Multipole analysis in the radiation field for linearized $f(R)$ gravity with irreducible Cartesian tensors

TL;DR

This paper develops a multipole expansion method for gravitational radiation in linearized $f(R)$ gravity, highlighting differences from General Relativity due to a massive scalar degree of freedom.

Contribution

It introduces a multipole analysis using irreducible Cartesian tensors for linearized $f(R)$ gravity, including energy, momentum, and angular momentum calculations.

Findings

Tensor part matches General Relativity results.

Scalar part introduces corrections due to massive scalar field.

Scalar degree of freedom helps distinguish $f(R)$ gravity from GR.

Abstract

The $1/r$-expansion in the distance to the source is applied to the linearized $f(R)$ gravity, and its multipole expansion in the radiation field with irreducible Cartesian tensors is presented. Then, the energy, momentum, and angular momentum in the gravitational waves are provided for linearized $f(R)$ gravity. All of these results have two parts which are associated with the tensor part and the scalar part in the multipole expansion of linearized $f(R)$ gravity, respectively. The former is the same as that in General Relativity, and the latter, as the correction to the result in General Relativity, is caused by the massive scalar degree of freedom, and places an important role in distinguishing GR and $f(R)$ gravity.