A minimal fractional deformation of Newtonian gravity
Abstract
We consider a minimal fractional deformation of Newtonian gravity characterized by a single parameter . In the limit , the theory reduces to standard Newtonian gravity. Previous works showed that the CDM cosmology consistently emerges from this framework. Using a single potential, the model reproduces the full sequence of cosmic evolution (from a nonsingular pre--inflationary phase and a stable inflationary attractor to the radiation- and matter-dominated eras and the present accelerated expansion) and accounts for the growth of large-scale structure for , in agreement with current observations. Here we show that the same fractional Newtonian model also describes key weak--field tests, including the perihelion precession of Mercury and the gravitational deflection of light, using a unified potential with the same constraint on . These results suggest that the minimal fractional Newtonian framework may provide a unified phenomenological description of gravitational dynamics from Solar-System scales to cosmology. Finally, this fractional cosmological framework may offer new perspectives on problems such as the cosmological constant, the hierarchy of cosmological scales, and the Hubble tension.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2603.16009,
title = {A minimal fractional deformation of Newtonian gravity},
author = {S. M. M. Rasouli},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2603.16009},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
6 pages, no figure