Chameleon Fields: Awaiting Surprises for Tests of Gravity in Space

Chameleon Fields: Awaiting Surprises for Tests of Gravity in Space

arXiv:astro-ph/0309300v3 9 Sep 2004 | Justin Khoury and Amanda Weltman
The authors propose a novel scenario involving a scalar field, dubbed a "chameleon," whose mass depends on the local matter density. In high-density environments like Earth, the field is massive and constraints on the Equivalence Principle (EP) violations are satisfied. However, in low-density environments like the solar system, the field is essentially free, allowing it to evolve cosmologically. This model predicts that near-future satellite experiments, such as SEE, $\mu$SCOPE, GG, and STEP, could measure an effective Newton's constant in space that differs from that on Earth and detect EP violations stronger than currently allowed by laboratory experiments. The authors derive the dynamics of the chameleon field and show that the field's behavior inside compact objects, such as planets, results in a thin shell effect, ensuring that laboratory tests of gravity are satisfied. They also provide detailed predictions for the outcomes of upcoming satellite experiments, suggesting that significant departures from the standard model of gravity could be observed.The authors propose a novel scenario involving a scalar field, dubbed a "chameleon," whose mass depends on the local matter density. In high-density environments like Earth, the field is massive and constraints on the Equivalence Principle (EP) violations are satisfied. However, in low-density environments like the solar system, the field is essentially free, allowing it to evolve cosmologically. This model predicts that near-future satellite experiments, such as SEE, $\mu$SCOPE, GG, and STEP, could measure an effective Newton's constant in space that differs from that on Earth and detect EP violations stronger than currently allowed by laboratory experiments. The authors derive the dynamics of the chameleon field and show that the field's behavior inside compact objects, such as planets, results in a thin shell effect, ensuring that laboratory tests of gravity are satisfied. They also provide detailed predictions for the outcomes of upcoming satellite experiments, suggesting that significant departures from the standard model of gravity could be observed.
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