Gauge-invariant treatments of the second-order cosmological perturbation in a four dimensional homogeneous isotropic universe are formulated without any gauge fixing. We have derived the Einstein equations in the case of the single perfect fluid without ignoring any modes. These equations imply that any types of mode-coupling arise due to the second-order effects of the Einstein equations.
We generalize the vacuum static black strings with negative cosmological constant recently discussed in literature, by including an electromagnetic field. These higher-dimensional configurations have no dependence on the `compact' extra dimension, and their boundary topology is the product of time and $S^{d-3}\times S^1$ or $H^{d-3}\times S^1$. Rotating generalizations of the even dimensional black string configurations are considered as well. Different from the static, neutral case, no regular limit is found for a vanishing event horizon radius. We explore numerically the general properties o…
We introduce a new Weyl-invariant and generally-covariant vector-tensor theory with higher derivatives. This theory can be induced by extending the mimetic construction to vector fields of conformal weight four. We demonstrate that in gauge-invariant variables this novel theory reduces to the Henneaux-Teitelboim description of the unimodular gravity. Hence, compared with the standard general relativity, our new higher derivative vector-tensor theory has only one new global degree of freedom - the cosmological constant. Finally we discuss potential extensions of this vector-tensor theory.
We present new cosmological parameter constraints for general Horndeski scalar-tensor theories, using CMB, redshift space distortion, matter power spectrum and BAO measurements from the Planck, SDSS/BOSS and 6dF surveys. We focus on theories with cosmological gravitational waves propagating at the speed of light, $c_{\rm GW} = c$, implementing and discussing several previously unaccounted for aspects in the constraint derivation for such theories, that qualitatively affect the resulting constraints. In order to ensure our conclusions are robust, we compare results for three different parametri…
We consider nonlocal gravity theories that include tensor nonlocalities. We show that in the cosmological context, the tensor nonlocalities, unlike scalar ones, generically give rise to growing modes. An explicit example with quadratic curvature terms is studied in detail. Possible consequences for recent nonlocal cosmological models proposed in the literature are also discussed.
We consider the evolution of cosmological gravitational waves in scalar-tensor theory and $F(R)$ gravity theory as typical models of the modified gravity. Although the propagation speed is not changed from the speed of light, the propagation phase changes when we compare the propagation in these modified gravity theories with the propagation in the $Λ$CDM model. The phase change might be detected in future observations.
In this paper, we investigate the Noether symmetries of a generalized scalar-tensor, Brans-Dicke type cosmological model, in which we consider explicit scalar field dependent couplings to the Ricci scalar, and to the scalar field kinetic energy, respectively. We also include the scalar field self-interaction potential into the gravitational action. From the condition of the vanishing of the Lie derivative of the gravitational cosmological Lagrangian with respect to a given vector field we obtain three cosmological solutions describing the time evolution of a spatially flat Friedman-Robertson-W…
Scalar-tensor gravitational theories are important extensions of standard general relativity, which can explain both the initial inflationary evolution, as well as the late accelerating expansion of the Universe. In the present paper we investigate the cosmological solution of a scalar-tensor gravitational theory, in which the scalar field $ϕ$ couples to the geometry via an arbitrary function $F(ϕ$). The kinetic energy of the scalar field as well as its self-interaction potential $V(ϕ)$ are also included in the gravitational action. By using a standard mathematical procedure, the Lie group app…
The scalar background field and its consequences are discussed for the Friedmann type cosmological solutions of the scalar-tensor theory of gravity with the Higgs field of the Standard Model as the scalar gravitational field.
