(Abridged) This is the first of a series of papers in which we derive simultaneous constraints on cosmological parameters and X-ray scaling relations using observations of the growth of massive, X-ray flux-selected galaxy clusters. Our data set consists of 238 clusters drawn from the ROSAT All-Sky Survey, and incorporates extensive follow-up observations using the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Here we describe and implement a new statistical framework required to self-consistently produce simultaneous constraints on cosmology and scaling relations from such data, and present results on models of dark energy. In spatially flat models with a constant dark energy equation of state, w, the cluster data yield Omega_m=0.23 +- 0.04, sigma_8=0.82 +- 0.05, and w=-1.01 +- 0.20, marginalizing over conservative allowances for systematic uncertainties. These constraints agree well and are competitive with independent data in the form of cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies, type Ia supernovae (SNIa), cluster gas mass fractions (fgas), baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO), galaxy redshift surveys, and cosmic shear. The combination of our data with current CMB, SNIa, fgas, and BAO data yields Omega_m=0.27 +- 0.02, sigma_8=0.79 +- 0.03, and w=-0.96 +- 0.06 for flat, constant w models. For evolving w models, marginalizing over transition redshifts in the range 0.05-1, we constrain the equation of state at late and early times to be respectively w_0=-0.88 +- 0.21 and w_et=-1.05 +0.20 -0.36. The combined data provide constraints equivalent to a DETF FoM of 15.5. Our results highlight the power of X-ray studies to constrain cosmology. However, the new statistical framework we apply to this task is equally applicable to cluster studies at other wavelengths.
We investigate the linear growth rate of cosmological matter density perturbations of a viable f(R) model both numerically and analytically. We find that the growth rate in the scalar-tensor regime can be characterized by a simple analytic formula. We also investigate a prospect of constraining the Compton wavelength scale of the f(R) model with a future weak lensing survey.
We compile a list of $14$ independent measurements of large-scale structure growth rate between redshifts $0.067 \leq z \leq 0.8$ and use this to place constraints on model parameters of constant and time-evolving general-relativistic dark energy cosmologies. With the assumption that gravity is well-modeled by general relativity, we discover that growth-rate data provide restrictive cosmological parameter constraints. In combination with type Ia supernova apparent magnitude versus redshift data and Hubble parameter measurements, the growth rate data are consistent with the standard spatially-f…
In the light of GPU accelerations, sequential operations such as solving ordinary differential equations can be bottlenecks for gradient evaluations and hinder potential speed gains. In this work, we focus on growth functions and their time derivatives in cosmological particle mesh simulations and show that these are the majority time cost when using gradient based inference algorithms. We propose to construct novel conditional B-spline emulators which directly learn an interpolating function for the growth factor as a function of time, conditioned on the cosmology. We demonstrate that these e…
The paper by Sato and Kobayashi in 1977 studied the cosmological effects of a massive neutrino and obtained constraints on its properties. This paper initiated many studies to use cosmology as a laboratory of particle physics or to use particle physics to explore the very early universe.
