Gravitational field of scalar lumps in higher-derivative gravity

TL;DR

This paper investigates the gravitational fields produced by localized scalar lumps within various higher-derivative gravity theories, analyzing their metrics and potential astrophysical implications.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of scalar lumps' gravitational fields across multiple higher-derivative gravity models, including Einstein, four-derivative, and nonlocal gravity.

Findings

Derived linearized metrics for scalar lumps in different gravity theories

Compared effects of various scalar potentials on gravitational fields

Discussed the applicability and future astrophysical relevance of results

Abstract

We study the gravitational field sourced by localized scalar fields (lumps) in higher-derivative theories of gravity. By working in a static and spherically symmetric configuration, we find the linearized spacetime metrics generated by scalar lumps for several Lagrangians: the vanishing potential, i.e. free massive scalar field, a polynomial potential, and the tachyon potential in open string field theory. We perform the analysis for different theories of gravity: Einstein's general relativity, four-derivative gravity, and ghost-free nonlocal gravity. We discuss the limit of validity of our analysis and comment on possible future applications in the context of astrophysical compact objects.