We present a method for parametrizing linear cosmological perturbations of theories of gravity, around homogeneous and isotropic backgrounds. The method is sufficiently general and systematic that it can be applied to theories with any degrees of freedom (DoFs) and arbitrary gauge symmetries. In this paper, we focus on scalar-tensor and vector-tensor theories, invariant under linear coordinate transformations. In the case of scalar-tensor theories, we use our framework to recover the simple parametrizations of linearized Horndeski and "Beyond Horndeski" theories, and also find higher-derivativ…
We provide the correspondence between the variables in the Jordan frame and those in the Einstein frame in scalar-tensor gravity and consider the frame-(in)dependence of the cosmological observables. In particular, we show that the cosmological observables/relations (redshift, luminosity distance, temperature anisotropies) are frame-independent. We also study the frame-dependence of curvature perturbations and find that the curvature perturbations are conformal invariant if the perturbation is adiabatic and the entropy perturbation between matter and the Brans-Dicke scalar is vanishing. The re…
In this contribution, classes of shear-free cosmological dust models with irrotational fluid flows will be investigated in the context of scalar-tensor theories of gravity. In particular, the integrability conditions describing a consistent evolution of the linearised field equations of quasi-Newtonian universes are presented. We also derive the covariant density and velocity propagation equations of such models and analyse the corresponding solutions to these perturbation equations.
In this paper we consider the complete momentum-independent quartic order truncation for the effective average action of a real Abelian rank 3 tensorial group field theory. This complete truncation includes non-melonic as well as double-trace interactions. In the usual functional renormalization group perspective, the inclusion of more operators that belong to the underlying theory space corresponds to an improvement of the truncation of the effective average action. We show that the inclusion of non-melonic and double-trace operators in the truncation brings subtleties. In particular, we disc…
In this paper, we study various cosmological parameters and quantities in scalar-tensor gravity from inflation and swampland conjecture. Therefore, by selecting different models such as power-law, exponential, and logarithmic in the framework of scalar-tensor theory, we obtain potential, tensor-to-scalar ratio, and the scalar spectral index. Next, we examine new constraints and compare the corresponding results with the latest observable data. Here, we take advantage of the obtained results and determine the compatibility or incompatibility of the corresponding model with the swampland conject…
A generic second-order scalar-tensor theory contains a nonlinear derivative self-interaction of the scalar degree of freedom $ϕ$ à la Galileon models, which allows for the Vainshtein screening mechanism. We investigate this effect on subhorizon scales in a cosmological background, based on the most general second-order scalar-tensor theory. Our analysis takes into account all the relevant nonlinear terms and the effect of metric perturbations consistently. We derive an explicit form of Newton's constant, which in general is time-dependent and hence is constrained from observations, as suggeste…
The use of Lagrange multipliers in the context of quintessence/phantom scalar fields allows to constrain the behavior of the scalar field, which provides a powerful tool, not only for the reconstruction of cosmological solutions but also for the study of some problems in cosmology and gravitational physics. In the present paper, we focus on the reconstruction of cosmological solutions capable of controlling the cosmological constant value by imposing a constraint on the scalar field, providing a relaxation mechanism of the value of the cosmological constant. The formalism is also extended to t…
The tensor-vector-scalar (TeVeS) model is considered a viable theory of gravity. It produces the Milgrom's modified Newtonian dynamics in the nonrelativistic weak field limit and is free from ghosts. This model has been tested against various cosmological observations. Here we investigate whether new observations such as the galaxy velocity power spectrum measured by 6dF and the kinetic Sunyaev Zel'dovich effect power spectrum measured by ACT/SPT can put further constraints on the TeVeS model. Furthermore, we perform the test of TeVeS cosmology with a sterile neutrino by confronting to Planck …
We investigate the cosmological perturbations in the context of a Scalar-Tensor-Vector theory of Gravity known as MOG in the literature. Recent investigations show that MOG reproduces a viable background cosmological evolution comparable to $Λ$CDM. However, the matter-dominated era is slightly different. In this paper, we study the linear matter perturbations and estimate the relevant modified gravity parameters. We show that MOG reduces the growth rate of the perturbations and comparing with the RSD data reveals that MOG suggests a higher value for $σ_8$, compare to $Λ$CDM. This point, consti…
We demonstrate the existence of static, spherically symmetric globally regular, i.e. solitonic solutions of a shift-symmetric scalar-tensor gravity model with negative cosmological constant. The norm of the Noether current associated to the shift symmetry is finite in the full space-time. We also discuss the corresponding black hole solutions and demonstrate that the interplay between the scalar-tensor coupling and the cosmological constant leads to the existence of new branches of solutions. To linear order in the scalar-tensor coupling, the asymptotic space-time corresponds to an Anti-de Sit…
In this paper, we analyze a simple class of Horndeski scalar-tensor theory. We investigate several cosmological solutions for inflation, bounce scenario and finite future-time singuarities. Perturbations respect to Friedmann-Robertson-Walker metric are studied and discussed in the context of inflation.
