Massive gravitational waves from the R^2 theory of gravity: production and response of interferometers

Understand

We show that from the R^{2} high order gravity theory it is possible to produce, in the linearized approch, particles which can be seen like massive modes of gravitational waves (GWs).

• The presence of the mass generates a longitudinal force in addition of the transverse one which is proper of the massless gravitational waves and the response an interferometer to the effect is computed.
• This could be, in principle, important to discriminate among the gravity theories.
• The presence of the mass could also have important applications in cosmology because the fact that gravitational waves can have mass could give a contribution to the dark matter of the Universe.