We study the impact of modifying the vector sector of gravity on the CMB polarization. We employ the Einstein-aether theory as a concrete example. The Einstein-aether theory admits dynamical vector perturbations generated during inflation, leaving imprints on the CMB polarization. We derive the perturbation equations of the aether vector field in covariant formalism and compute the CMB B-mode polarization using the modified CAMB code. It is found that the amplitude of the B-mode signal from the aether field can surpass the one from the inflationary gravitational waves. The shape of the spectrum is clearly understood in an analytic way using the tight coupling approximation.
We study how the dynamical vector degree of freedom in modified gravity affects the CMB B-mode polarization in terms of the Einstein-aether theory. In this theory, vector perturbations can be generated from inflation, which can grow on superhorizon scales in the subsequent epochs and thereby leaves imprints on the CMB B-mode polarization. We derive the linear perturbation equations in a covariant formalism, and compute the CMB B-mode polarization using the CAMB code modified so as to incorporate the effect of the aether vector field. We find that the amplitude of the B-mode signal from the aet…
We use a dynamical systems analysis to investigate the future behaviour of Einstein-Aether cosmological models with a scalar field coupling to the expansion of the aether and a non-interacting perfect fluid. The stability of the equilibrium solutions are analysed and the results are compared with the standard inflationary cosmological solutions and previously studied cosmological Einstein-Aether models.
We show how to derive several families of accelerating universe solutions to an Einstein-Aether gravity theory. These solutions provide possible descriptions of inflationary behaviour in the early universe and late-time cosmological acceleration.
We show that Hořava gravity can be obtained from Einstein-aether theory in the limit that the twist coupling constant goes to infinity, while holding fixed the expansion, shear and acceleration couplings. This limit helps to clarify the relation between the two theories, and allows Hořava results to be obtained from Einstein-aether ones. The limit is illustrated with several examples, including rotating black hole equations, PPN parameters, and radiation rates from binary systems.
In the framework of axionic extension of the Einstein-aether theory we establish the model, which describes a stiff regulation of the behavior of axionic dark matter by the dynamic aether. The aether realizes this procedure via the modified Higgs potential, designed for modeling of nonlinear self-interaction of pseudoscalar (axion) field; the modification of this potential is that its minima are not fixed, and their positions and depths depend now on the square of the covariant derivative of the aether velocity four-vector. Exact solutions to the master equations, modified correspondingly, are…
In this paper, we will analyse the cosmological models in Einstein-aether gravity, which is a modified theory of gravity in which a time-like vector field breaks the Lorentz symmetry. We will use this formalism to analyse different cosmological models with different behavior of the scale factor. In this analysis, we will use a certain functional dependence of the dark energy on the Hubble parameter. It will be demonstrated that the aether vector field has a non-trivial effect on these cosmological models. We will also perform the \emph{Om} diagnostic in Einstein-aether gravity. Thus, we will f…
We consider a pp-wave symmetric model in the framework of the Einstein-Maxwell-aether-axion theory. Exact solutions to the equations of axion electrodynamics are obtained for the model, in which pseudoscalar, electric and magnetic fields were constant before the arrival of a gravitational pp-wave. We show that dynamo-optical interactions, i.e. couplings of the electromagnetic field to a dynamic unit vector field, attributed to the velocity of a cosmic substratum (aether, vacuum, dark fluid...), provide the response of axionically active electrodynamic system to display anomalous behavior.
We extend the Einstein-aether theory to take into account the interaction between a pseudoscalar field, which describes the axionic dark matter, and a time-like dynamic unit vector field, which characterizes the velocity of the aether motion. The Lagrangian of the Einstein-aether-axion theory includes cross-terms based on the axion field and its gradient four-vector, on the covariant derivative of the aether velocity four-vector, and on the Riemann tensor and its convolutions. We follow the principles of the Effective Field theory, and include into the Lagrangian of interactions all possible t…
We extend the Einstein-aether theory to include the Maxwell field in a nontrivial manner by taking into account its interaction with the time-like unit vector field characterizing the aether. We also include a generic matter term. We present a model with a Lagrangian that includes cross-terms linear and quadratic in the Maxwell tensor, linear and quadratic in the covariant derivative of the aether velocity four-vector, linear in its second covariant derivative and in the Riemann tensor. We decompose these terms with respect to the irreducible parts of the covariant derivative of the aether vel…
We examine the consequences of Lorentz violation during slow-roll inflation. We consider a canonical scalar inflaton coupled, through its potential, to the divergence of a fixed-norm timelike vector field, or "aether." The vector is described by Einstein-aether theory, a vector-tensor model of gravitational Lorentz violation. We derive and analyze the cosmological perturbation equations for the metric, inflaton, and aether. If the scale of Lorentz violation is sufficiently small compared to the Planck mass, and the strength of the scalar-aether coupling is suitably large, then the spin-0 and s…
