Line of research overview

Extended theories of gravity

Principal Investigator: Stefano Liberati

Abstract: Extension or modifications of General Relativity have become increasingly interesting as they could provide a possible alternative explanation of cosmological phenomena as dark energy or dark matter. Research in tis direction is aimed both at the understanding of the general structure of gravitation theories beyond GR but also to the discussion of specific models in order to test their cosmological predictions.

Status of project and perspectives: In recent years have explored several implications and tests of modified gravity (at the fundamental or effective level) in astrophysics and cosmology. In particular we have made use of a wide range of large scale stricture observations and forecast to constrain possible deviation from standard general relativity and the cosmic concordance model. Also, we have tested a model of non-minimally coupled dark matter in several setting. Finally, we have also investigated the causal structure and regular black holes of modified theories of gravity with a preferred frame. We plan to further explore all of these venues in the next future.