Bimetric MOND gravity

TL;DR

This paper proposes a new relativistic bimetric formulation of MOND involving two metrics and a scalar U, which reproduces MOND phenomenology, explains dark energy effects, and predicts lensing consistent with observations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel bimetric relativistic MOND theory with a simple action, unifying dark energy and MOND effects, and providing consistent gravitational lensing predictions.

Findings

The theory reduces to GR when a0 approaches zero.

It reproduces MOND behavior in the nonrelativistic limit.

Lensing predictions are enhanced and MOND-like, matching observations.

Abstract

A new relativistic formulation of MOND is advanced, involving two metrics as independent degrees of freedom: the MOND metric g_mn, to which alone matter couples, and an auxiliary metric g*_mn. The main idea hinges on the fact that we can form tensors from the difference, C^a_bc, of the Levi-Civita connections of the two metrics, and these act like gravitational accelerations. In the context of MOND we can form dimensionless `acceleration' scalars, and functions thereof, from contractions of C^a_bc/a0. I look at a class of bimetric MOND theories governed by an action with the gravitational Lagrangian density b sqrt(g)R+a sqrt(g*) R* -2(gg*)^{1/4}f(k)a0^2M(U/a0^2), and with matter actions I(g_mn,psi)+I*(g*_mn,chi), with U a scalar quadratic in the C^a_bc, k=(g/g*)^{1/4}, and allowing for the existence of twin matter, chi, that couples to g*_mn alone. In particular, I concentrate on one interesting and simple choice of the scalar U. This theory introduces only one new constant, a0; it tends simply to General Relativity in the limit a0 goes to 0, and to a phenomenologically valid MOND theory in the nonrelativistic limit. The theory naturally gives MOND and "dark energy" effects from the same term in the action, both controlled by the MOND constant a0. As regards gravitational lensing by nonrelativistic systems--a holy grail for relativistic MOND theories--the theory predicts that the same potential that controls massive-particle motion also dictates lensing in the same way as in GR. This last result can be modified with other choices of U, but lensing is still enhanced and MOND-like, with an effective logarithmic potential.