We study gravito-magnetic effects in the Palatini formalism of f(R) gravity. On using the Kerr-de Sitter metric, which is a solution of f(R) field equations, we calculate the impact of f(R) gravity on the gravito-magnetic precession of an orbiting gyroscope. We show that, even though an $f(R)$ contribution is present in principle, its magnitude is negligibly small and far to be detectable in the present (like GP-B) and foreseeable space missions or observational tests around the Earth.
Categories: gr-qc astro-ph