Exact Spherically Symmetric Solutions in Modified Gauss–Bonnet Gravity from Noether Symmetry Approach

It is broadly known that Lie point symmetries and their subcase, Noether symmetries, can be used as a geometric criterion to select alternative theories of gravity. Here, we use Noether symmetries as a selection criterion to distinguish those models of f ( R , G ) theory, with R and G being the Ricci and the Gauss–Bonnet scalars respectively, that are invariant under point transformations in a spherically symmetric background. In total, we find ten different forms of f that present symmetries and calculate their invariant quantities, i.e., Noether vector fields. Furthermore, we use these Noether symmetries to find exact spherically symmetric solutions in some of the models of f ( R , G ) theory.