Falsifiable alternative to general relativity
Phys. Rev. D 112, 084005 – Published 6 October, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/qqjb-vgy6
Abstract
Asymptotically Weyl-invariant gravity (AWIG) is further developed within the Palatini formalism as a power-counting renormalizable alternative to general relativity (GR). An expression for the dimensionless exponent is derived based on dynamical dimensional reduction. We show that this version of AWIG naturally resolves several theoretical issues normally associated with the Palatini formalism. A falsifiable prediction regarding the frequency of gravitational waves from binary black hole mergers is made. A preliminary analysis of gravitational wave GW150914 yields a maximum tension of with GR and marginally favors AWIG. A similar analysis of gravitational wave GW151226 yields a maximum tension of with GR and favors AWIG more significantly.