Final Report Summary - BEYONDGR-2009-TPS (Gravity beyond General Relativity)
Project objectives
The overall goal of the project is to shed light on the limits of 'general relativity' as a theory for gravitational interaction. This is expected to be achieved by, more specifically:
-a) proposing/developing alternative theories of gravity both classical and quantum;
-b) studying their cosmological and astrophysical phenomenology;
-c) confronting the predictions of such theories with observations and experiments and obtaining the relevant constraints.
The project was interrupted early because the researcher moved away from the host institute in order to start a tenure-track appointment as an assistant professor. However, significant progress has been achieved towards the overall goal, and all the objectives of the first period have been met.
Project results
The work done in this period focused on three specific gravity theories which are currently in the forefront of interest: Horava-Lifshitz gravity, f(T) gravity and metric-affine theories. The achievements of this period include:
-a) The significant development of Horava-Lifshitz gravity as a candidate for quantum gravity;
-b) The demonstration that f(T) is in fact a Lorentz-violating theory of gravity, which had been missed previously in the literature and changed the perspective toward this theory;
-c) The development of an effective field theory framework for metric-affine gravity theories. All these result have had an important impact in their respective scientific fields and have already been highly cited.
The overall goal of the project is to shed light on the limits of 'general relativity' as a theory for gravitational interaction. This is expected to be achieved by, more specifically:
-a) proposing/developing alternative theories of gravity both classical and quantum;
-b) studying their cosmological and astrophysical phenomenology;
-c) confronting the predictions of such theories with observations and experiments and obtaining the relevant constraints.
The project was interrupted early because the researcher moved away from the host institute in order to start a tenure-track appointment as an assistant professor. However, significant progress has been achieved towards the overall goal, and all the objectives of the first period have been met.
Project results
The work done in this period focused on three specific gravity theories which are currently in the forefront of interest: Horava-Lifshitz gravity, f(T) gravity and metric-affine theories. The achievements of this period include:
-a) The significant development of Horava-Lifshitz gravity as a candidate for quantum gravity;
-b) The demonstration that f(T) is in fact a Lorentz-violating theory of gravity, which had been missed previously in the literature and changed the perspective toward this theory;
-c) The development of an effective field theory framework for metric-affine gravity theories. All these result have had an important impact in their respective scientific fields and have already been highly cited.