A bird's eye view of f(R)-gravity

Abstract

We survey the landscape of $f(R)$ theories of gravity in their various formulations, which have been used to model the cosmic acceleration as alternatives to dark energy and dark matter. Besides, we take into account the problem of gravitational waves in such theories. We discuss some successes of $f(R)$-gravity (where $f(R)$ is a generic function of Ricci scalar $R$), theoretical and experimental challenges that they face in order to satisfy minimal criteria for viability.

28 pages, 4 figures, Invited Review for The Special Issue in Cosmology, The Open Astronomy Journal, Eds. S.D. Odintsov et al