Bouncing cosmology in f (R, G) gravity by order reduction

A bouncing universe is a viable candidate to solve the initial singularity problem. Here we consider bouncing solutions in the context of f (R, G) gravity by using an order reduction technique which allows one to find solutions that are perturbatively close to General Relativity. This procedure also acts as a model selection approach. Indeed, several covariant gravitational actions leading to a bounce are directly selected by demanding that the Friedmann equation derived within such gravity theories coincides with the one emerging from Loop Quantum Cosmology. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.