Reconstructing the expansion history of the Universe from type Ia supernovae data, we fit the growth rate measurements and put model-independent constraints on some key cosmological parameters, namely, $Ω_\mathrm{m},γ$, and $σ_8$. The constraints are consistent with those from the concordance model within the framework of general relativity, but the current quality of the data is not sufficient to rule out modified gravity models. Adding the condition that dark energy density should be positive at all redshifts, independently of its equation of state, further constrains the parameters and inte…
We show how Newtonian cosmological simulations can be employed to investigate the non-linear evolution of two particle species in a relativistic context. We discuss the application for massive neutrinos and other multi-species systems such as Cold Dark Matter (CDM) plus baryons or Warm Dark Matter (WDM). We propose a method that allows us to perform simulations including massive neutrinos and general relativistic effects at almost the same computational cost as ordinary CDM only N-body simulations, employing tailor-made initial conditions and a dictionary for the interpretation of the simulati…
Combining measurements on the expansion history of the Universe and on the growth rate of cosmic structures is key to discriminate between alternative cosmological frameworks and to test gravity. Recently, Linder (2017) proposed a new diagram to investigate the joint evolutionary track of these two quantities. In this letter, we collect the most recent cosmic growth and expansion rate datasets to provide the state-of-the-art observational constraints on this diagram. By performing a joint statistical analysis of both probes, we test the standard $Λ$CDM model, confirming a mild tension between …
We study the matter density fluctuations in the running cosmological constant (RCC) model using linear perturbations in the longitudinal gauge. Using this observable we calculate the growth rate of structures and the matter power spectrum, and compare them with the $SDSS$ data and other available data of the linear growth rate. The distribution of collapsed structures may also constraints models of dark energy. It is shown that RCC model enhances departures from the $ΛCDM$ model for both cluster number and cumulative cluster number predicted. In general increasing the characteristic parameter …
Spatial variations in the distribution of galaxy luminosities, estimated from redshifts as distance proxies, are correlated with the peculiar velocity field. Comparing these variations with the peculiar velocities inferred from galaxy redshift surveys is a powerful test of gravity and dark energy theories on cosmological scales. Using ~ 2 $\times$ 10$^{5}$ galaxies from the SDSS Data Release 7, we perform this test in the framework of gravitational instability to estimate the normalized growth rate of density perturbations f$σ_{8}$ = 0.37 +/- 0.13 at z ~ 0.1, which is in agreement with the $Λ$…
Supermassive black holes (BH) at the centres of galaxies can rapidly change their mass and spin by gas accretion and mergers. Using hydrodynamical cosmological simulations, with prescriptions for BH growth and feedback from Active Galactic Nuclei, we study how the evolution of BH mass growth is driven by gas accretion and mergers. Using a semi-analytical approach to evolve spins, we also highlight the mechanisms responsible for driving the magnitude and the direction of spins as a function of cosmic time. We find that in the high-redshift universe galaxies maintain large values of gas accretio…
We present a halo mass function accurate over the full relevant Hu-Sawicki $f(R)$ parameter space based on spherical collapse calculations and calibrated to a suite of modified gravity $N$-body simulations that include massive neutrinos. We investigate the ability of current and forthcoming galaxy cluster observations to detect deviations from general relativity while constraining the total neutrino mass and including systematic uncertainties. Our results indicate that the degeneracy between massive neutrino and modify gravity effects is a limiting factor for the current searches for new gravi…
We present a new method for simulating cosmologies that contain massive particles with thermal free streaming motion, such as massive neutrinos or warm/hot dark matter. This method combines particle and fluid descriptions of the thermal species to eliminate the shot noise known to plague conventional N-body simulations. We describe this method in detail, along with results for a number of test cases to validate our method, and check its range of applicability. Using this method, we demonstrate that massive neutrinos can produce a significant scale-dependence in the large-scale biasing of deep …
Next-generation large-scale structure surveys will deliver a significant increase in the precision of growth data, allowing us to use `agnostic' methods to study the evolution of perturbations without the assumption of a cosmological model. We focus on a particular machine learning tool, Gaussian processes, to reconstruct the growth rate $f$, the root mean square of matter fluctuations $σ_8$, and their product $fσ_8$. We apply this method to simulated data, representing the precision of upcoming Stage IV galaxy surveys. We extend the standard single-task approach to a multi-task approach that …
