Prospects of detecting spacetime torsion

Abstract

How to detect spacetime torsion? In this essay we provide the theoretical basis for an answer to this question. Multipolar equations of motion for a very general class of gravitational theories with nonminimal coupling in spacetimes admitting torsion are given. Our findings provide a framework for the systematic testing of whole classes of theories with the help of extended test bodies. One surprising feature of nonminimal theories turns out to be their potential sensitivity to torsion of spacetime even in experiments with ordinary (not microstructured) test matter.

arXiv comment6 pages, this essay received a honorable mention in the 2014 essay competition of the Gravity Research Foundation

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Cited by in corpus (18)

• General Relativity and Cosmology: Unsolved Questions and Future Directions
• Friedmann-like universes with torsion
• Addressing $H_0$ tension with emergent dark radiation in unitary gravity
• Equations of motion in metric-affine gravity: A covariant unified framework
• Non-zero torsion and late cosmology
• Nonminimally coupled scalar field in teleparallel gravity: boson stars
• Weitzenböck's Torsion, Fermi Coordinates and Adapted Frames
• Multipolar test body equations of motion in generalized gravity theories
• The Spin Tensor of Dark Matter and the Hubble Parameter Tension
• Einstein-Proca theory from the Einstein-Cartan formulation
• Mapping Poincaré gauge cosmology to Horndeski theory for emergent dark energy
• Non-Relativistic Approximation of Dirac Equation for Slow Fermions Coupled to the Chameleon and Torsion Fields in the Gravitational Field of the Earth
• Signature of Einstein-Cartan theory
• Cosmological Dark Matter Amplification through Dark Torsion
• Geometric multipliers and partial teleparallelism in Poincaré gauge theory
• Effective Low-Energy Potential for Slow Dirac Fermions in Einstein-Cartan Gravity with Torsion and Chameleon
• Quantum hydrodynamics of spinning particles in electromagnetic and torsion fields
• The Role of Torsion in Trans-Planckian Physics