In Section 6, we have considered the classical theories of MOND and their predictions in a vast number of astrophysical systems. However, as already stated at the beginning of Section 6, these classical theories are only toy-models until they become the weak-field limit of a relativistic theory (with invariant physical laws under differentiable coordinate transformations), i.e., an extension of general relativity (GR) rather than an extension of Newtonian dynamics. Here, we list the various existing relativistic theories boiling down to MOND in the quasi-static weak-field limit. It is useful to restate here that the motivation for developing such theories is not to get rid of dark matter but to explain the Kepler-like laws of galactic dynamics predicted by Milgrom’s law (see Section 5). As we shall see, many of these theories include new fields, so that dark matter is often effectively replaced by “dark fields” (although, contrary to dark matter, their energy density can be subdominant to the baryonic one; note that, even more importantly, in a static configuration these dark fields are fully determined by the baryons, contrary to the traditional dark matter particles, which may, in principle, be present independent of baryons).
These theories are great advances because they enable us to calculate the effects of gravitational lensing
and the cosmological evolution of the universe in MOND, which are beyond the capabilities of classical
theories. However, as we shall see, many of these relativistic theories still have their limitations, ranging
from true theoretical or observational problems to more aesthetic problems, such as the arbitrary
introduction of an interpolating function (Section 6.2) or the absence of an understanding of the
coincidence. What is more, the new fields introduced in these theories have no counterpart
yet in microphysics, meaning that these theories are, at best, only effective. So, despite the
existing effective relativistic theories presented here, the quest for a more profound relativistic
formulation of MOND continues. Excellent reviews of existing theories can also be found in,
e.g., [34
, 35, 81
, 100, 136
, 183
, 318
, 429
, 431
].
The heart of GR is the equivalence principle(s), in its weak (WEP), Einstein (EEP) and strong (SEP) form. The WEP states the universality of free fall, while the EEP states that one recovers special relativity in the freely falling frame of the WEP. These equivalence principles are obtained by assuming that all known matter fields are universally and minimally coupled to one single metric tensor, the physical metric. It is perfectly fine to keep these principles in MOND, although certain versions can involve another type of (dark) matter not following the same geodesics as the known matter, and thus effectively violating the WEP. Additionally, note that the local Lorentz invariance of special relativity could be spontaneously violated in MOND theories. The SEP, on the other hand, states that all laws of physics, including gravitation itself, are fully independent of velocity and location in spacetime. This is obtained in GR by making the physical metric itself obey the Einstein–Hilbert action. This principle has to be broken in MOND (see also Section 6.3). We now recall how GR connects with Newtonian dynamics in the weak-field limit, which is actually the regime in which the modification must be set in order to account for the MOND phenomenology of the ultra–weak-field limit. The action of GR written as the sum of the matter action and the Einstein–Hilbert (gravitational) action43:
where In the static weak-field limit, the metric is written as (up to third-order corrections in
)45:
http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2012-10 |
Living Rev. Relativity 15, (2012), 10
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