The so-called Einstein-Aether theory is General Relativity coupled (at second derivative order) to a dynamical unit time-like vector field (the aether). It is a Lorentz-violating theory, and gained much attention in the recent years. In the present work, we study the cosmological evolution of Einstein-Aether models with power-law-like potential, by using the method of dynamical system. In the case without matter, there are two attractors which correspond to an inflationary universe in the early epoch, or a de Sitter universe in the late time. In the case with matter but there is no interaction…
In this paper, we systematically study spacetimes of gravitational plane waves in Einstein-aether theory. Due to the presence of the timelike aether vector field, now the problem in general becomes overdetermined. In particular, for the linearly polarized plane waves, there are five independent vacuum Einstein-aether field equations for three unknown functions. Therefore, solutions exist only for particular choices of the four free parameters $c_{i}$'s of the theory. We find that there exist eight cases, in two of which any form of gravitational plane waves can exist, similar to that in genera…
We study the cosmological evolution of the field equations in the context of Einstein-Aether cosmology by including a scalar field in a spatially flat Friedmann--Lema\^ıtre--Robertson--Walker spacetime. Our analysis is separated into two separate where a pressureless fluid source is included or absent. In particular, we determine the critical points of the field equations and we study the stability of the specific solutions. The limit of general relativity is fully recovered, while the dynamical system admits de Sitter solutions which can describe the past inflationary era and the future late-…
Einstein's theory of general relativity describes gravity as the interaction of particles with space-time geometry, as opposed to interacting with a physical fluid, as in the old gravitational aether theories. Moreover, any theoretical physicist would tell you that, despite its counter-intuitive structure, general relativity is one of the simplest, most beautiful, and successful theories in physics, that has withstood a diverse battery of precision tests over the past century. So, is there any motivation to relax its fundamental principle, and re-introduce a gravitational aether? Here, I give …
Here we briefly discuss the Einstein-Aether gravity theory by modification of Einstein-Hilbert action. We find the modified Friedmann equations and then from the equations we find the effective density and pressure for Einstein-Aether gravity sector. These can be treated as dark energy provided some restrictions on the free function $F(K)$, where $K$ is proportional to $H^{2}$. Assuming two types of the power law solutions of the scale factor, we have reconstructed the unknown function $F(K)$ from HDE and NADE and their entropy-corrected versions (ECHDE and ECNADE). We also obtain the EoS para…
We study the primordial perturbations generated during a stage of single-field inflation in Einstein-aether theories. Quantum fluctuations of the inflaton and aether fields seed long wavelength adiabatic and isocurvature scalar perturbations, as well as transverse vector perturbations. Geometrically, the isocurvature mode is the potential for the velocity field of the aether with respect to matter. For a certain range of parameters, this mode may lead to a sizable random velocity of the aether within the observable universe. The adiabatic mode corresponds to curvature perturbations of co-movin…
We investigate spherically symmetric cosmological models in Einstein-aether theory with a tilted (non-comoving) perfect fluid source. We use a 1+3 frame formalism and adopt the comoving aether gauge to derive the evolution equations, which form a well-posed system of first order partial differential equations in two variables. We then introduce normalized variables. The formalism is particularly well-suited for numerical computations and the study of the qualitative properties of the models, which are also solutions of Horava gravity. We study the local stability of the equilibrium points of t…
In this paper, we carry out a systematic analysis of the theoretical and observational constraints on the dimensionless coupling constants $c_i$ ($i=1,2,3,4$) of the Einstein-aether theory, taking into account the events GW170817 and GRB 170817A. The combination of these events restricts the deviation of the speed $c_T$ of the spin-2 graviton to the range, $- 3\times 10^{-15} < c_T -1 < 7\times 10^{-16}$, which for the Einstein-aether theory implies $\left|c_{13}\right| \le 10^{-15}$ with $c_{ij} \equiv c_{i} + c_{j}$. The rest of the constraints are divided into two groups: those on the ($c_1…
We investigate generalized Einstein-Aether theories that are compatible with the Planck Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) temperature anisotropy, polarisation, and lensing data. For a given dark energy equation of state, $w_{\rm de}$, we formulate a designer approach and we investigate their impact on the CMB temperature anisotropy and matter power spectra. We use the Equation of State approach to parametrize the perturbations and find that this approach is particularly useful in identifying the most suitable and numerically efficient parameters to explore in a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) …
In the context of Einstein-aether scalar field cosmology we solve the field equations and determine exact and analytic solutions. In particular, we consider a model proposed by Kanno and Soda where the aether and the scalar fields interact through the aether coefficient parameters, which are promoted to be functions of the scalar field. For this model, we write the field equations by using the minisuperspace approach and we determine the scalar field potentials which leads to Liouville--integrable systems. We solve the field equations for five families of scalar field potentials and, whether i…
We investigate the evolution of cosmological perturbations in models of dark energy described by a time-like unit normalized vector field specified by a general function $\mathcal{F}(\mathcal{K})$, so-called Generalized Einstein-Aether models. First we study the background dynamics of such models via a designer approach in an attempt to model this theory as dark energy. We find that only one specific form of this designer approach matches $Λ$CDM at background order and we also obtain a differential equation which $\mathcal{F}(\mathcal{K})$ must satisfy for general $w$CDM cosmologies. We also p…
