Alternatives to general relativity

Alternatives to general relativity are physical theories that attempt to describe the phenomenon of gravitation in competition with Einstein's theory of general relativity. There have been many different attempts at constructing an ideal theory of gravity.^[1] These attempts can be split into four broad categories based on their scope:

Classical theories of gravity, which do not involve quantum mechanics or force unification.
Theories using the principles of quantum mechanics resulting in quantized gravity.
Theories which attempt to explain gravity and other forces at the same time; these are known as classical unified field theories.
Theories which attempt to both put gravity in quantum mechanical terms and unify forces; these are called theories of everything.

None of these alternatives to general relativity have gained wide acceptance.

General relativity has withstood many tests over a large range of mass and size scales.^[2]^[3] When applied to interpret astronomical observations, cosmological models based on general relativity introduce two components to the universe,^[4] dark matter^[5] and dark energy,^[6] the nature of which is currently an unsolved problem in physics. The many successful, high precision predictions of the standard model of cosmology has led astrophysicists to conclude it and thus general relativity will be the basis for future progress.^[7]^[8] However, dark matter is not supported by the standard model of particle physics, physical models for dark energy do not match cosmological data, and some cosmological observations are inconsistent.^[8] These issues have led to the study of alternative theories of gravity.^[9]^[10]

^ Clifton, Timothy; Pedro G. Ferreira; Antonio Padilla; Constantinos Skordis (2012). "Modified Gravity and Cosmology". Physics Reports. 513 num.3 (1): 1–189. arXiv:1106.2476. Bibcode:2012PhR...513....1C. doi:10.1016/j.physrep.2012.01.001. S2CID 119258154.
^ Will, Clifford M. (2014-12-01). "The Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment". Living Reviews in Relativity. 17 (1): 4. arXiv:1403.7377. Bibcode:2014LRR....17....4W. doi:10.12942/lrr-2014-4. ISSN 2367-3613. PMC 5255900. PMID 28179848.
^ Asmodelle, E. (2017). "Tests of General Relativity: A Review". arXiv:1705.04397v1 [physics.class-ph].
^ Ryden, Barbara Sue (2017). Introduction to cosmology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-316-65108-7.
^ Garrett, Katherine; Duda, Gintaras (2011). "Dark Matter: A Primer". Advances in Astronomy. 2011: 1–22. arXiv:1006.2483. Bibcode:2011AdAst2011E...8G. doi:10.1155/2011/968283. ISSN 1687-7969.
^ Li, Miao; Li, Xiao-Dong; Wang, Shuang; Wang, Yi (2013). "Dark energy: A brief review". Frontiers of Physics. 8 (6): 828–846. arXiv:1209.0922. Bibcode:2013FrPhy...8..828L. doi:10.1007/s11467-013-0300-5. ISSN 2095-0462.
^ Turner, Michael S. (2022-09-26). "The Road to Precision Cosmology". Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science. 72 (2022): 1–35. arXiv:2201.04741. doi:10.1146/annurev-nucl-111119-041046. ISSN 0163-8998.
^ ^a ^b Abdalla, Elcio; Abellán, Guillermo Franco; Aboubrahim, Amin; Agnello, Adriano; Akarsu, Özgür; Akrami, Yashar; Alestas, George; Aloni, Daniel; Amendola, Luca; Anchordoqui, Luis A.; Anderson, Richard I.; Arendse, Nikki; Asgari, Marika; Ballardini, Mario; Barger, Vernon (2022-06-01). "Cosmology intertwined: A review of the particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology associated with the cosmological tensions and anomalies". Journal of High Energy Astrophysics. 34: 49–211. arXiv:2203.06142. doi:10.1016/j.jheap.2022.04.002. ISSN 2214-4048.
^ Keith Cooper (6 February 2024). "Cosmic combat: delving into the battle between dark matter and modified gravity". physicsworld.
^ Ethan Siegel (19 October 2022). "Why modifying gravity doesn't add up".

[Clifton-1] Clifton, Timothy; Pedro G. Ferreira; Antonio Padilla; Constantinos Skordis (2012). "Modified Gravity and Cosmology". Physics Reports. 513 num.3 (1): 1–189. arXiv:1106.2476. Bibcode:2012PhR...513....1C. doi:10.1016/j.physrep.2012.01.001. S2CID 119258154.

[WillReview2014-2] Will, Clifford M. (2014-12-01). "The Confrontation between General Relativity and Experiment". Living Reviews in Relativity. 17 (1): 4. arXiv:1403.7377. Bibcode:2014LRR....17....4W. doi:10.12942/lrr-2014-4. ISSN 2367-3613. PMC 5255900. PMID 28179848.

[3] Asmodelle, E. (2017). "Tests of General Relativity: A Review". arXiv:1705.04397v1 [physics.class-ph].

[k889-4] Ryden, Barbara Sue (2017). Introduction to cosmology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-316-65108-7.

[dm-5] Garrett, Katherine; Duda, Gintaras (2011). "Dark Matter: A Primer". Advances in Astronomy. 2011: 1–22. arXiv:1006.2483. Bibcode:2011AdAst2011E...8G. doi:10.1155/2011/968283. ISSN 1687-7969.

[de-6] Li, Miao; Li, Xiao-Dong; Wang, Shuang; Wang, Yi (2013). "Dark energy: A brief review". Frontiers of Physics. 8 (6): 828–846. arXiv:1209.0922. Bibcode:2013FrPhy...8..828L. doi:10.1007/s11467-013-0300-5. ISSN 2095-0462.

[Turner-2022-7] Turner, Michael S. (2022-09-26). "The Road to Precision Cosmology". Annual Review of Nuclear and Particle Science. 72 (2022): 1–35. arXiv:2201.04741. doi:10.1146/annurev-nucl-111119-041046. ISSN 0163-8998.

[Intertwined-2022-8] Abdalla, Elcio; Abellán, Guillermo Franco; Aboubrahim, Amin; Agnello, Adriano; Akarsu, Özgür; Akrami, Yashar; Alestas, George; Aloni, Daniel; Amendola, Luca; Anchordoqui, Luis A.; Anderson, Richard I.; Arendse, Nikki; Asgari, Marika; Ballardini, Mario; Barger, Vernon (2022-06-01). "Cosmology intertwined: A review of the particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology associated with the cosmological tensions and anomalies". Journal of High Energy Astrophysics. 34: 49–211. arXiv:2203.06142. doi:10.1016/j.jheap.2022.04.002. ISSN 2214-4048.

[physicsworld-9] Keith Cooper (6 February 2024). "Cosmic combat: delving into the battle between dark matter and modified gravity". physicsworld.

[10] Ethan Siegel (19 October 2022). "Why modifying gravity doesn't add up".

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