Careful analysis of parametrized variational principles in mechanics and field theory leads to a generalization of Einstein theory that includes a cosmological stress tensor. This generalization also follows by restricting variations of the metric in the Hilbert action to spacetime diffeomorphisms. The equation of motion for the generalized theory is the twice-contracted Bianchi identity while the field equations constitute the stress tensor of the theory. Gravity is interpreted as a cosmological fluid.
We consider the effects of entanglement in the initial quantum state of scalar and tensor fluctuations during inflation. We allow the gauge-invariant scalar and tensor fluctuations to be entangled in the initial state and compute modifications to the various cosmological power spectra. We compute the angular power spectra ($C_l$'s) for some specific cases of our entangled state and discuss what signals one might expect to find in CMB data. This entanglement also can break rotational invariance, allowing for the possibility that some of the large scale anomalies in the CMB power spectrum might …
In the Horndeski's most general scalar-tensor theories with second-order field equations, we derive the conditions for the avoidance of ghosts and Laplacian instabilities associated with scalar, tensor, and vector perturbations in the presence of two perfect fluids on the flat Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) background. Our general results are useful for the construction of theoretically consistent models of dark energy. We apply our formulas to extended Galileon models in which a tracker solution with an equation of state smaller than -1 is present. We clarify the allowed parameter…
We study asymptotically safe gravity with Einstein-Hilbert truncation taking into account the renormalization group running of both gravitational and cosmological constants. We show the classical behavior of the theory is equivalent to a specific class of Jordan-Brans-Dicke theories with vanishing Brans-Dicke parameter, and potential determined by the renormalization group equation. The theory may be reformulated as an $f(R)$ theory. In the simplest cosmological scenario, we find large--field inflationary solutions near the Planck scale where the effective field theory description breaks down.…
A generalized scalar-tensor theory is investigated whose cosmological term depends on both a scalar field and its time derivative. A correspondence with solutions of five-dimensional Space-Time-Matter theory is noted. Analytic solutions are found for the scale factor, scalar field and cosmological term. Models with free parameters of order unity are consistent with recent observational data and could be relevant to both the dark-matter and cosmological-"constant" problems.
Tensor type perturbations in the expanding brane world of the Randall Sundrum type are investigated. We consider a model composed of slow-roll inflation phase and the succeeding radiation phase. The effect of the presence of an extra dimension through the transition to the radiation phase is studied, giving an analytic formula for leading order corrections.
We continue to study the 2nd-order cosmological perturbations in synchronous coordinates in the framework of the general relativity (GR) during the radiation dominated (RD) stage, and to focus on the scalar-tensor and tensor-tensor couplings. The 1st-order curl velocity and the associated 1st-order vector metric perturbations are assumed to be vanishing. By analytically solving the 2nd-order Einstein equation and the energy-momentum conservation equations, we obtain the 2nd-order formal solutions (in the integral form) of all the metric perturbations, density contrast and velocity; perform the…
A specific Horndeski scalar-gravity mimetic model is investigated within a FLWR space-time. The mimetic scalar field is implemented via a Lagrangian multiplier, and it is shown that the model has equations of motion formally similar to the original simpler mimetic matter model of Chamseddine-Mukhanov-Vikman. Several exact solutions describing inflation, bounces, future time singularities are presented and discussed.