Recently the lower bounds of the intergalactic magnetic fields $10^{-16} \sim 10^{-20}$ Gauss are set by gamma-ray observations while it is unlikely to generate such large scale magnetic fields through astrophysical processes. It is known that large scale magnetic fields could be generated if there exist cosmological vector mode perturbations in the primordial plasma. The vector mode, however, has only a decaying solution in General Relativity if the plasma consists of perfect fluids. In order to investigate a possible mechanism of magnetogenesis in the primordial plasma, here we consider cosm…
In the framework of the Einstein-Maxwell-aether theory we study the birefringence effect, which can occur in the pp-wave symmetric dynamic aether. The dynamic aether is considered to be latently birefringent quasi-medium, which displays this hidden property if and only if the aether motion is non-uniform, i.e., when the aether flow is characterized by the non-vanishing expansion, shear, vorticity or acceleration. In accordance with the dynamo-optical scheme of description of the interaction between electromagnetic waves and the dynamic aether, we shall model the susceptibility tensors by the t…
In Einstein-aether theory and Horava gravity, a timelike unit vector is coupled to the spacetime metric. It has previously been shown that in an exponentially expanding homogeneous, isotropic background, small perturbations of the vector relax back to the isotropic frame. Here we investigate large deviations from isotropy, maintaining homogeneity. We find that, for generic values of the coupling constants, the aether and metric relax to the isotropic configuration if the initial aether hyperbolic boost angle and its time derivative in units of the cosmological constant are less than something …
With the dark energy phenomena explored over a decade, in this present work we discuss a specific case of the generalized Einstein-aether theories, in which the modified Friedmann Equation is similar to that in the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati (DGP) brane world model. We compute the joint statistic constraints on model parameters in this specific case by using the recent type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) data, the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) shift parameter data, and the Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations (BAOs) data traced by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Furthermore, we analyze other constrain…
Gravitationally bound hierarchies containing three or more components are very common in our Universe. In this paper we study {\em periodic} gravitational wave (GW) form, their polarizations, response function, its Fourier transform, and energy loss rate of a triple system through three different channels of radiation, the scalar, vector and tensor modes, in Einstein-aether theory of gravity. In the weak-field approximations and with the recently obtained constraints of the theory, we first analyze the energy loss rate of a binary system, and find that the dipole contributions from the scalar …
We first consider the Einstein-aether theory with a gravitational coupling and a Lagrange multiplier field, and then consider the non-minimally coupled quintessence field theory with Lagrange multiplier field. We study the influence of the Lagrange multiplier field on these models. We show that the energy density evolution of the Einstein-aether field and the quintessence field are significantly modified. The energy density of the Einstein-aether is nearly a constant during the entire history of the Universe. The energy density of the quintessence field can also be kept nearly constant in the …
We study supersymmetric extension of the Einstein-aether gravitational model where local Lorentz invariance is broken down to the subgroup of spatial rotations by a vacuum expectation value of a timelike vector field called aether. Embedding aether into a chiral vector superfield, we construct the most general action which describes dynamics of linear perturbations around the Lorentz-violating vacuum and is invariant under the linearized supergravity transformations. The analysis is performed both in the off-shell non-minimal superfield formulation of supergravity and in the "on-shell" approac…
We propose, in a heuristic way, a relativistic modified gravity model as an alternative to particle dark matter at galactic scales. The model is based on a postulated preferred time foliation described by a dynamical scalar field called the "Khronon". In coordinates adapted to the foliation it appears as a modification of general relativity violating local Lorentz invariance in a regime of weak gravitational fields. The model is a particular case of non-canonical Einstein-aether theory, but in which the aether vector field is hypersurface orthogonal. We show that this model recovers the phenom…
In this communication, we consider a wide class of extensions to General Relativity that break explicitly the Einstein Equivalence Principle by introducing a multiplicative coupling between a scalar field and the electromagnetic Lagrangian. In these theories, we show that 4 cosmological observables are intimately related to each other: a temporal variation of the fine structure constant, a violation of the distance-duality relation, the evolution of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and CMB spectral distortions. This enables one to put very stringent constraints on possible vio…
The Einstein Equivalence Principle~(EEP) can be verified by the measurement of the spectral distortions of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). The existence of energy-dependency in the cosmological redshift effect means the EEP violation. Introducing the energy-dependent Friedmann-Robertson-Walker metric motivated by rainbow gravity, we show that the energy-dependent redshift effect causes the CMB spectral distortions. Assuming the simple energy-dependent form of the metric, we evaluate the distortions. From the COBE/FIRAS bound, we find that the deviation degree from the EEP, which is comp…
