Constraining Modified Gravity from Tidal Phenomena in Binary Stars

In beyond-Horndeski theories of gravity, the Vainshtein screening mechanism might only be partially effective inside stellar objects. This results in a modification of the pressure balance equation inside stars, often characterized by a single parameter (ϒ) in isotropic systems. We show how to constrain such theories of modified gravity, using tidal effects. We study such effects in cataclysmic variable star binaries and numerically obtain limits on the critical masses of the donor stars, below which they are tidally disrupted, by modeling them in beyond-Horndeski theories. This is contrasted with values of the donor masses, obtained using existing observational data, by a Monte Carlo error progression method. A best-fit scenario of the two yields a parametric constraint in the theories that we consider, within the approximations used. Here, we obtain the allowed range 0 ≤ ϒ ≤ 0.50.