Earthquakes as probing tools for gravity theories

Abstract

We propose a novel method for testing gravity models using seismic data from Earth. By imposing observational constraints on Earth's moment of inertia and mass, we rigorously limit the gravitational models' parameters within a $2\sigma$ accuracy. Our method constrains the parameters governing additional terms to the General Relativity Lagrangian to the following ranges: $-2\times 10^9\lesssim \beta \lesssim 10^9{\text{m}}^2$ for Palatini $f(R)$ gravity, $-8\times 10^9\lesssim \epsilon \lesssim 4\times 10^9{\text{m}}^2$ for Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity, and $-10^{-3}\lesssim {\rm Y}\lesssim 10^{-3}$ for Degenerate Higher-Order Scalar-Tensor theories. We also discuss potential avenues to enhance the proposed method, aiming to impose even tighter constraints on gravity models.

arXiv comment6 pages, 3 figures