Mapping the Weak-Field Limit of Scalar-Gauss-Bonnet Gravity

TL;DR

This paper derives the weak-field limit of scalar-Gauss-Bonnet gravity, providing new experimental bounds on its parameters by analyzing deviations from Einstein's gravity around various source geometries.

Contribution

It introduces the first detailed weak-field analysis of scalar-Gauss-Bonnet gravity for different source geometries and tightens experimental bounds on the theory's coupling parameter.

Findings

Deviations from Newtonian potential can be significant near sources.

Laboratory bounds on the coupling parameter are improved by two orders of magnitude.

Black hole tests currently provide the strongest constraints.

Abstract

We derive the weak field limit of scalar-Gauss-Bonnet theory and place novel bounds on the parameter space using terrestrial and space-based experiments. In order to analyze the theory in the context of a wide range of experiments, we compute the deviations from Einstein gravity around source masses with planar, cylindrical, and spherical symmetry. We find a correction to the Newtonian potential around spherical and cylindrical sources that can be larger than PPN corrections sufficiently close to the source. We use this to improve on laboratory constraints on the scalar-Gauss-Bonnet coupling parameter $\Lambda$ by two orders of magnitude. Present laboratory and Solar System bounds reported here are superseded by tests deriving from black holes.