The Other Way Around: From Alternative Gravity to Entropy

Abstract: Since the seminal work of Verlinde, the idea that gravity may be an emergent force of entropic origin has gained widespread attention. Many generalizations of this key idea have been considered in the literature, starting from well-known and well-motivated generalized entropies to derive generalized gravity theories. Here, we approach the problem from the opposite direction. We ask whether phenomenologically motivated generalized gravitational theories, yet lacking a strong theoretical justification, may find their origin in an entropic scenario. We examine a set of seven proposals of modified gravity, which have been introduced either (i) as large-scale corrections to Newtonian gravity, aimed at reproducing astrophysical observations in the far field, or (ii) as small-scale corrections, in order to regularize the singularity in the near field. For each proposal, we construct the underlying entropy, producing the desired dynamics in an entropic scenario. This reveals previously unnoticed connections between various proposals. The class of entropies introduced by Sheykhi and Hendi [Phys. Rev. D 84, 044023 (2011)], exhibiting power-law corrections to the area law, appears to cover a number of useful phenomenological proposals, while the concept of fractional gravity is shown to arise from the recently introduced Barrow entropy. Other entropic forms, involving different type of corrections, also emerge from this procedure. We discuss their implications and their connections with entropies previously introduced in the literature. To broaden our analysis, we extend our discussion to the cosmological context, and examine the effect of these entropies on Friedmann equations.