Neutron Stars In Modified Theories Of Gravity

Modified theories of gravity have had recent success in explaining various phenomena without the need for dark matter. In particular, Bekenstein’s Tensor-Vector-Scalar theory (TeVeS) has been able to explain gravitational lensing, galaxy rotation curves and the Tully-Fisher relation, and also cosmological scenarios such as being able to reproduce key features of the power spectra of the cosmic microwave background and galaxy distributions. However, these phenomena all occur in the weak-field regime. In the strong-field, various black hole solutions have been discovered and investigated. However, to date there has been no work on analytic solutions of the equations of hydrostatic equilibrium. We provide a brief overview of the TeVeS theory including its successes and shortcomings, and also derive the TeVeS equations of hydrostatic equilibrium. By imposing realistic equations of state on the equations we can determine various properties regarding neutron stars. This provides a possible testing ground for deviations from General Relativity.