We derive the exact analytical solution of the linear structure growth rate in LCDM cosmology with flat or curved geometry, under the Newtonian gauge. Unlike the well known solution under the Newtonian limit (Heath 1977), our solution takes all general relativistic corrections into account and is hence valid at both the sub- and super-horizon scales. With this exact solution, we evaluate cosmological impacts induced by these relativistic corrections. (1) General relativistic corrections alter the density growth from z=100 to z=0 by 10% at k=0.01h/Mpc and the impact becomes stronger toward larg…
We investigate the Tsallis holographic dark energy (THDE) models in the context of perturbations' growth. We assume the description of dark energy by considering the holographic principle and the nonadditive entropy to carry out this. We implement the perturbed relativistic equations to achieve the growth of matter fluctuations, being the growth rate of the cosmic structures is non-negligible at low redshifts. To constrain and compare the models, we carry out the Bayesian analysis using the recent geometrical and growth rate observational data. The main results are: (i) the models are compatib…
The key probes of the growth of large-scale structure are its rate $f$ and amplitude $σ_8$. Redshift space distortions in the galaxy power spectrum allow us to measure only the combination $fσ_8$, which can be used to constrain the standard cosmological model or alternatives. By using measurements of the galaxy-galaxy lensing cross-correlation spectrum or of the galaxy bispectrum, it is possible to break the $fσ_8$ degeneracy and obtain separate estimates of $f$ and $σ_8$ from the same galaxy sample. Currently there are only a handful of such separate measurements, but even this allows for imp…
We examine the cosmic growth of the red sequence in a cosmological hydrodynamic simulation that includes a heuristic prescription for quenching star formation that yields a realistic passive galaxy population today. In this prescription, halos dominated by hot gas are continually heated to prevent their coronae from fueling new star formation. Hot coronae primarily form in halos above \sim10^12 M\odot, so that galaxies with stellar masses \sim10^10.5 M\odot are the first to be quenched and move onto the red sequence at z > 2. The red sequence is concurrently populated at low masses by satellit…
Dark Energy models with slowly-rolling cosmological scalar field provide a popular alternative to the standard, time-independent cosmological constant model. We study simultaneous evolution of background expansion and growth in the scalar field model with the Ratra-Peebles self-interaction potential. We use recent measurements of the linear growth rate and the baryon acoustic oscillation peak positions to constrain the model parameter $α$ that describes the steepness of the scalar field potential.
This paper investigates the growth of the most massive cosmological objects. We utilize the Simsilun simulation, which is based on the approximation of the silent universe. In the limit of spatial homogeneity and isotropy the silent universes reduce to the standard FLRW models. We show that within the approximation of the silent universe the formation of the most massive cosmological objects differs from the standard background-dependent approaches. For objects with masses above $10^{15} M_\odot$ the effect of spatial curvature (overdense regions are characterized by positive spatial curvature…
The amplitude of weak lensing should increase with source distance, rising steeply behind a lens and saturating at high redshift, providing a model-independent means of measuring cosmic geometry. We measure the amplitude of weak lensing with redshift for three massive clusters, A370 (z=0.375), ZwCl0024+17 (z=0.395) and RXJ1347-11 (z=0.451), using deep, three-colour Subaru imaging. We define the depth of lensed populations with reference to the COSMOS and GOODS fields, providing a consistency check of photo-z estimates over a wide range of redshift and magnitude. The predicted distance-redshift…
We compare a large suite of theoretical cosmological models to observational data from the cosmic microwave background, baryon acoustic oscillation measurements of expansion, Type Ia SNe measurements of expansion, redshift space distortion measurements of the growth of structure, and the local Hubble constant. Our theoretical models include parametrizations of dark energy as well as physical models of dark energy and modified gravity. We determine the constraints on the model parameters, incorporating the redshift space distortion data directly in the analysis. To determine whether models can …
Massive galaxies today typically are not forming stars despite being surrounded by hot gaseous halos with short central cooling times. This likely owes to some form of "quenching feedback" such as merger-driven quasar activity or radio jets emerging from central black holes. Here we implement heuristic prescriptions for these phenomena on-the-fly within cosmological hydrodynamic simulations. We constrain them by comparing to observed luminosity functions and color-magnitude diagrams from SDSS. We find that quenching from mergers alone does not produce a realistic red sequence, because 1 - 2 Gy…
We place firm upper limits on the global accretion history of massive black holes at z>5 from the recently measured unresolved fraction of the cosmic X-ray background. The maximum allowed unresolved intensity observed at 1.5 keV implies a maximum accreted-mass density onto massive black holes of rho_acc < 1.4E4 M_sun Mpc^{-3} for z>5. Considering the contribution of lower-z AGNs, the value reduces to rho_acc < 0.66E4 M_sun Mpc^{-3}. The tension between the need for the efficient and rapid accretion required by the observation of massive black holes already in place at z>7 and the strict upper …
