Gravitational collapse in f(R) theories

TL;DR

This paper investigates gravitational collapse within f(R) modified gravity theories, exploring how such models influence the formation of cosmic structures and stellar objects, providing insights to constrain these theories.

Contribution

It offers a general analysis of gravitational collapse in f(R) models, linking astrophysical phenomena with cosmological implications and constraints.

Findings

Collapse behavior varies with different f(R) models

Collapse analysis helps constrain modified gravity theories

Insights into stellar and cosmic structure formation

Abstract

We study the gravitational collapse in modified gravitational theories. In particular, we analyze a general $f(R)$ model with uniformly collapsing cloud of self-gravitating dust particles. This analysis shares analogies with the formation of large-scale structures in the early Universe and with the formation of stars in a molecular cloud experiencing gravitational collapse. In the same way, this investigation can be used as a first approximation to the modification that stellar objects can suffer in these modified theories of gravity. We study concrete examples, and find that the analysis of gravitational collapse is an important tool to constrain models that present late-time cosmological acceleration.