Suppressed Intrinsic Curvature Gravity

We consider various mechanisms of modifying the effect of intrinsic curvature in gravity with respect to general relativity. Two primary approaches are studied. First, by considering a Lagrange multiplier or an auxiliary field. Second, by non-minimal coupling between a scalar field and the intrinsic curvature scalar. We reproduce the basic solutions of FLRW cosmology, black hole solutions, Lense-Thirring effect, and gravitational waves. The speed of gravitational waves is modified in comparison to the speed of light. A certain limit of our theory corresponds to the lowest-order Carroll gravity. Hence, our theory is a different UV completion of Carroll gravity, compared to the usual expansion of a small speed of light. Carroll gravity limit also has an enhanced symmetry, making the reduced or vanishing extrinsic curvature technically natural. Although the intrinsic curvature and its modification may depend on the foliation, we use the covariant formalism and show that such a foliation always exists. Perhaps the most important outcome is that in the non-minimal coupling approach, the intrinsic curvature appearing in Einstein's field equations can defer from the one appearing in the geodesic equation potentially leading to important observational consequences.