We find an exact solution of Scalar-Tensor-Vector Gravity field equations that represents a black hole embedded in an expanding universe. This is the first solution of the kind found in the theory. We analyze the properties of the apparent horizons as well as the essential singularities of the metric, and compare it with the McVittie spacetime of General Relativity. Depending on the cosmological model adopted and the value of the free parameter $α$ of the theory, the solution describes a cosmological black hole, an inhomogeneity in an expanding universe, or a naked singularity. We use the latt…
We study the renormalized energy-momentum tensor (EMT) of cosmological scalar fluctuations during the slow-rollover regime for chaotic inflation with a quadratic potential and find that it is characterized by a negative energy density which grows during slow-rollover. We also approach the back-reaction problem as a second-order calculation in perturbation theory finding no evidence that the back-reaction of cosmological fluctuations is a gauge artifact. In agreement with the results on the EMT, the average expansion rate is decreased by the back-reaction of cosmological fluctuations.
We consider the dynamics of tensor and scalar gravitational fields in the Relativistic Theory of Gravitation with the Minkowskian vacuum metric and generalize the formulation to the massless graviton. The potential of scalar field is determined in the presence of cosmological term under clear physical motivations. We find cosmological inflationary solutions and analyze conditions providing the transition to the regime of hot expanding universe.
We study the theory and phenomenology of massive spin-2 fields during the inflation with nonzero background chemical potential, and extend the cosmological collider physics to tensor modes. We identify a unique dimension-5 and parity-violating chemical potential operator for massive spin-2 fields, which leads to a ghost-free linear theory propagating one scalar mode and two tensor modes. The chemical potential greatly boosts the production of one tensor mode even for very heavy spin-2 particles, and thereby leads to large and distinct cosmological collider signals for massive spin-2 particles.…
The Machian cosmological solution satisfying $ϕ=O(ρ/ω)$ in the generalized scalar-tensor theory of gravitation with the varying cosmological constant is summarized. The scalar field $ϕ$ with the exponential potential is introduced as dark matter and the barotropic evolution of matter in the universe is discussed. As the universe expands, the coefficient $γ$ of the equation of state approaches to -1/3 and the coupling function $ω(ϕ)$ diverges to $-\infty $.
We study the effective energy-momentum tensor (EMT) for cosmological perturbations and formulate the gravitational back-reaction problem in a gauge invariant manner. We analyze the explicit expressions for the EMT in the cases of scalar metric fluctuations and of gravitational waves and derive the resulting equations of state. The formalism is applied to investigate the back-reaction effects in chaotic inflation. We find that for long wavelength scalar and tensor perturbations, the effective energy density is negative and thus counteracts any pre-existing cosmological constant. For scalar pert…
The next generation of surveys will greatly improve our knowledge of cosmological gravity. In this paper we focus on how Stage IV photometric redshift surveys, including weak lensing and multiple tracers of the matter distribution and radio experiments combined with measurements of the cosmic microwave background will lead to precision constraints on deviations from General Relativity. We use a broad subclass of Horndeski scalar-tensor theories to forecast the accuracy with which we will be able to determine these deviations and their degeneracies with other cosmological parameters. Our analys…
We present cosmological constraints on the scalar-tensor theory of gravity by analyzing the angular power spectrum data of the cosmic microwave background obtained from the Planck 2015 results together with the baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) data. We find that the inclusion of the BAO data improves the constraints on the time variation of the effective gravitational constant by more than $10\%$, that is, the time variation of the effective gravitational constant between the recombination and the present epochs is constrained as $G_{\rm rec}/G_0-1 <1.9\times 10^{-3}\ (95.45\%\ {\rm C.L.})$ …
I introduce a method to obtain the stress-energy tensor of the perfect fluid by adding a suitable term to the Einstein-Hilbert action. Variation should be understood with respect to the metric.
