Gravitational waves in Einstein-{\ae}ther and generalized TeVeS theory after GW170817

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the polarization modes of Einstein-e6ther and generalized TeVeS theories, deriving their wave solutions and discussing observational constraints from GW170817 and pulsar timing, revealing challenges in distinguishing polarizations and constraining parameters.

Contribution

It provides a detailed polarization analysis of Einstein-e6ther and generalized TeVeS theories, including wave solutions and observational implications, which was not previously established.

Findings

Einstein-e6ther theory has five polarization modes.

Generalized TeVeS theory has six polarization modes.

GW170817 constrains the propagation speeds, affecting the viability of these theories.

Abstract

In this work, we discuss the polarization contents of Einstein-\ae ther theory and the generalized tensor-vector-scalar (TeVeS) theory, as both theories have a normalized timelike vector field. We derive the linearized equations of motion around the flat spacetime background using the gauge-invariant variables to easily separate physical degrees of freedom. We find the plane wave solutions are then found, and identify the polarizations by examining the geodesic deviation equations. We find that there are five polarizations in Einstein-\ae ther theory and six polarizations in the generalized TeVeS theory. In particular, the transverse breathing mode is mixed with the pure longitudinal mode. We also discuss the experimental tests of the extra polarizations in Einstein-\ae ther theory using pulsar timing arrays combined with the gravitational-wave speed bound derived from the observations on GW 170817 and GRB 170817A. It turns out that it might be difficult to use pulsar timing arrays to distinguish different polarizations in Einstein-\ae ther theory. The same speed bound also forces one of the propagating modes in the generalized TeVeS theory to travel much faster than the speed of light. Since the strong coupling problem does not exist in some parameter subspaces, the generalized TeVeS theory is excluded in these parameter subspaces.