What reference(s) can I use to learn $f(R)$ gravity?
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5$\begingroup$ Related: physics.stackexchange.com/q/112401 $\endgroup$– Kyle KanosJan 2, 2016 at 16:20
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2$\begingroup$ It might be best if you listed what level of background you have and what level of resource you are looking for (e.g., undergrad or grad level) $\endgroup$– Kyle KanosJan 2, 2016 at 16:21
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$\begingroup$ There is a Living Review in Relativity on this topic. $\endgroup$– VoidJan 2, 2016 at 17:21
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$\begingroup$ @Qmechanic Full citation: De Felice, A., Tsujikawa, S. f(R) Theories. Living Rev. Relativ. 13, 3 (2010). doi.org/10.12942/lrr-2010-3 $\endgroup$– VoidSep 28, 2020 at 16:26
1 Answer
The most comprehensive text, in my experience, is "Extensions of f(R) gravity" by Harko and Lobo. It's part of the Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical physics, so you know it's of a high quality. It runs through some of the basics of GR and constraints on modified gravity theories (eg. Solar system tests etc.). It has a fairly lengthy, good chapter on basic f(R) gravity and progresses onto more complicated extended theories and applications in cosmology etc.
I would recommend a good working knowledge of GR and variational identities within GR, it's also a pretty good idea to be familiar with QFT in curved space and the Palatini formalism. The book does go over these topics but topics like QFT in curved space are so pivotal to theoretical physics you should know them before you look at f(R) gravity, especially if you're interested in cosmological models or black holes etc.
Also, there are a wealth of introductory papers on the topic. This paper, gives a great intro to f(R) and scalar-tensor theories (they are very closely related).