Beyond the Chameleon Mechanism

Abstract

As a result of non-linear self-interactions, in chameleon theories where the field couples to matter much more strongly than gravity does, the fifth force between two bodies with thin-shell is independent of their coupling to the field. As a consequence the bounds on the coupling coming from terrestrial tests of gravity, measurements of the Casimir force and those constraints imposed by the physics of compact objects, big-bang nucleosynthesis and measurements of the cosmic microwave background anisotropies can be exponentially relaxed.