Energy momentum tensor of a conformally coupled quantum scalar field in five dimensional warped cosmological spacetimes is studied. We look at situations where the four dimensional part represents a cosmological thick brane and the scale of the extra dimension is time dependent. Renormalization of the components of the energy momentum tensor is achieved using adiabatic regularization method. The resulting energy and pressure densities explicitly show the effects of warping and the dynamic extra dimension on the created matter. We discussed how the created matter may accumulate to form thick br…
We study the qualitative properties of cosmological models in scalar-tensor theories of gravity by exploiting the formal equivalence of these theories with general relativity minimally coupled to a scalar field under a conformal transformation and field redefinition. In particular, we investigate the asymptotic behaviour of spatially homogeneous cosmological models in a class of scalar-tensor theories which are conformally equivalent to general relativistic Bianchi cosmologies with a scalar field and an exponential potential whose qualitative features have been studied previously. Particular a…
Cosmological perturbation theory relies on the decomposition of perturbations into so-called scalar, vector and tensor modes. This decomposition is non-local and depends on unknowable boundary conditions. The non-locality is particularly important at second- and higher-order because perturbative modes are sourced by products of lower-oder modes, which must be integrated over all space in order to isolate each mode. However, given a trace-free rank-2 tensor, a locally defined scalar mode may be trivially derived by taking two divergences, which knocks out the vector and tensor degrees of freedo…
We present a covariant formulation for constructing general quadratic actions for cosmological perturbations, invariant under a given set of gauge symmetries for a given field content. This approach allows us to analyse scalar, vector and tensor perturbations at the same time in a straightforward manner. We apply the procedure to diffeomorphism invariant single-tensor, scalar-tensor and vector-tensor theories and show explicitly the full covariant form of the quadratic actions in such cases, in addition to the actions determining the evolution of vector and tensor perturbations. We also discus…
We give a general expression for the Weyl tensor two-point function in a general Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker spacetime. We work in reduced phase space for the perturbations, i.e., quantize only the dynamical degrees of freedom without adding any gauge-fixing term. The general formula is illustrated by a calculation in slow-roll single-field inflation to first order in the slow-roll parameters $ε$ and $δ$, and the result is shown to have the correct de Sitter limit as $ε, δ\to 0$. Furthermore, it is seen that the Weyl tensor correlation function does not suffer from infrared divergences…
BICEP2 observations, interpreted most simply, suggest an era of inflation with energy densities of order ($10^{16}\, {\rm GeV})^4$, not far below the Planck density. However, models of TeV gravity with large extra dimensions might allow a very different interpretation involving much more modest energy scales. We discuss the viability of inflation in such models, and conclude that existing scenarios do not provide attractive alternatives to single field inflation in four dimensions. Because the detection of tensor modes strengthens our confidence that inflation occurred, it disfavors models of …
We consider flat Friedmann-Lema\^ıtre-Robertson-Walker cosmological models in the framework of general scalar-tensor theories of gravity with arbitrary coupling functions, set in the Jordan frame, in the cosmological epoch when the energy density of the ordinary dust matter dominates over the energy density of the scalar potential. Motivated by cosmological observations, we apply an approximation scheme in the regime close to the so-called limit of general relativity. The ensuing nonlinear approximate equations for the scalar field and the Hubble parameter can be solved analytically in cosmolo…
This paper investigates the propagation of cosmological gravitational waves interacting with free-streaming neutrinos within the context of Horndeski theories of gravity constrained by the detection of GW170817. We apply the theory of cosmological perturbations to explicitly derive the Einstein-Boltzmann equation for the damped propagation of first-order transverse traceless gravitational waves. In contrast to general relativity, we argue that modified gravity can give rise to non-vanishing free-streaming damping effects during the cosmological matter dominated era. We also provide an analytic…
It is shown that the general scalar tensor cosmologies may explain all the current cosmological observations without the need of invoking any ad hoc missing energy density. The explanation is based entirely on the internal dynamics of the theories. Two important predictions of the present analysis are: the universe is tending towards a matter dominated state with the dimunition of the dark energy component and the acceleration of the universe, if any, is slowing down with time.
