experimental tests of Einstein's Equivalence Principle.