It has been claimed recently that massive sterile neutrinos could bring about a new concordance between observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the large-scale structure (LSS) of the Universe, and local measurements of the Hubble constant, $H_0$. We demonstrate that this apparent concordance results from combining datasets which are in significant tension, even within this extended model, possibly indicating remaining systematic biases in the measurements. We further show that this tension remains when the cosmological model is further extended to include significant tensor mode…
Strongly first-order phase transitions, i.e., those with a large order parameter, are characterized by a considerable supercooling and high velocities of phase transition fronts. A very strong phase transition may have important cosmological consequences due to the departures from equilibrium caused in the plasma. In general, there is a limit to the strength, since the metastability of the old phase may prevent the transition to complete. Near this limit, the bubble nucleation rate achieves a maximum and thus departs from the widely assumed behavior in which it grows exponentially with time. W…
We study the dynamics of cosmological phase transitions in the case of small velocities of bubble walls, $v_w<0.1$. We discuss the conditions in which this scenario arises in a physical model, and we compute the development of the phase transition. We consider different kinds of approximations and refinements for relevant aspects of the dynamics, such as the dependence of the wall velocity on hydrodynamics, the distribution of the latent heat, and the variation of the nucleation rate. Although in this case the common simplifications of a constant wall velocity and an exponential nucleation rat…
Clusters of galaxies are important probes for the large-scale structure that allow us to test cosmological models. With the REFLEX II galaxy cluster survey we previously derived tight constraints on the cosmological parameters for the matter density, Omega_m, and the amplitude parameter of the matter density fluctuations, sigma_8. Whereas in these previous studies no effect of massive neutrinos was taken into account, we explore these effects in the present publication. We derive cosmological constraints for the sum of the neutrino masses of the conventional three neutrino families in the rang…
Cosmological perturbations of FRW solutions in ghost free massive bigravity, including also a second matter sector, are studied in detail. At early time, we find that sub horizon exponential instabilities are unavoidable and they lead to a premature departure from the perturbative regime of cosmological perturbations.
We perform a general test of the $Λ{\rm CDM}$ and $w {\rm CDM}$ cosmological models by comparing constraints on the geometry of the expansion history to those on the growth of structure. Specifically, we split the total matter energy density, $Ω_M$, and (for $w {\rm CDM}$) dark energy equation of state, $w$, into two parameters each: one that captures the geometry, and another that captures the growth. We constrain our split models using current cosmological data, including type Ia supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillations, redshift space distortions, gravitational lensing, and cosmic microwave…
We describe a tomographic dissection of the Planck CMB lensing data, cross-correlating this map with galaxies in different ranges of photometric redshift. We use the nearly all-sky 2MPZ and WISExSCOS catalogues for z<0.35, extending to z<0.6 using SDSS. We describe checks for consistency between the different datasets, and perform a test for possible leakage of thermal Sunyaev--Zel'dovich signal into our cross-correlation measurements. The amplitude of the cross-correlation allows us to estimate the evolution of density fluctuations as a function of redshift, thus providing a test of theories …
I present a large set of high resolution simulations, called CosmicGrowth Simulations, which were generated with either 8.6 billion or 29 billion particles. As the nominal cosmological model that can match nearly all observations on cosmological scales, I have adopted a flat Cold Dark Matter (CDM) model with a cosmological constant $Λ$ ($Λ$CDM). The model parameters have been taken either from the latest result of the WMAP satellite (WMAP $Λ$CDM) or from the first year's result of the Planck satellite (Planck $Λ$CDM). Six simulations are produced in the $Λ$CDM models with two in the Planck mod…
Sterile massive neutrinos are a natural extension of the Standard Model of elementary particles. The energy density of the extra sterile massive states affects cosmological measurements in an analogous way to that of active neutrino species. We perform here an analysis of current cosmological data and derive bounds on the masses of the active and the sterile neutrino states as well as on the number of sterile states. The so-called (3+2) models with three sub-eV active massive neutrinos plus two sub-eV massive sterile species is well within the 95% CL allowed regions when considering cosmologic…
Relevant deformations of gravity present an exciting window of opportunity to probe the rigidity of gravity on cosmological scales. For a single-graviton theory, the leading relevant deformation constitutes a graviton mass term. In this paper, we investigate the classical and quantum stability of massive cosmological gravitons on generic Friedman backgrounds. For a Universe expanding towards a de Sitter epoch, we find that massive cosmological gravitons are self-protected against unitarity violations by a strong coupling phenomenon.
