We present a new test of gravitational interactions at the r\sim(0.2-20)Mpc scale, around the virial radius of dark matter halos measured through cluster-galaxy lensing of maxBCG clusters from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We employ predictions from self-consistent simulations of f(R) gravity to find an upper bound on the background field amplitude of f_R0<3.5x10^-3 at the 1D-marginalized 95% confidence level. As a model-independent assessment of the constraining power of cluster profiles measured through weak gravitational lensing, we also constrain the amplitude F_0 of a phenomenological modification based on the profile enhancement induced by f(R) gravity when not including effects from the increased cluster abundance in f(R). In both scenarios, dark-matter-only simulations of the concordance model corresponding to f_R0=0 and F_0=0 are consistent with the lensing measurements, i.e., at the 68% and 95% confidence level, respectively.
We provide a cosmological test of modified gravity with two tensorial degrees of freedom and no extra propagating scalar mode. The theory of gravity we consider admits a cosmological model that is indistinguishable from the $Λ$CDM model at the level of the background evolution. The model has a single modified-gravity parameter $β$, the effect of which can be seen in linear perturbations, though no extra scalar mode is propagating. Using the Boltzmann code modified to incorporate the present model, we derive the constraints $-0.047 < β< -0.028$ at 68$\%$ confidence from Planck CMB data. Since o…
Gravitational instability in classical Jeans theory, General Relativity, and modified gravity is considered. The background density increase leads to a faster growth of perturbations in comparison with the standard theory. The transition to the Newtonian gauge in the case of coordinate dependent background metric functions is studied. For modified gravity a new high frequency stable solution is found.
In the recent years, a host of modified gravity models have been proposed as alternatives to the dark energy. A quantum theory of gravity also requires to modify `General Theory of Relativity'. In the present article, we consider five different modified theories of gravity, and compare inflationary parameters with recent data sets released by two Planck collaboration teams. Our analysis reveals that the scalar-tensor theory of gravity is the best alternative.
In this work, we study the large scale structure formation in the modified gravity in the framework of Palatini formalism and compare the results with the equivalent smooth dark energy models as a tool to distinguish between these models. Through the inverse method, we reconstruct the dynamics of universe, modified gravity action and the structure formation indicators like the screened mass function and gravitational slip parameter. Consequently, we extract the matter density power spectrum for these two models in the linear regime and show that the modified gravity and dark energy models pred…
The modified gravity (MOG) theory is applied to the gravitational wave binary merger GW190814 to demonstrate that the modified Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkoff equation for a neutron star can produce a mass $M=2.6 -2.7 M_\odot$, allowing for the binary secondary component to be identified as a heavy neutron star in the hypothesized mass gap $2.5 - 5 M_\odot$.
The cosmological phenomenology of gravity is typically studied in two limits: relativistic perturbation theory (on large scales) and Newtonian gravity (required for smaller, non-linear, scales). Traditional approaches to model-independent modified gravity are based on perturbation theory, so do not apply on non-linear scales. Future surveys such as Euclid will produce significant data on both linear and non-linear scales, so a new approach is required to constrain model-independent modified gravity by simultaneously using all of the data from these surveys. We use the higher order equations fr…
Scalar Tensor Vector Gravity(STVG) is a fully covariant Lorentz invariant alternative theory of gravity also called as MOdified Gravity(MOG) which modifies General Relativity(GR) with dynamical massive vector field and scalar fields. In STVG the mass $μ$ of the vector field $ϕ$ and the Universal gravitational constant G enjoys the status of a dynamical field. We use the reconstructed total cluster mass obtained from X-ray observations by XMM-Newton telescope in combination with the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich(SZ) effect observed within Planck all-sky survey to estimate the parameters $ α$ and $μ$ with …
We systematically assess several limiting cases of modified gravity, where particular theoretical or observational conditions hold. This framework includes the well known scalar-tensor gravity and No Slip Gravity and No Run Gravity, and we extend it to three new limits: Only Run, Only Light, and Only Growth Gravities. These limits give simplifications that allow deeper understanding of modified gravity, including demonstration that gravitational effects on light and matter can have opposite signs in their deviation from general relativity. We also show observational predictions for the differe…
We present modified Gauss-Bonnet gravity without matter in four dimensions which accommodates flat emergent universe (EU) obtained in Einstein's general theory of gravity with a non-linear equation of state. The EU model is interesting which is free from big-bang singularity with other observed features of the universe. It is assumed that the present universe emerged out from a static Einstein universe phase exists in the infinite past. To obtain a flat EU model we reconstructed mimetic modified $f(G)$-gravity ($G$ representing Gauss-Bonnet terms) without matter. The functional form of f(G)-gr…
We study degeneracies between parameters in some of the widely used parametrized modified gravity models. We investigate how different observables from a future photometric weak lensing survey such as LSST, correlate the effects of these parameters and to what extent the degeneracies are broken. We also study the impact of other degenerate effects, namely massive neutrinos and some of the weak lensing systematics, on the correlations.
