Binary systems in Palatini-f(R) gravity

Abstract: We consider compact binary systems in f(R) gravity theories in the Palatini approach and calculate the post-Newtonian parameters to the 1.5PN order using the method of Direct Integration of the Relaxed Einstein equations (DIRE). The Palatini-type modifications of gravity can be formulated as Einsteins gravity with modified response to matter sources, and it is shown in detail how to treat these correctly within the DIRE formalism. Our results explicitly confirm the expectation that for binary black holes the new effects can be absorbed into redefinitions of the binary masses, rendering such systems observationally identical to general relativity.