Vainshtein mechanism in Λ3-theories

We explore the space of spherically symmetric, static solutions in the decoupling limit of a class of nonlinear covariant extensions of Fierz-Pauli massive gravity obtained recently in arXiv:1007.0443. In general, several such solutions with various asymptotic limits exist. We find their approximate short- and long-distance behaviour and use numerical analysis to match them at the Vainshtein radius, r(*). Our findings indicate, that for a broad range of parameters, the theory does possess the Vainshtein mechanism, screening the scalar contribution to the gravitational force within r(*). In addition, there exists a class of solutions in the literature, for which the 1/r gravitational potential is completely screened within the Vainshtein scale. However, numerical analysis indicates, that for this type of solutions, the gravitational potential does not decay at spatial infinity. (C) 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V.