Generalized quadratic curvature, non-local infrared modifications of gravity and Newtonian potentials

Metric theories of gravity are studied, beginning with a general action that is quadratic in curvature and allows arbitrary inverse powers of the d' Alembertian operator, resulting in infrared non-local extensions of general relativity. The field equations are derived in full generality and their consistency is checked by verifying the Bianchi identities. The weak-field limit is computed and a straightforward algorithm is presented to infer the post-Newtonian corrections directly from the action. This is then applied to various infrared gravity models including non-local Rf (R/square) dark energy and non-local massive gravity models. Generically, the Newtonian potentials are not identical and deviate from the 1/r behaviour at large distances. However, the former does not occur in a specific class of theories that does not introduce additional degrees of freedom in flat spacetime. A new non-local model within this class is proposed, defined by the exponential of the inverse d' Alembertian. This model exhibits novel features, such as the weakening of the gravity in the infrared, suggesting de-gravitation of the cosmological constant.