Covariant formulation of refracted gravity

We propose a covariant formulation of refracted gravity (RG), which is a classical theory of gravity based on the introduction of gravitational permittivity – a monotonic function of the local mass density – in the standard Poisson equation. Gravitational permittivity mimics dark matter phenomenology. The covariant formulation of RG (CRG) that we propose belongs to the class of scalar-tensor theories, where the scalar fieldφhas a self-interaction potential ????(φ) = − Ξφ, with Ξ being a normalization constant. We show that the scalar field is twice the gravitational permittivity in the weak-field limit. Far from a spherical source of densityρs(r), the transition between the Newtonian and the RG regime appears below the acceleration scaleaΞ = (2Ξ − 8πGρ/φ)1/2, withρ = ρs + ρbgandρbgbeing an isotropic and homogeneous background. In the limit 2Ξ ≫ 8πGρ/φ, we obtainaΞ ∼ 10−10m s−2. This acceleration is comparable to the accelerationa0originally introduced in MOdified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND). From CRG, we also derived the modified Friedmann equations for an expanding, homogeneous, and isotropic universe. We find that the same scalar fieldφthat mimics dark matter also drives the accelerated expansion of the Universe. From the stress-energy tensor ofφ, we derived the equation of state of a redshift-dependent effective dark energywDE = pDE/ρDE. Current observational constraints onwDEand distance modulus data of type Ia supernovae suggest that Ξ has a comparable value to the cosmological constant Λ in the standard model. Since Ξ also plays the same role of Λ, CRG suggests a natural explanation of the known relationa0 ∼ Λ1/2. CRG thus appears to describe both the dynamics of cosmic structure and the expanding Universe with a single scalar field, and it falls within the family of models that unify the two dark sectors, highlighting a possible deep connection between phenomena currently attributed to dark matter and dark energy separately.