$f(T)$ Gravity: Background Dependence and Propagating Degrees of Freedom

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Danieli, Valentina, De Felice, Antonio
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2025
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866910936781029376
author Danieli, Valentina
De Felice, Antonio
author_facet Danieli, Valentina
De Felice, Antonio
contents The standard cosmological model, rooted in General Relativity (GR), has achieved remarkable success, yet it still faces unresolved issues like the nature of dark matter, dark energy, and the Hubble tension. These challenges might imply the need for alternative gravitational theories. Teleparallel gravity offers a compelling framework by reformulating the gravitational interaction using torsion, rather than curvature, as its fundamental geometrical property. This paper delves into $f(T)$ gravity, an extension of the Teleparallel Equivalent of General Relativity (TEGR), which introduces non-linear modifications of the torsion scalar $T$. We focus on the role of spacetime-dependent Lorentz transformations in the vierbein formalism, examining their impact on both background solutions and perturbation dynamics. Special attention is given to the homogeneous and isotropic FLRW spacetime, as well as the anisotropic Bianchi I spacetime. Furthermore, the analysis of the propagating degrees of freedom on these spacetimes is performed. While it is well established that TEGR reproduces the same results as GR, the propagating degrees of freedom in its non-linear extension, $f(T)$ gravity, is still debated in the literature. In this work, we find that only two fields propagate in the gravity sector, independently of the background spacetime considered, either FLRW or Bianchi I. Although not definitive, this paper provides fresh insights into the issue of the propagating degrees of freedom in $f(T)$ gravity, opening the door to intriguing new directions for further investigation.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_07890
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle $f(T)$ Gravity: Background Dependence and Propagating Degrees of Freedom
Danieli, Valentina
De Felice, Antonio
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
The standard cosmological model, rooted in General Relativity (GR), has achieved remarkable success, yet it still faces unresolved issues like the nature of dark matter, dark energy, and the Hubble tension. These challenges might imply the need for alternative gravitational theories. Teleparallel gravity offers a compelling framework by reformulating the gravitational interaction using torsion, rather than curvature, as its fundamental geometrical property. This paper delves into $f(T)$ gravity, an extension of the Teleparallel Equivalent of General Relativity (TEGR), which introduces non-linear modifications of the torsion scalar $T$. We focus on the role of spacetime-dependent Lorentz transformations in the vierbein formalism, examining their impact on both background solutions and perturbation dynamics. Special attention is given to the homogeneous and isotropic FLRW spacetime, as well as the anisotropic Bianchi I spacetime. Furthermore, the analysis of the propagating degrees of freedom on these spacetimes is performed. While it is well established that TEGR reproduces the same results as GR, the propagating degrees of freedom in its non-linear extension, $f(T)$ gravity, is still debated in the literature. In this work, we find that only two fields propagate in the gravity sector, independently of the background spacetime considered, either FLRW or Bianchi I. Although not definitive, this paper provides fresh insights into the issue of the propagating degrees of freedom in $f(T)$ gravity, opening the door to intriguing new directions for further investigation.
title $f(T)$ Gravity: Background Dependence and Propagating Degrees of Freedom
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.07890