We use a spherical model and an extended excursion set formalism with drifting diffusive barriers to predict the abundance of cosmic voids in the context of general relativity as well as f(R) and symmetron models of modified gravity. We detect spherical voids from a suite of N-body simulations of these gravity theories and compare the measured void abundance to theory predictions. We find that our model correctly describes the abundance of both dark matter and galaxy voids, providing a better fit than previous proposals in the literature based on static barriers. We use the simulation abundanc…
We present a general parallelized and easy-to-use code to perform numerical simulations of structure formation using the COLA (COmoving Lagrangian Acceleration) method for cosmological models that exhibit scale-dependent growth at the level of first and second order Lagrangian perturbation theory. For modified gravity theories we also include screening using a fast approximate method that covers all the main examples of screening mechanisms in the literature. We test the code by comparing it to full simulations of two popular modified gravity models, namely $f(R)$ gravity and nDGP, and find go…
Modified Gravity (MOG) has been used successfully to explain the rotation curves of galaxies, the motion of galaxy clusters, the Bullet Cluster, and cosmological observations without the use of dark matter or Einstein's cosmological constant. We review the main theoretical ideas and applications of the theory to astrophysical and cosmological data.
In this paper, we quantify the ability of a future measurement of the Sandage-Loeb test signal from the Cosmic-Dynamic-Experiment-like spectrograph to constrain some popular modified gravity theories including DGP brane-world scenario, $f(R)$ modified gravity and $f(T)$ gravity theory. We find that the Sandage-Loeb test measurements are able to break degeneracies between model parameters markedly and thus greatly improve cosmological constraints for all concerned modified gravity theories when combined with the latest observations of CMB--shift parameter. However, they yield almost the same de…
Some models of modified gravity and their observational manifestations are considered. It is shown, that gravitating systems with mass density rising with time evolve to a singular state with infinite curvature scalar. The universe evolution during the radiation dominated epoch is studied in $R^2$-extended gravity theory. Particle production rate by the oscillating curvature is calculated. Possible implications of the model for cosmological creation of non-thermal dark matter are discussed.
We revisit Ricci dark energy in Chern-Simons modified gravity. As far as the cosmological evolution, this is nothing but the Ricci dark energy with a minimally coupled scalar without potential which means that the role of Chern-Simons term is suppressed. Using the equation of state parameter, this model is similar to the modified Chaplygin gas model only when two are around the de Sitter universe deriving by the cosmological constant in the future. However, two past evolutions are different.
The distinction between modified gravity and quintessence or dynamical dark energy is difficult. Many models of modified gravity are equivalent to models of coupled quintessence by virtue of variable transformations. This makes an observational differentiation between modified gravity and dark energy very hard. For example, the additional scalar degree of freedom in $f(R)$-gravity or non-local gravity can be interpreted as the cosmon of quintessence. Nevertheless, modified gravity can shed light on questions of interpretation, naturalness and simplicity. We present a simple model where gravity…
In modified gravity, the one-loop matter power spectrum exhibits an ultraviolet divergence as shown in the framework of the degenerate higher-order scalar-tensor theory. To address this problem, we extend the effective field theory of large scale structure to modified gravity theories. We find that new counterterms appear and renormalize the ultraviolet divergence as a natural consequence of non-linearity in the modified Poisson equation. The renormalized one-loop matter power spectrum is useful to test modified gravity theories by comparing to observations.
Modified gravity theories can introduce modifications to the Poisson equation in the Newtonian limit. As a result, we expect to see interesting features of these modifications inside stellar objects. White dwarf stars are one of the most well studied stars in stellar astrophysics. We explore the effect of modified gravity theories inside white dwarfs. We derive the modified stellar structure equations and solve them to study the mass-radius relationships for various modified gravity theories. We also constrain the parameter space of these theories from observations.
