Generalized virial theorem in Palatini f(R) gravity

We use the collision-free Boltzmann equation in Palatini f(R) gravity to derive the virial theorem within the context of the Palatini approach. It is shown that the virial mass is proportional to certain geometrical terms appearing in the Einstein field equations which contributes to gravitational energy and that such geometric mass can be attributed to the virial mass discrepancy in a cluster of galaxies. We then derive the velocity dispersion relation for clusters, followed by the metric tensor components inside the cluster as well as the f(R) Lagrangian in terms of the observational parameters. Since these quantities may also be obtained experimentally, the f(R) virial theorem is a convenient tool to test the viability of f(R) theories in different models. Finally, we discuss the limitations of our approach in light of the cosmological averaging used and questions that have been raised in the literature against such averaging procedures in the context of the present work.