Scalar quasinormal modes in emergent modified gravity

TL;DR

This paper investigates scalar quasinormal modes in emergent modified gravity, revealing significant differences between minimal and nonminimal matter couplings and suggesting potential observable distinctions from classical gravity.

Contribution

It derives the scalar quasinormal mode spectra for both couplings in emergent modified gravity, highlighting novel features and their implications for gravitational physics.

Findings

Nonminimal coupling can produce zero or opposite-sign frequencies.

High-frequency QNM spectra match classical results up to a constant.

Differences in spectra can help distinguish matter couplings observationally.

Abstract

Emergent modified gravity is a post-Einsteinian gravitational theory where spacetime geometry is not fundamental but rather emerges from the gravitational degrees of freedom in a non-trivial way. The specific relationship between geometry and these degrees of freedom is unique for each theory, but it is not predetermined. Instead, it is derived from constraints and equations of motion, relying on key aspects of the canonical formulation of gravity, such as structure functions in Poisson brackets of constraints and covariance conditions. As shown in previous work, these new theories allow for two types of scalar matter coupling: (1) minimal coupling, where the matter equations of motion mirror the Klein-Gordon equation on a curved emergent spacetime, and (2) nonminimal coupling, where the equations deviate from the Klein-Gordon form but still respect covariance. Observable features, such as the quasinormal mode spectrum, can help distinguish between different couplings based on how well their predictions match the data. In this work, the spectra of scalar quasinormal modes for both minimal and nonminimal couplings are derived using the third-order WKB approximation. Significant differences are found between the two cases. Notably, the nonminimal coupling allows for vanishing real and imaginary frequency components, and even opposite-sign values for the imaginary part at sufficiently small mass scales, pointing to potential new physical implications. Finally, the high-frequency QNM spectra in emergent modified gravity is identical to the classical result, up to an overall constant, suggesting that the horizon area spectrum remains equispaced.