The weak lensing of cosmic web filaments is investigated in modified gravity (MOG) and it is demonstrated that the detected galaxies and baryonic gas of order $5-15 \%$ in filaments can with the enhanced value of the strength of gravity agree with the lensing data for filaments without dark matter.
The second law and the generalized second law of thermodynamics in cosmology in the framework of the modified Gauss-Bonnet theory of gravity are investigated. The conditions upon which these laws hold are derived and discussed.
The missing gravity in galaxies requires dark matter, or alternatively a modification of gravity or inertia. These theoretical possibilities of fundamental importance may be distinguished by the statistical relation between the observed centripetal acceleration of particles in orbital motion and the expected Newtonian acceleration from the observed distribution of baryons in galaxies. Here predictions of cold dark matter halos, modified gravity, and modified inertia are compared and tested by a statistical sample of galaxy rotation curves from the Spitzer Photometry and Accurate Rotation Curve…
We consider nonlocal modified Einstein gravity without matter, where nonlocal term has the form $P(R) F(\Box) Q(R)$. For this model, in this paper we give the derivation of the equations of motion in detail. This is not an easy task and presented derivation should be useful to a researcher who wants to investigate nonlocal gravity. Also, we present the second variation of the related Einstein-Hilbert modified action and basics of gravity perturbations.
Standard cosmological data analyses typically constrain simple phenomenological dark-energy parameters, for example the present-day value of the equation of state parameter, $w_0$, and its variation with scale factor, $w_a$. However, results from such an analysis cannot easily indicate the presence of modified gravity. Even if general relativity does not hold, experimental data could still be fit sufficiently well by a phenomenological $w_0w_a$CDM, unmodified-gravity model. Hence, it would be very useful to know if there are generic signatures of modified gravity in standard analyses. Here we …
We consider some cosmological aspects of nonlocal modified gravity with $Λ$ term, where nonlocality is of the type $R \mathcal{F}(\Box) R$. Using ansatz of the form $\Box R = r R +s,$ we find a few a(t) nonsingular bounce cosmological solutions for all three values of spatial curvature parameter k. We also discuss this modified gravity model from F(R) theory point of view.
We systematically review some standard issues and also the latest developments of modified gravity in cosmology, emphasizing on inflation, bouncing cosmology and late-time acceleration era. Particularly, we present the formalism of standard modified gravity theory representatives, like $F(R)$, $F(\mathcal{G})$ and $F(T)$ gravity theories, but also several alternative theoretical proposals which appeared in the literature during the last decade. We emphasize on the formalism developed for these theories and we explain how these theories can be considered as viable descriptions for our Universe.…
We review thermodynamic properties of modified gravity theories such as $F(R)$ gravity and $f(T)$ gravity, where $R$ is the scalar curvature and $T$ is the torsion scalar in teleparallelism. In particular, we explore the equivalence between the equations of motion for modified gravity theories and the Clausius relation in thermodynamics. In addition, thermodynamics of the cosmological apparent horizon is investigated in $f(T)$ gravity. We show both equilibrium and non-equilibrium descriptions of thermodynamics. It is demonstrated that the second law of thermodynamics in the universe can be met…
We investigate the Hamiltonian structure of a class of gravitational theories whose actions are linear in the lapse function. We derive the necessary and sufficient condition for a theory in this class to have two or less local physical degrees of freedom. As an application we then find several concrete examples of modified gravity theories in which the total number of local physical degrees of freedom in the gravity sector is two.
