Dark Matter from R^2-gravity

TL;DR

This paper explores how modifications to Einstein's gravity, specifically R^2-gravity, could introduce new gravitational degrees of freedom that potentially account for dark matter in the universe.

Contribution

It investigates the potential of R^2-gravity to produce dark matter candidates arising from high-energy gravitational modifications.

Findings

R^2-gravity introduces new gravitational states.

These states could contribute to non-baryonic dark matter.

The approach highlights the link between quantum gravity modifications and dark matter.

Abstract

The modification of Einstein gravity at high energies is mandatory from a quantum approach. In this work, we point out that this modification will necessarily introduce new degrees of freedom. We analyze the possibility that these new gravitational states can provide the main contribution to the non-baryonic dark matter of the Universe. Unfortunately, the right ultraviolet completion of gravity is still unresolved. For this reason, we will illustrate this idea with the simplest high energy modification of the Einstein-Hilbert action: R^2-gravity.