Loop quantum gravity is one of the leading candidate theory to non-perturbatively quantize gravity. In this framework, holonomy corrections to the equation of propagation of gravitons in a FLRW background have been derived. We investigate the consequences of those corrections on the tensor power spectrum in de-Sitter and slow-roll inflations, for n=-1/2. Depending on the value of the Barbero-Immirzi parameter, several observational features could be expected.
In this work we present the foundations of generalized scalar-tensor theories arising from vector bundle constructions, and we study the kinematic, dynamical and cosmological consequences. In particular, over a pseudo-Riemannian space-time base manifold, we define a fiber structure with two scalar fields. The resulting space is a 6-dimensional vector bundle endowed with a non-linear connection. We provide the form of the geodesics and the Raychaudhuri and general field equations, both in Palatini and metrical method. When applied at a cosmological framework, this novel geometrical structure in…
We present a new method for constructing conformal Yano-Killing tensors in five-di\-men\-sio\-nal Anti-de Sitter space-time. The found tensors are represented in two different coordinate systems. We also discuss, in terms of CYK tensors, global charges which are well defined for asymptotically (five-dimensional) Anti-de Sitter space-time. Additionally in Appendix we present our own derivation of conformal Killing one-forms in four-dimensional Anti-de Sitter space-time as an application of the Theorem presented in the paper.
In this paper, we present the cosmological scenario obtained from $f(R,T)$ gravity by using an exponential dependence on the trace of the energy-momentum tensor. With a numerical approach applied to the equations of motion, we show several precise fits and the respective cosmological consequences. As a matter of completeness, we also analyzed cosmological scenarios where this new version of $f(R,T)$ is coupled with a real scalar field. In order to find analytical cosmological parameters, we used a slow-roll approximation for the evolution of the scalar field. This approximation allowed us to d…
The LIGO/VIRGO collaboration has recently announced the detection of gravitational waves from a neutron star-neutron star merger (GW170817) and the simultaneous measurement of an optical counterpart (the gamma-ray burst GRB 170817A). The close arrival time of the gravitational and electromagnetic waves limits the difference in speed of photons and gravitons to be less than about one part in $10^{15}$. This has three important implications for cosmological scalar-tensor gravity theories that are often touted as dark energy candidates and alternatives to $Λ$CDM. First, for the most general scala…
We study black-hole thermodynamics in theories that contain dimensionful constants such as the cosmological constant or coupling constants in Wald's formalism. The most natural way to deal with these constants is to promote them to scalar fields introducing a (d-1)-form Lagrange multiplier that forces them to be constant on-shell. These (d-1)-form potentials provide a dual description of them and, in the context of superstring/supergravity theories, a higher-dimensional origin/explanation. In the context of gauged supergravity theories, all these constants can be collected in the embedding ten…
We consider a novel model of gravity with a scalar field described by the Lagrangian with higher order derivative terms in a cosmological context. The model has the same solution for the homogeneous and isotropic universe as in the model with the Einstein gravity, notwithstanding the additional higher order terms. A possible modification scenario is briefly discussed lastly.
Tensor perturbations in an expanding braneworld of the Randall Sundrum type are investigated. We consider a model composed of a slow-roll inflation phase and the succeeding radiation phase. The effect of the presence of an extra dimension through the transition to the radiation phase is studied, giving an analytic formula for leading order corrections.
Cosmological observations provide more accurate values both for background evolution of the Universe and for the structure formation. These values are given by the so-called dark energy equation of state, $ω$ and the growth index parameter, $γ$. From these observed parameters, one can reconstruct the model functions in scalar tensor gravity theories. However, there is a long standing debate about the (in)equality between conformally transformed frames in scalar tensor gravity models. We show that cosmological observables are frame dependent when they are described by frame independent paramete…