The statistics of dark matter halos is an essential component of understanding the nonlinear evolution in modified gravity cosmology. Based on a series of modified gravity N-body simulations, we investigate the halo mass function, concentration and bias. We model the impact of modified gravity by a single parameter ζ, which determines the enhancement of particle acceleration with respect to GR, given the identical mass distribution (ζ=1 in GR). We select snapshot redshifts such that the linear matter power spectra of different gravity models are identical, in order to isolate the impact of gra…
Motivated by the fact that the pre-inflationary era may evolve in an exotic way, in this work we formalize anisotropic evolution in the context of modified gravity, focusing on pre-inflationary and near the vicinity of the inflationary epochs. We specialize on specific metrics like Bianchi and Taub and we formalize the inflationary theory in vacuum $F(R)$ gravity, in $F(R)$ gravity with an extra scalar field and in Gauss-Bonnet gravity. We discuss the qualitative effects of the anisotropies on the evolution of the Universe and also we consider several specific solutions, like the de Sitter sol…
This paper scrutinises the tenability of a strict conceptual distinction between space(time) and matter via the lens of the debate between modified gravity and dark matter. In particular, we consider Berezhiani and Khoury's novel 'superfluid dark matter theory' (SFDM) as a case study. Two families of criteria for being matter and being spacetime, respectively, are extracted from the literature. Evaluation of the new scalar field postulated by SFDM according to these criteria reveals that it is as much (dark) matter as anything could possibly be, but also$-$below the critical temperature for su…
In the theories of generalized modified gravity, the acceleration equation is generally fourth order. So it is hard to analyze the evolution of the Universe. In this paper, we present a class of generalized modified gravity theories which have the acceleration equation of second order derivative. Then both the cosmic evolution and the weak-field limit of the theories are easily investigated. We find that not only the Big-bang singularity problem but also the current cosmic acceleration problem could be easily dealt with.
We present a new massively parallel code for N-body and cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of modified gravity models. The code employs a multigrid-accelerated Newton-Gauss-Seidel relaxation solver on an adaptive mesh to efficiently solve for perturbations in the scalar degree of freedom of the modified gravity model. As this new algorithm is implemented as a module for the P-Gadget3 code, it can at the same time follow the baryonic physics included in P-Gadget3, such as hydrodynamics, radiative cooling and star formation. We demonstrate that the code works reliably by applying it to simp…
We investigate modified theories of gravity in the context of teleparallel geometries. It is well known that modified gravity models based on the torsion scalar are not invariant under local Lorentz transformations while modifications based on the Ricci scalar are. This motivates the study of a model depending on the torsion scalar and the divergence of the torsion vector. We derive the teleparallel equivalent of $f(R)$ gravity as a particular subset of these models and also show that this is the unique theory in this class that is invariant under local Lorentz transformation. Furthermore one …
We investigate the future evolution of Nariai black hole which is extremal limit of Schwarzschild-de Sitter one in modified gravity. The perturbations equations around Nariai black hole are derived in static and cosmological patches for general $F(R)$-gravity. The analytical and numerical study of several realistic $F(R)$-models shows the occurence of rich variety of scenarios: instabilities, celebrated Hawking evaporation and anti-evaporation of black hole. The realization of specific scenario depends on the model under consideration. It is remarkable that the presence of such primordial blac…
In this paper we consider FRW cosmology in modified gravity which contain arbitrary functions $f(ϕ)$. It is shown that the bouncing solution appears in the model whereas the equation of state (EoS) parameter crosses the phantom divider. The reconstruction of the model is also investigated with the aim to reconstruct the arbitrary functions and variables of the model.
The galileon model was recently proposed to locally describe a class of modified gravity theories, including the braneworld DGP model. We discuss spontaneous symmetry breaking of the self-accelerating branch in a multi-galileon theory with internal global symmetries. We show a modified version of Goldstone's theorem is applicable to the symmetry breaking pattern and discuss its implications. We also derive the Hamiltonian of a general multi-galileon theory and discuss its implications.
It is shown that F(R)-modified gravitational theories lead to curvature oscillations in astrophysical systems with rising energy density. The frequency and the amplitude of such oscillations could be very high and would lead to noticeable production of energetic cosmic ray particles.
