Weak Field Limit and Gravitational Waves in $f(T,B)$ Teleparallel Gravity

Abstract

We derive the gravitational waves for $f\left(T,B\right)$ gravity, an extension of teleparallel gravity containing the torsion scalar $T$ and the boundary term $B$, and demonstrate that it is equivalent to $f(R)$ gravity. Gravitational waves, in this theory, show three polarizations: the two standard, plus and cross, of General Relativity, which are purely transverse, massless tensor polarization modes with two-helicity, and an additional massive scalar mode with zero-helicity. The last one is a mix of a longitudinal mode and a transverse breathing mode. The boundary term $B$ excites the extra scalar polarization and the mass of scalar field breaks the symmetry of the TT gauge by adding a new degree of freedom, namely a single mixed scalar polarization.

14 pages, accepted for publication in Eur. Phys. J. C