Gravitational waves in Palatini gravity for a non-minimal geometry-matter coupling

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Main Authors: Bombacigno, Flavio, Moretti, Fabio, Olmo, Gonzalo J.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Bombacigno, Flavio
Moretti, Fabio
Olmo, Gonzalo J.
author_facet Bombacigno, Flavio
Moretti, Fabio
Olmo, Gonzalo J.
contents We discuss the propagation of gravitational waves over a non-Riemannian spacetime, when a non-minimal coupling between the geometry and matter is considered in the form of contractions of the energy momentum tensor with the Ricci and co-Ricci curvature tensors. We focus our analysis on perturbations on a Minkowski background, elucidating how derivatives of the energy momentum tensor can sustain non-trivial torsion and non-metricity excitations, eventually resulting in additional source terms for the metric field. These can be reorganized in the form of D'Alembert operator acting on the energy momentum tensor and the equivalence principle can be reinforced at the linear level by a suitable choice of the parameters of the model. We show how tensor polarizations can exhibit a subluminal phase velocity in matter, evading the constraints found in General Relativity, and how this allows for the kinematic damping in specific configurations of the medium and of the geometry-matter coupling. These in turn define regions in the wavenumber space where propagation is forbidden, leading to the appearance of typical cut-off scale in the frequency spectrum.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_23069
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Gravitational waves in Palatini gravity for a non-minimal geometry-matter coupling
Bombacigno, Flavio
Moretti, Fabio
Olmo, Gonzalo J.
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
We discuss the propagation of gravitational waves over a non-Riemannian spacetime, when a non-minimal coupling between the geometry and matter is considered in the form of contractions of the energy momentum tensor with the Ricci and co-Ricci curvature tensors. We focus our analysis on perturbations on a Minkowski background, elucidating how derivatives of the energy momentum tensor can sustain non-trivial torsion and non-metricity excitations, eventually resulting in additional source terms for the metric field. These can be reorganized in the form of D'Alembert operator acting on the energy momentum tensor and the equivalence principle can be reinforced at the linear level by a suitable choice of the parameters of the model. We show how tensor polarizations can exhibit a subluminal phase velocity in matter, evading the constraints found in General Relativity, and how this allows for the kinematic damping in specific configurations of the medium and of the geometry-matter coupling. These in turn define regions in the wavenumber space where propagation is forbidden, leading to the appearance of typical cut-off scale in the frequency spectrum.
title Gravitational waves in Palatini gravity for a non-minimal geometry-matter coupling
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.23069