We study the main cosmological properties of the agegraphic dark energy model at the expansion and perturbation levels. Initially, using the latest cosmological data we implement a joint likelihood analysis in order to constrain the cosmological parameters. Then we test the performance of the agegraphic dark energy model at the perturbation level and we define its difference from the usual $Λ$CDM model. Within this context, we verify that the growth index of matter fluctuations depends on the choice of the considered agegraphic dark energy (homogeneous or clustered). In particular, assuming a …
We present a comprehensive analysis of classical scalar, vector and tensor cosmological perturbations in ghost-free massive bigravity. In particular, we find the full evolution equations and analytical solutions in a wide range of regimes. We show that there are viable cosmological backgrounds but, as has been found in the literature, these models generally have exponential instabilities in linear perturbation theory. However, it is possible to find stable scalar cosmological perturbations for a very particular choice of parameters. For this stable subclass of models we find that vector and te…
In the present paper, we investigate the linear growth of matter fluctuations based on a concrete model of the projected massive gravity, which is free of the Boulware-Deser ghost and preserves the global Lorentz symmetry. We found that at subhorizon scales, the modification to the linear growth is strongly suppressed even without nonlinear screening of an additional force. In addition, we obtain observational constraints from distance and redshift space distortion measurements and find that there is a parameter region that is consistent both observationally and theoretically.
We study cosmological perturbations around self-accelerating solutions to two extensions of nonlinear massive gravity: the quasi-dilaton theory and the mass-varying theory. We examine stability of the cosmological solutions, and the extent to which the vanishing of the kinetic terms for scalar and vector perturbations of self-accelerating solutions in massive gravity is generic when the theory is extended. We find that these kinetic terms are in general non-vanishing in both extensions, though there are constraints on the parameters and background evolution from demanding that they have the co…
We perform a detailed dynamical analysis of various cosmological scenarios in extended (varying-mass) nonlinear massive gravity. Due to the enhanced freedom in choosing the involved free functions, this cosmological paradigm allows for a huge variety of solutions that can attract the universe at late times, comparing to scalar-field cosmology or usual nonlinear massive gravity. Amongst others, it accepts quintessence, phantom, or cosmological-constant-like late-time solutions, which moreover can alleviate the coincidence problem. These features seem to be general and non-sensitive to the impos…
In the framework of the recently proposed models of massive gravity, defined with respect to a de Sitter reference metric, we obtain new homogeneous and isotropic solutions for arbitrary cosmological matter and arbitrary spatial curvature. These solutions can be classified into three branches. In the first two, the massive gravity terms behave like a cosmological constant. In the third branch, the massive gravity effects can be described by a time evolving effective fluid with rather remarkable features, including the property to behave as a cosmological constant at late time.
Probes of cosmic expansion constitute the main basis for arguments to support or refute a possible apparent acceleration due to different expansion rates in the universe as described by inhomogeneous cosmological models. We present in this Letter a separate argument based on results from an analysis of the growth rate of large-scale structure in the universe as modeled by the inhomogeneous cosmological models of Szekeres. We use the models with no assumptions of spherical or axial symmetries. We find that while the Szekeres models can fit very well the observed expansion history without a $Λ$,…
We obtain the exact analytic form of the growth index at present epoch ($a=1$) in a flat universe with the cosmological constant ({\it i.e.} the dark energy with its equation of state $ω_{de} = -1$). For the cosmological constant, we obtain the exact value of the current growth index parameter $γ= 0.5547$, which is very close to the well known value 6/11. We also obtain the exact analytic solution of the growth factor for $ω_{de}$ = -1/3 or -1. We investigate the growth index and its parameter at any epoch with this exact solution. In addition to this, we are able to find the exact $Ω_{m}^{0}$…
We investigate the cosmological perturbations around FLRW solutions to non- linear massive gravity with a new effective coupling to matter proposed recently. Unlike the case with minimal matter coupling, all five degrees of freedom in the gravity sector propagate on generic self-accelerating FLRW backgrounds. We study the stability of the cosmological solutions and put constraints on the parameters of the theory by demanding the correct sign for the kinetic terms for scalar, vector and tensor perturbations.
