Stellar Structure Equations in Extended Palatini Gravity

Abstract

We consider static spherically symmetric stellar configurations in Palatini theories of gravity in which the Lagrangian is an unspecified function of the form $f(R,R_{\mu\nu}R^{\mu\nu})$. We obtain the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkov equations corresponding to this class of theories and show that they recover those of $f(R)$ theories and General Relativity in the appropriate limits. We show that the exterior vacuum solutions are of Schwarzschild-de Sitter type and comment on the possible expected modifications, as compared to GR, of the interior solutions.