Scalar-induced gravitational waves in spatially covariant gravity

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Jiang, Jiehao, Lin, Jieming, Gao, Xian
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Jiang, Jiehao
Lin, Jieming
Gao, Xian
author_facet Jiang, Jiehao
Lin, Jieming
Gao, Xian
contents We investigate scalar-induced gravitational waves (SIGWs) in the framework of spatially covariant gravity (SCG), a broad class of Lorentz-violating modified gravity theories respecting only spatial diffeomorphism invariance. Extending earlier SCG formulations, we compute the general kernel function for SIGWs on a flat Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker background, focusing on polynomial-type SCG Lagrangians up to $d=3$, where $d$ denotes the total number of derivatives in each monomial. We derive explicit expressions for the kernel in the case of power-law time evolution of the coefficients, and restrict attention to the subset of SCG operators whose tensor modes propagate at the speed of light, thereby avoiding late-time divergences in the fractional energy density of SIGWs. Instead of the usual Newtonian gauge, the breaking of time reparametrization symmetry in SCG necessitates a unitary gauge analysis. We compute the energy density of SIGWs for representative parameter combinations, finding distinctive deviations from general relativity (GR), including scale-dependent modifications to both the amplitude and the spectral shape. Our results highlight the potential of stochastic GW background measurements to probe spatially covariant gravity and other Lorentz-violating extensions of GR.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_20000
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Scalar-induced gravitational waves in spatially covariant gravity
Jiang, Jiehao
Lin, Jieming
Gao, Xian
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
We investigate scalar-induced gravitational waves (SIGWs) in the framework of spatially covariant gravity (SCG), a broad class of Lorentz-violating modified gravity theories respecting only spatial diffeomorphism invariance. Extending earlier SCG formulations, we compute the general kernel function for SIGWs on a flat Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker background, focusing on polynomial-type SCG Lagrangians up to $d=3$, where $d$ denotes the total number of derivatives in each monomial. We derive explicit expressions for the kernel in the case of power-law time evolution of the coefficients, and restrict attention to the subset of SCG operators whose tensor modes propagate at the speed of light, thereby avoiding late-time divergences in the fractional energy density of SIGWs. Instead of the usual Newtonian gauge, the breaking of time reparametrization symmetry in SCG necessitates a unitary gauge analysis. We compute the energy density of SIGWs for representative parameter combinations, finding distinctive deviations from general relativity (GR), including scale-dependent modifications to both the amplitude and the spectral shape. Our results highlight the potential of stochastic GW background measurements to probe spatially covariant gravity and other Lorentz-violating extensions of GR.
title Scalar-induced gravitational waves in spatially covariant gravity
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.20000