We investigate a cosmological model resulting from a dimensional reduction of the higher-dimensional dRGT massive gravity. By using the Kaluza-Klein dimensional reduction, we obtain an effective four-dimensional massive gravity theory with a scalar field. It is found that the resulting theory corresponds to a combined description of mass-varying massive gravity and quasi-dilaton massive gravity. By analyzing the cosmological solution, we found that it is possible to obtain the late-time expansion of the universe due to the graviton mass. By using a dynamical system approach, we found regions o…
Certain scalar fields with higher derivative interactions and novel classical and quantum mechanical properties - the Galileons - can be naturally covariantized by coupling to nonlinear massive gravity in such a way that their symmetries and number of degrees of freedom are unchanged. We study the propagating degrees of freedom in these models around cosmologically interesting backgrounds. We identify the conditions necessary for such a theory to remain ghost free, and consider when tachyonic instabilities can be avoided. We show that on the self-accelerating branch of solutions, the kinetic t…
We use the Szekeres inhomogeneous cosmological models to study the growth of large-scale structure in the universe including nonzero spatial curvature and a cosmological constant. In particular, we use the Goode and Wainwright formulation, as in this form the models can be considered to represent exact nonlinear perturbations of an averaged background. We identify a density contrast in both classes I and II of the models, for which we derive growth evolution equations. By including Lambda, the time evolution of the density contrast as well as kinematic quantities can be tracked through the mat…
The cosmological collider provides a model-independent probe of particle physics during inflation. We extend the study of cosmological collider physics to much smaller scales through gravitational wave (GW) probes. With a Chern-Simons interaction, a massive vector field can obtain a chemical potential and its particle production can cause significant non-Gaussian GW signals. We calculate the mass and spin dependences of the induced GW 3-point correlation function in the squeezed limit, and estimate its amplitude. Such signals may be detectable in the current and upcoming GW interferometer expe…
In this work we have analysed some cosmological bounds concerning an open FLRW solution of massive gravity. The constraints with recent observational $H(z)$ data were found and the best fit values for the cosmological parameters are in agreement with the $Λ$CDM model, and also point to a nearly open spatial curvature, as expected from the model. The graviton mass dependence with the constant parameters $α_3$ and $α_4$, related to the additional lagrangians terms of the model, are also analysed, and we have obtained a strong dependence with such parameters, although the condition $m_g\simeq H_0…
In cold dark matter cosmologies, the most massive dark matter halos are predicted to undergo rapid growth at z<1. While there is the expectation that massive galaxies will also rapidly grow via merging, recent observational studies conclude that the stellar masses of the most massive galaxies grow by just 30 percent at z<1. We have used the observed space density and clustering of z<1 red galaxies in Bootes to determine how these galaxies populate dark matter halos. In the most massive dark matter halos, central galaxy stellar mass is proportional to halo mass to the power of a third and much …
We study the prospects of using the low-redshift and high-redshift black hole shadows as new cosmological standard rulers for measuring cosmological parameters. We show that, using the low-redshift observation of the black hole shadow of M87$^\star$, the Hubble constant can be independently determined with a precision of about $13\%$ as $H_0=70\pm 9$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$. The high-redshift observations of super-massive black hole shadows may accurately determine a combination of parameters $H_0$ and ${Ω_{\rm m}}$, and we show by a simple simulation that combining them with the type Ia supern…
The non-zero mass of neutrinos suppresses the growth of cosmic structure on small scales. Since the level of suppression depends on the sum of the masses of the three active neutrino species, the evolution of large-scale structure is a promising tool to constrain the total mass of neutrinos and possibly shed light on the mass hierarchy. In this work, we investigate these effects via a large suite of N-body simulations that include massive neutrinos using an analytic linear-response approximation: the Cosmological Massive Neutrino Simulations (MassiveNuS). The simulations include the effects of…
