Unraveling gravity beyond Einstein with extended test bodies

作者：Puetzfeld Dirk^*; Obukhov Yuri N

来源：Physics Letters, Section A: General, Atomic and Solid State Physics , 2013, 377(38): 2447-2449.

DOI：10.1016/j.physleta.2013.07.024

• Equations of motion
• Nonminimal coupling
• Multipolar methods
• Variational principles

The motion of test bodies in gravity is tightly linked to the conservation laws. This well-known fact in the context of General Relativity is also valid for gravitational theories which go beyond Einstein%26apos;s theory. Here we derive the equations of motion for test bodies for a very large class of gravitational theories with a general nonminimal coupling to matter. These equations form the basis for future systematic tests of alternative gravity theories. Our treatment is covariant and generalizes the classic Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon result for spinning (extended) test bodies. The equations of motion for structureless test bodies turn out to be surprisingly simple, despite the very general nature of the theories considered.

• 出版日期2013-11-15