https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-010-1467-3
f(R,L m ) gravity
1
Department of Physics and Center for Theoretical and Computational Physics, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam Road, Hong Kong, P.R. China
2
Centro de Astronomia e Astrofísica da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, Ed. C8, 1749-016, Lisboa, Portugal
Received:
15
September
2010
Revised:
27
September
2010
Published online:
23
October
2010
We generalize the f(R) type gravity models by assuming that the gravitational Lagrangian is given by an arbitrary function of the Ricci scalar R and of the matter Lagrangian L m . We obtain the gravitational field equations in the metric formalism, as well as the equations of motion for test particles, which follow from the covariant divergence of the energy-momentum tensor. The equations of motion for test particles can also be derived from a variational principle in the particular case in which the Lagrangian density of the matter is an arbitrary function of the energy density of the matter only. Generally, the motion is non-geodesic, and it takes place in the presence of an extra force orthogonal to the four-velocity. The Newtonian limit of the equation of motion is also considered, and a procedure for obtaining the energy-momentum tensor of the matter is presented. The gravitational field equations and the equations of motion for a particular model in which the action of the gravitational field has an exponential dependence on the standard general relativistic Hilbert–Einstein Lagrange density are also derived.
© Springer-Verlag / Società Italiana di Fisica, 2010