2020/06/29 by K. Koyama, Kazuya Koyama · 37 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics #Classical field theory #Classical mechanics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #General relativity #Geometry #Geophysics and Gravity Measurements #Gravitation #Gravitational wave #Parameterized post-Newtonian formalism #Physics #Pulsars and Gravitational Waves Research #Quantum gravity #Quantum mechanics #Scalar (mathematics) #Scalar field #Scalar theories of gravitation #Spacetime #Theoretical physics #astro-ph.CO #f(R) gravity #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.102.021502
published in Physical review. D/Physical review. D. 102(2) (American Physical Society) · 6 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in PRD
arxiv created 2020/06/29 · openalex publication_date 2020/07/08 · arxiv updated 2020/08/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The Brans-Dicke theory of gravity is one of the oldest ideas to extend general relativity by introducing a nonminimal coupling between the scalar field and gravity. The Solar System tests put tight constraints on the theory. In order to evade these constraints, various screening mechanisms have been proposed. These screening mechanisms allow the scalar field to couple to matter as strongly as gravity in low density environments while suppressing it in the Solar System. The Vainshtein mechanism, which is found in various modified gravity models such as massive gravity, braneworld models and scalar tensor theories, suppresses the scalar field efficiently in the vicinity of a massive object. This makes it difficult to test these theories from gravitational wave observations. We point out that the recently found scalar gravitational wave memory effect, which is caused by a permanent change in spacetime geometry due to the collapse of a star to a back hole can be significantly enhanced in the Brans-Dicke theory of gravity with the Vainshtein mechanism. This provides a possibility to detect scalar gravitational waves by a network of three or more gravitational wave detectors.