Astrophysical black holes in screened modified gravity

Journal Article · Fri Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 2014 · Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2014/08/033· OSTI ID:22373397

Davis, Anne-Christine; Jha, Rahul; Muir, Jessica ^[1]; Gregory, Ruth ^[2]

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1. Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, University of Cambridge, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge, CB3 0WA (United Kingdom)
2. Centre for Particle Theory, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE (United Kingdom)

Chameleon, environmentally dependent dilaton, and symmetron gravity are three models of modified gravity in which the effects of the additional scalar degree of freedom are screened in dense environments. They have been extensively studied in laboratory, cosmological, and astrophysical contexts. In this paper, we present a preliminary investigation into whether additional constraints can be provided by studying these scalar fields around black holes. By looking at the properties of a static, spherically symmetric black hole, we find that the presence of a non-uniform matter distribution induces a non-constant scalar profile in chameleon and dilaton, but not necessarily symmetron gravity. An order of magnitude estimate shows that the effects of these profiles on in-falling test particles will be sub-leading compared to gravitational waves and hence observationally challenging to detect.

• OSTI ID: 22373397
• Journal Information: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Journal Name: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics Journal Issue: 08 Vol. 2014; ISSN 1475-7516
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS
BLACK HOLES
DEGREES OF FREEDOM
DISTRIBUTION
GRAVITATIONAL WAVES
MATTER
SCALAR FIELDS
SCALARS
SPHERICAL CONFIGURATION
SYMMETRY
TEST PARTICLES