We study linearized equations of a ghost-free gravity in four- and higher-dimensional spacetimes. We consider versions of such a theory where the nonlocal modification of the $\square$ operator has the form $\square \exp [(-\square /{\mu }^2{)}^N]$, where $N=1$ or $N=2n$. We first obtain the Newtonian gravitational potential for a point mass for such models and demonstrate that it is finite and regular in any number of spatial dimensions $d\ge 3$. The second result of the paper is calculation of the gravitational field of an ultrarelativistic particle in such theories. And finally, we study a head-on collision of two ultrarelativistic particles. We formulated conditions of the apparent horizon formation and showed that there exists a mass gap for mini-black-hole production in the ghost-free theory of gravity. In the case when the center-of-mass energy is sufficient for the formation of the apparent horizon, the latter has two branches, the outer and the inner ones. When the energy increases the outer horizon tends to the Schwarzschild-Tangherlini limit, while the inner horizon becomes closer to $r=0$.

• Received 22 January 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.93.064048