Recent observations of ultra-dwarf galaxy NGC1052-DF2 started an interesting discussion between dark matter hypothesis and modified gravity theories. Reported low velocity dispersion (< 10.5 km/s at 90% confidence level) derived from the kinematic data of 10 globular clusters in the galaxy points towards an extraordinarily low dynamical mass ($\sim$ $3.4 \times 10^{8} M_{\odot}$) which is of the same order of the luminous mass ($\sim$ $2.0 \times 10^{8} M_{\odot}$) in the galaxy. This has been interpreted as the first evidence of a galaxy `without Dark Matter'. It has been argued that dark mat…
A classical evolution in chaotic inflationary models starts at high energy densities with semi-classical initial conditions presumably consistent with universal quantum nature of all the fundamental forces. That is each quantum contributes the same amount to the energy density. We point out the upper limit on this amount inherent in this approach, so that all the quanta are inside the weak-coupling domain. We discuss this issue in realistic models with modified gravity, $R^2$- and Higgs-inflations, emphasizing the specific change of the initial conditions with metric frame, while all the quant…
When it comes to searches for extensions to general relativity, large efforts are being dedicated to accurate predictions for the power spectrum of density perturbations. While this observable is known to be sensitive to the gravitational theory, its efficiency as a diagnostic for gravity is significantly reduced when Solar System constraints are strictly adhered to. We show that this problem can be overcome by studying weigthed density fields. We propose a transformation of the density field for which the impact of modified gravity on the power spectrum can be increased by more than a factor …
Despite many nice properties and numerous achievements, general relativity is not a complete theory. One of actual approaches towards more complete theory of gravity is its nonlocal modification. We present here a brief review of nonlocal gravity with its cosmological solutions. In particular, we pay special attention to two nonlocal models and their nonsingular bounce solutions for the cosmic scale factor.
We explore a new horizon of modified gravity from the viewpoint of the particle physics. As a concrete example, we take the $F(R)$ gravity to raise a question: can a scalar particle ("scalaron") derived from the $F(R)$ gravity be a dark matter candidate? We place the limit on the parameter in a class of $F(R)$ gravity model from the constraint on the scalaron as a dark matter. The role of the screening mechanism and compatibility with the dark energy problem are addressed.
Large scale flows have been a challenging feature of cosmography ever since galaxy scaling relations came on the scene 40 years ago. The next generation of surveys will offer a serious test of the standard cosmology.
Screened modified gravity theories evade the solar system tests that have proved prohibitive for classical alternative gravity theories. In many cases, they do not fit into the PPN formalism. The environmental dependence of the screening has motivated a concerted effort to find new and novel probes of gravity using objects that are well-studied but have hitherto not been used to test gravity. Astrophysical objects---stars, galaxies, clusters---have proved competitive tools for this purpose since they occupy the partially-screened regime between solar system and the Hubble flow. In this article…
We propose that the mass-temperature relation of galaxy clusters is a prime candidate for testing gravity theories beyond Einstein's general relativity, for modified gravity models with universal coupling between matter and the scalar field. For non-universally coupled models we discover that the impact of modified gravity can remain hidden from the mass-temperature relation. Using cosmological simulations, we find that in modified gravity the mass-temperature relation varies significantly from the standard gravity prediction of $M \propto T^{1.73}$. To be specific, for symmetron models with a…
We review inflationary cosmology in modified gravity such as $R^2$ gravity with its extensions in order to generalize the Starobinsky inflation model. In particular, we explore inflation realized by three kinds of effects: modification of gravity, the quantum anomaly, and the $R^2$ term in loop quantum cosmology. It is explicitly demonstrated that in these inflationary models, the spectral index of scalar modes of the density perturbations and the tensor-to-scalar ratio can be consistent with the Planck results. Bounce cosmology in $F(R)$ gravity is also explained.
We impose the first strong-lensing constraints on a wide class of modified gravity models where an extra field that modifies gravity also couples to photons (either directly or indirectly through a coupling with baryons) and thus modifies lensing. We use the nonsingular isothermal ellipsoid (NIE) profile as an effective potential, which produces flat galactic rotation curves. If a concrete modified gravity model gives a flat rotation curve, then the parameter $Γ$ that characterizes the lensing effect must take some definite value. We find that $Γ= 1.24\pm0.65$ at $1σ$, consistent with general …
We present current and future constraints on the Hu and Sawicki modified gravity scenario. This model can reproduce a late time accelerated universe and evade solar system constraints. While current cosmological data still allows for distinctive deviations from the cosmological constant picture, future measurements of the growth of structure combined with Supernova Ia luminosity distance data will greatly improve present constraints.
In a modified gravity theory, the propagation equation of gravitational waves will be presented in a non-standard way. Therefore this tenor mode perturbation of time-space, as a complement to the scalar mode perturbation, provides a unique character distinguishing modified gravity from general relativity. To avoid the model-dependent issue, in this paper, we propose a parametrised modification to the propagation of gravitational waves. We show the effects on the angular power spectrum of cosmic microwave background radiation due to the parametrised modification and its degeneracy to the tensor…
