Black hole and de Sitter solutions in a covariant renormalizable field theory of gravity

It is shown that Schwarzschild black hole and de Sitter solutions exist as exact solutions of a recently proposed relativistic covariant formulation of (power-counting) renormalizable gravity with a fluid. The formulation without a fluid is also presented here. The stability of the solutions is studied and their corresponding entropies are computed, by using the covariant Wald method. The area law is shown to hold both for the Schwarzschild and for the de Sitter solutions found, confirming that, for the $\beta=1$ case, one is dealing with a minimal modification of GR.Comment: 7 paages, latex fil

Class of viable modified f(R)f(R) gravities describing inflation and the onset of accelerated expansion

A general approach to viable modified $f(R)$ gravity is developed in both the Jordan and the Einstein frames. A class of exponential, realistic modified gravities is introduced and investigated with care. Special focus is made on step-class models, most promising from the phenomenological viewpoint and which provide a natural way to classify all viable modified gravities. One- and two-steps models are explicitly considered, but the analysis is extensible to $N$-step models. Both inflation in the early universe and the onset of recent accelerated expansion arise in these models in a natural, unified way. Moreover, it is demonstrated that models in this category easily pass all local tests, including stability of spherical body solution, non-violation of Newton's law, and generation of a very heavy positive mass for the additional scalar degree of freedom.Comment: 15 pages, 2 figures, version to appear in Physical Review

Oscillations of the F(R) dark energy in the accelerating universe

Oscillations of the $F(R)$ dark energy around the phantom divide line, $\omega_{DE}=-1$, both during the matter era and also in the de Sitter epoch are investigated. The analysis during the de Sitter epoch is revisited by expanding the modified equations of motion around the de Sitter solution. Then, during the matter epoch, the time dependence of the dark energy perturbations is discussed by using two different local expansions. For high values of the red shift, the matter epoch is a stable point of the theory, giving the possibility to expand the $F(R)$-functions in terms of the dark energy perturbations. In the late-time matter era, the realistic case is considered where dark energy tends to a constant. The results obtained are confirmed by precise numerical computation on a specific model of exponential gravity. A novel and very detailed discussion is provided on the critical points in the matter era and on the relation of the oscillations with possible singularities.Comment: 23 pages, 11 figures, version to appear in EPJ

Topological Static Spherically Symmetric vacuum Solutions in F(R,G)\mathcal F(R,G) Gravity

The Lagrangian derivation of the Equations of Motion for topological static spherically symmetric metrics in $\mathcal F (R,G)$-modified gravity is presented and the related solutions are discussed. In particular, a new topological solution for the model $\mathcal F (R,G)=R+\sqrt{G}$ is found. The black hole solutions and the First Law of thermodynamic are analyzed. Furthermore, the coupling with electromagnetic field is also considered and a Maxwell solution is derived.Comment: 12 pages, minor corrections, published versio

Static Spherically Symmetric Solutions in F(R) Gravity

A Lagrangian derivation of the Equation of Motion (EOM) for static spherically symmetric metrics in F(R) modified gravity is presented. For a large class of metrics, our approach permits to reduce the EOM to a single equation and we show how it is possible to construct exact solutions in $F(R)$-gravity. All known exact solutions are recovered. We also exibit a new non trivial solution with non constant Ricci scalar.Comment: 8 pages, published version, some references added, a minor modificatio

Cosmological entropy and generalized second law of thermodynamics in F(R,G)F(R,G) theory of gravity

We consider a spatially flat Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker space time and investigate the second law and the generalized second law of thermodynamics for apparent horizon in generalized modified Gauss Bonnet theory of gravity (whose action contains a general function of Gauss Bonnet invariant and the Ricci scalar: $F(R,G)$). By assuming that the apparent horizon is in thermal equilibrium with the matter inside it, conditions which must be satisfied by $F(R,G)$ are derived and elucidated through two examples: a quasi-de Sitter space-time and a universe with power law expansion.Comment: 10 pages, minor changes, typos corrected, accepted for publication in Europhysics Letter

Finite-time future singularities in modified Gauss-Bonnet and F(R,G)\mathcal{F}(R,G) gravity and singularity avoidance

We study all four types of finite-time future singularities emerging in late-time accelerating (effective quintessence/phantom) era from $\mathcal{F}(R,G)$-gravity, where $R$ and $G$ are the Ricci scalar and the Gauss-Bonnet invariant, respectively. As an explicit example of $\mathcal{F}(R,G)$-gravity, we also investigate modified Gauss-Bonnet gravity, so-called $F(G)$-gravity. In particular, we reconstruct the $F(G)$-gravity and $\mathcal{F}(R,G)$-gravity models where accelerating cosmologies realizing the finite-time future singularities emerge. Furthermore, we discuss a possible way to cure the finite-time future singularities in $F(G)$-gravity and $\mathcal{F}(R,G)$-gravity by taking into account higher-order curvature corrections. The example of non-singular realistic modified Gauss-Bonnet gravity is presented. It turns out that adding such non-singular modified gravity to singular Dark Energy makes the combined theory to be non-singular one as well.Comment: 35 pages, no figure, published version, references adde

Inflation and late-time cosmic acceleration in non-minimal Maxwell-F(R)F(R) gravity and the generation of large-scale magnetic fields

We study inflation and late-time acceleration in the expansion of the universe in non-minimal electromagnetism, in which the electromagnetic field couples to the scalar curvature function. It is shown that power-law inflation can be realized due to the non-minimal gravitational coupling of the electromagnetic field, and that large-scale magnetic fields can be generated due to the breaking of the conformal invariance of the electromagnetic field through its non-minimal gravitational coupling. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that both inflation and the late-time acceleration of the universe can be realized in a modified Maxwell-$F(R)$ gravity which is consistent with solar system tests and cosmological bounds and free of instabilities. At small curvature typical for current universe the standard Maxwell theory is recovered. We also consider classically equivalent form of non-minimal Maxwell-$F(R)$ gravity, and propose the origin of the non-minimal gravitational coupling function based on renormalization-group considerations.Comment: 20 pages, no figure, JCAP versio