Deriving Entangled Relativity

Abstract: Entangled Relativity is a non-linear reformulation of Einstein's theory that cannot be defined in the absence of matter fields. It recovers General Relativity in the weak matter density limit or whenever $\mathcal{L}_m = T$ on-shell, and it is also more parsimonious in terms of fundamental constants and units. In this paper, we show that Entangled Relativity can be derived from a general $f(R,\mathcal{L}_m)$ theory by imposing a single requirement: the theory must admit all solutions of General Relativity whenever $\mathcal{L}_m = T \ne 0$ on-shell, though not necessarily only those solutions. An important consequence is that all vacuum solutions of General Relativity are limits of solutions of Entangled Relativity when the matter fields tend to zero. In addition, we introduce a broader class of theories featuring an intrinsic decoupling, which, however, do not generally admit the solutions of General Relativity.