Shadows in conformally related gravity theories

Autor: Kunal Pal, Kuntal Pal, Rajibul Shaikh, Tapobrata Sarkar
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Physics Letters B, Vol 829, Iss , Pp 137109- (2022)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 0370-2693
DOI: 10.1016/j.physletb.2022.137109
Popis: Null geodesics are invariant under a conformal transformation, and thus it might seem natural to assume that the observables corresponding to the shadow of a space-time are also conformally invariant. Here, we argue instead, that since the Arnowitt-Deser-Misner mass and the active gravitational mass of an asymptotically flat space-time are not, in general, invariant under such conformal transformations, the shadow radius for photon motion in a space-time would be quantitatively different, when viewed from two different conformally related frames, although the expression for the shadow radius is similar. We then use this fact to propose a novel method to constrain the relevant parameters in a gravity theory conformally related to general relativity. As examples of our method, we constrain the parameter space in Brans-Dicke theory, and a class of brane-world gravity models, by using the recent observational data of M87⁎ by the Event Horizon Telescope.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals