The phase diagram of Einstein-Weyl gravity

Abstract

Thanks to their interpretation as first order correction of General Relativity at high energies, quadratic theories of gravity gained much attention in recent times. Particular attention has been drawn to the Einstein-Weyl theory, where the addition of the squared Weyl tensor to the action opens the possibility of having non-Schwarzschild black holes in the classical spectrum of the theory. Static and spherically symmetric solutions of this theory have been studied and classified in terms of their small scales behaviour; however, a classification of these solutions in terms of the asymptotic gravitational field is still lacking. In this paper we address this point and present a phase diagram of the theory, where the different types of solutions are shown in terms of their mass and the strength of a Yukawa-like correction to the gravitational field. In particular we will show that, in the case of compact stars, different equations of state imply different Yukawa corrections to the gravitational potential, with possible phenomenological implications.