Gravitational Potential and Nonrelativistic Lagrangian in Modified Gravity with Varying G

Abstract

We have recently shown that the baryonic Tully-Fisher (BTF) and Faber-Jackson (BFJ) relations imply that the gravitational "constant" $G$ in the force law vary with acceleration $a$ as $1/a$. Here we derive the converse from first principles. First we obtain the gravitational potential for all accelerations and we formulate the Lagrangian for the central-force problem. Then action minimization implies the BTF/BFJ relations in the deep MOND limit as well as weak-field Weyl gravity in the Newtonian limit. The results show how we can properly formulate a nonrelativistic conformal theory of modified dynamics that reduces to MOND in its low-acceleration limit and to Weyl gravity in the opposite limit. An unavoidable conclusion is that $a_0$, the transitional acceleration in modified dynamics, does not have a cosmological origin and it may not even be constant among galaxies and galaxy clusters.

To appear in MNRASL