Nonsingular Promises from Born-Infeld Gravity

Born-Infeld determinantal gravity formulated in Weitzenbock spacetime is discussed in the context of Friedmann-Robertson-Walker (FRW) cosmologies. It is shown how the standard model big bang singularity is absent in certain spatially flat FRW spacetimes, where the high energy regime is characterized by a de Sitter inflationary stage of geometrical character, i.e., without the presence of the inflaton field. This taming of the initial singularity is also achieved for some spatially curved FRW manifolds where the singularity is replaced by a de Sitter stage or a big bounce of the scale factor depending on certain combinations of free parameters appearing in the action. Unlike other Born-Infeld-like theories in vogue, the one here presented is also capable of deforming vacuum general relativistic solutions.Comment: 5 pages, no figures. Accepted for publication in Physical Review Letter

Primordial brusque bounce in Born-Infeld determinantal gravity

We study a particular exact solution to the Born-Infeld determinantal gravity consisting of a cosmological model which undergoes a brusque bounce. The latter consists of an event characterized by a non-null (but finite) value of the squared Hubble rate occurring at a minimum (non-null) scale factor. The energy density and pressure of the fluid covering the whole manifold are perfectly well behaved in such an event, but the curvature invariants turn out to be undefined there because of the undefined character of the time derivative of H. It is shown that the spacetime results geodesically complete and singularity free, and that it corresponds to a picture of an eternal Universe in which a (somewhat unconventional) bounce replaces the standard Big Bang singularity. This example tends to emphasize that, beyond Einstein's theory of General Relativity, and in the context of extended theories of gravity formulated by purely torsional means, the criterion of a singularity based on pathologies of scalars constructed upon the Riemann curvature tensor, becomes objectionable.Comment: 8 pages, one figure. Typos corrected, some references added and updated. Final version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Remnant group of local Lorentz transformations in f(T) theories

It is shown that the extended teleparallel gravitational theories, known as f(T) theories, inherit some on shell local Lorentz invariance associated with the tetrad field defining the spacetime structure. We discuss some enlightening examples, such as Minkowski spacetime and cosmological (Friedmann-Robertson-Walker and Bianchi type I) manifolds. In the first case, we show that the absence of gravity reveals itself as an incapability in the selection of a preferred parallelization at a local level, due to the fact that the infinitesimal local Lorentz subgroup acts as a symmetry group of the frame characterizing Minkowski spacetime. Finite transformations are also discussed in these examples and, contrary to the common lore on the subject, we conclude that the set of tetrads responsible for the parallelization of these manifolds is quite vast and that the remnant group of local Lorentz transformations includes one and two dimensional Abelian subgroups of the Lorentz group.Comment: 10 pages. Minor changes. To appear in PR

Non trivial frames for f(T) theories of gravity and beyond

Some conceptual issues concerning $f(T)$ theories --a family of modified gravity theories based on absolute parallelism-- are analyzed. Due to the lack of local Lorentz invariance, the autoparallel frames satisfying the field equations are evasive to an \emph{a priori} physical understanding. We exemplify this point by working out the vierbein (tetrad) fields for closed and open Friedmann-Robertson-Walker cosmologies.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, some references added. Accepted for publication in Phys. Lett. B. Final Versio

A type of Born-Infeld regular gravity and its cosmological consequences

Born-Infeld deformation strategy to smooth theories having divergent solutions is applied to the teleparallel equivalent of General Relativity. The equivalence between teleparallelism and General Relativity is exploited to obtain a deformed theory of gravity based on second order differential equations, since teleparallel Lagrangian is built just from first derivatives of the vierbein. We show that Born-Infeld teleparallelism cures the initial singularity in a spatially flat FRW universe; moreover, it provides a natural inflationary stage without resorting to an inflaton field. The Born-Infeld parameter bounds the dynamics of Hubble parameter H(t) and establishes a maximum attainable spacetime curvature.Comment: 3 pages. Talk given at the 7th Alexander Friedmann International Seminar on Gravitation and Cosmology, Joao Pessoa, Brazil, July 200

Born-Infeld Determinantal gravity and the taming of the conical singularity in 3-dimensional spacetime

In the context of Born-Infeld \emph{determinantal} gravity formulated in a n-dimensional spacetime with absolute parallelism, we found an exact 3-dimensional \emph{vacuum} circular symmetric solution without cosmological constant consisting in a rotating spacetime with non singular behavior. The space behaves at infinity as the conical geometry typical of 3-dimensional General Relativity without cosmological constant. However, the solution has no conical singularity because the space ends at a minimal circle that no freely falling particle can ever reach in a finite proper time. The space is curved, but no divergences happen since the curvature invariants vanish at both asymptotic limits. Remarkably, this very mechanism also forbids the existence of closed timelike curves in such a spacetime.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. References added, some discussions improved. Version accepted in Phys. Lett.

Spherically symmetric static spacetimes in vacuum f(T) gravity

We show that Schwarzschild geometry remains as a vacuum solution for those four-dimensional f(T) gravitational theories behaving as ultraviolet deformations of general relativity. In the gentler context of three-dimensional gravity, we also find that the infrared-deformed f(T) gravities, like the ones used to describe the late cosmic speed up of the Universe, have as the circularly symmetric vacuum solution a Deser-de Sitter or a BTZ-like spacetime with an effective cosmological constant depending on the infrared scale present in the function f(T).Comment: 8 pages. Some typos corrected and references updated. One additional typo corrected in Eq. (33). Accepted for publication in Physical Review D. Final versio

Local symmetries in f(T)f(T)-like models: lessons from 2D

The comprehension of the intricate structure associated to the local symmetries encoded in the tetrad field, as well as its physical meaning, is perhaps the most important unsolved problem within $f(T)$ gravity. This is inextricably connected to the number, nature and potential impact that the additional degree/s of freedom might have within these --and other closely related--models of gravity in which the local Lorentz invariance is broken at some level. Here we review and further explain some recent results which make use of the more placid scenery provided by 2D-torsional models of gravity, where the local symmetries adapted to a given geometry can be fully characterized.Comment: Contribution to be submitted to the Int. J. Geom. Methods Mod. Phys. special issue "Metric-Affine Gravity at Tartu

Compact extra dimensions in cosmologies with f(T) structure

The presence of compact extra dimensions in cosmological scenarios in the context of f(T)-like gravities is discussed. For the case of toroidal compactifications, the analysis is performed in an arbitrary number of extra dimensions. Spherical topologies for the extra dimensions are then carefully studied in six and seven spacetime dimensions, where the proper vielbein fields responsible for the parallelization process are found.Comment: 11 pages, one figure (added). Typos corrected, manuscript improved. Additional material is contained in section IV. Accepted for publication in Physical Review