We perform cosmological perturbation theory in Hassan-Rosen bimetric gravity for general homogeneous and isotropic backgrounds. In the de Sitter approximation, we obtain decoupled sets of massless and massive scalar gravitational fluctuations. Matter perturbations then evolve like in Einstein gravity. We perturb the future de Sitter regime by the ratio of matter to dark energy, producing quasi-de Sitter space. In this more general setting the massive and massless fluctuations mix. We argue that in the quasi-de Sitter regime, the growth of structure in bimetric gravity differs from that of Eins…
This is the third of a series of papers in which we derive simultaneous constraints on cosmological parameters and X-ray scaling relations using observations of the growth of massive, X-ray flux-selected galaxy clusters. Our data set consists of 238 clusters drawn from the ROSAT All-Sky Survey, and incorporates extensive follow-up observations using the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Here we present improved constraints on departures from General Relativity (GR) on cosmological scales, using the growth index, gamma, to parameterize the linear growth rate of cosmic structure. Using the method of Ma…
We study the effect of magnetic braking due to a primordial magnetic field in the context of the formation of massive ($\gtrsim 10^{4} M_\odot$) direct collapse black holes (DCBHs) at high redshifts. Under the assumption of axial symmetry, we analytically compute the effect of magnetic braking on the angular momentum of gas collapsing into the potential well of massive dark matter haloes ($\simeq 10^{7-9} M_\odot$) which are spun up by gravitational tidal torques. We find that a primordial magnetic field of strength $B_0\simeq 0.1$~nG (comoving) can remove the initial angular momentum gained b…
In de Sitter spacetime there exists an absolute minimum for the mass of a spin-2 field set by the Higuchi bound m^2 \geq 2H^2. We generalize this bound to arbitrary spatially flat FRW geometries in the context of the recently proposed ghost-free models of Massive Gravity with an FRW reference metric, by performing a Hamiltonian analysis for cosmological perturbations. We find that the bound generically indicates that spatially flat FRW solutions in FRW massive gravity, which exhibit a Vainshtein mechanism in the background as required by consistency with observations, imply that the helicity z…
We find new, simple cosmological solutions with flat, open, and closed spatial geometries, contrary to the previous wisdom that only the open model is allowed. The metric and the Stückelberg fields are given explicitly, showing nontrivial configurations of the Stückelberg in the usual Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker coordinates. The solutions exhibit self-acceleration, while being free from ghost instabilities. Our solutions can accommodate inhomogeneous dust collapse represented by the Lemaître-Tolman-Bondi metric as well. Thus, our results can be used not only to describe homogeneous and…
We investigate cosmological behavior in the quasi-Dilaton non-linear massive gravity. We perform a detailed dynamical analysis and examine the stable late-time solutions relevant to late time cosmic acceleration. We demonstrate that a dark-energy dominated, cosmological-constant-like solution is a late attractor of the dynamics. We also analyze the evolution of the universe at intermediate times, showing that the observed epoch sequence can be easily obtained in the model under consideration. Furthermore, we study the non-singular bounce and the cosmological turnaround which can be realized fo…
A covariant formulation of a theory with a massive graviton and no negative energy state has been recently proposed as an alternative to the usual General Relativity framework. For a spatially flat homogenous and isotropic universe, the theory introduces modified Friedmann equations where the standard matter term is supplemented by four effective fluids mimicking dust, cosmological constant, quintessence and stiff matter, respectively. We test the viability of this massive gravity formulation by contrasting its theoretical prediction to the Hubble diagram as traced by Type Ia Supernovae (SNeIa…
