While the (weak) Equivalence Principle (EP) has been rigorously tested within the solar system, its validity on cosmological scales, particularly in the context of dark matter and dark energy, remains uncertain. In this study, we propose a novel method to test EP on cosmological scales by measuring the peculiar acceleration power spectrum of galaxies using the redshift drift technique. We develop an EP estimator, $E_{\rm ep}$, to evaluate the consistency of the peculiar acceleration power spectrum across different tracers. By calculating the ratio of the peculiar acceleration power spectra of tracers, the ensemble average of $E_{\rm ep}$ is expected to be unity if EP holds on cosmological scales for these tracers. We validate this estimator using N-body simulations, focusing on four redshift bins with $z\leq 1.5$ and scales of $k$ in the range of $0.007$ and $0.2$ $h/\rm Mpc$. By fitting a single parameter $δ_{\rm ep}$ across redshifts, we find that DM particle mocks without EP violation yield $δ_{\rm ep}$ consistent with zero under the small redshift measurement uncertainty case, while the large redshift uncertainty case slightly induces biases at low redshifts. In addition, when using DM halo mocks with controlled EP violations, no-violation and mild-violation cases show no significant detection, while moderate and strong violations produce statistically significant $δ_{\rm ep}$ values and high $χ^2$, especially at low redshifts, confirming the estimator's sensitivity. Taking advantage of advanced observing capabilities, such as next-generation facilities that extend beyond the Square Kilometer Array, the proposed method offers a promising approach for future cosmological tests of EP.
Recent surveys seem to support bulk peculiar velocities well in excess of those anticipated by the standard cosmological model. In view of these results, we consider here some of the theoretical implications of large-scale drift motions. We find that observers with small, but finite, peculiar velocities have generally different expansion rates than the smooth Hubble flow. In particular, it is possible for observers with larger than the average volume expansion at their location, to experience apparently accelerated expansion when the universe is actually decelerating. Analogous results have be…
We report a discovery of a double radio relic in the cluster merger ZwCl1447.2+2619 ($z=0.376$) with uGMRT observations at $420\rm~MHz$ and $700\rm~MHz$. The linear sizes of the northern and southern relics are $\sim0.3~$Mpc and $\sim1.2~$Mpc, respectively, which is consistent with the theoretical expectation that a larger relic is produced in the less massive subcluster side. However, ZwCl1447.2+2619 is unlike other known double radio relic systems, where the larger relics are much more luminous by several factors. In this merger the higher surface brightness of the smaller northern relic mak…
Detecting the change of a cosmological object's redshift due to the time evolution of the Universal expansion rate is an ambitious experiment that will be attempted with future telescope facilities. In this paper, we describe the ACCELERATION programme, which aims to study the properties of the most underdense regions of the Universe. One of the highlight goals of this programme is to prepare for the redshift drift measurement. Using the EAGLE cosmological hydrodynamic simulations, we estimate the peculiar acceleration of gas in galaxies and in the Lya forest. We find that star-forming 'cold n…
Reconstruction of the local velocity field from the overdensity field and a gravitational acceleration that falls off from a point mass as r^-2 yields velocities in broad agreement with peculiar velocities measured with galaxy distance indicators. MONDian gravity does not. To quantify this, we introduce the velocity angular correlation function as a diagnostic of peculiar velocity field alignment and coherence as a function of scale. It is independent of the bias parameter of structure formation in the standard model of cosmology and the acceleration parameter of MOND. A modified gravity accel…
Third generation ground-based interferometers as well as the planned space-based interferometer LISA are expected to detect a plethora of gravitational wave signals from coalescing binaries at cosmological distance. The emitted gravitational waves propagate in the expanding universe through the inhomogeneous distribution of matter. Here we show that the acceleration of the universe and the peculiar acceleration of the binary with respect to the observer distort the gravitational chirp signal from the simplest General Relativity prediction beyond a mere time independent rescaling of the chirp m…
Observing the Peculiar Acceleration of our Solar System with Quasar Proper Motions
Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”（罗马托维加塔大学）；University of Belgrade – Faculty of Mathematics（贝尔格莱德大学数学学院）；Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität（慕尼黑路德维希-马克西米利安大学）；Université Paris-Saclay, CEA, IRFU（巴黎萨克雷大学）；Université Paris Cité, CNRS-IN2P3, APC（巴黎西岱大学）
Comparison of peculiar velocities of galaxies with their gravitational accelerations (induced by the density field) is one of the methods to constrain the redshift distortion parameter β=(Ω_m^0.55)/b, where Ω_m is the non-relativistic matter density parameter and b is the linear bias. In particular, one can use the motion of the Local Group (LG) for that purpose. Its peculiar velocity is known from the dipole component of the cosmic microwave background, whereas its acceleration can be estimated with the use of an all-sky galaxy catalog, from the so-called clustering dipole. At the moment, the…
Massive gravity, galileon and braneworld models that modify gravity to explain cosmic acceleration utilize the nonlinear field interactions of the Vainshtein mechanism to screen fifth forces in high density regimes. These source-dependent interactions cause apparent equivalence principle violations. In the weakly-screened regime violations can be especially prominent since the fifth forces are at near full strength. Since they can also be calculated perturbatively, we derive analytic solutions for illustrative cases: the motion of massive objects in compensated shells and voids and infall towa…
We consider some aspects of the perturbation to the luminosity distance $d(z)$ that are of relevance for SN1a cosmology and for future peculiar velocity surveys at non-negligible redshifts. 1) Previous work has shown that the correction to the lowest order perturbation $δd / d = -δv / c z$ has the peculiar characteristic that it appears to depend on the absolute state of motion of sources, rather than on their motion relative to that of the observer. The resolution of this apparent violation of the equivalence principle is that it is necessary to allow for evolution of the velocities with time…
Peculiar velocities change the expansion rate of any observer moving relative to the smooth Hubble flow. As a result, observers in a galaxy like our Milky Way can experience accelerated expansion within a globally decelerating universe, even when the drift velocities are small. The effect is local, but the affected scales can be large enough to give the false impression that the whole cosmos has recently entered an accelerating phase. Generally, peculiar velocities are also associated with dipole-like anisotropies, triggered by the fact that they introduce a preferred spatial direction. This i…
The evolution of the expansion rate of the Universe results in a drift in the redshift of distant sources over time. A measurement of this drift would provide us with a direct probe of expansion history. The Lyman alpha forest has been recognized as the best candidate for this experiment, but the signal would be weak and it will take next generation large telescopes coupled with ultra-stable high resolution spectrographs to reach the cm/s resolution required. One source of noise that has not yet been assessed is the transverse motion of Lyman alpha absorbers, which varies the gravitational pot…
We present precise HI 21 cm absorption line redshifts observed in multiple epochs to directly constrain the secular redshift drift dz/dt_o or the cosmic acceleration, dv/dt_o. A comparison of literature analog spectra to contemporary digital spectra shows significant acceleration likely attributable to systematic instrumental errors. However, we obtain robust constraints using primarily Green Bank Telescope digital data. Ten objects spanning z=0.09-0.69 observed over 13.5 years show dz/dt_o = (-2.3 +/- 0.8) x 10^-8 yr^-1 or dv/dt_o = -5.5 +/- 2.2 m/s/yr. The best constraint from a single objec…
A refined version of a recently introduced method for analysing the dynamics of an inhomogeneous irrotational dust universe is presented. A fully non-perturbative numerical computation of the time dependence of volume in this framework leads to the following results. If the initial state of the universe is Einstein-de Sitter with small Gaussian perturbations, then there is no acceleration even though the inhomogeneities strongly affect the evolution. A universe with a positive background curvature can exhibit acceleration, but not in conjunction with reasonable values for the Hubble rate. Thus…
We study the extent up to which the equivalence principle is obeyed in models of modified gravity and dark energy involving a single scalar degree of freedom. We focus on the effective field theories of dark energy describing the late time acceleration in the presence of ordinary matter species. In their covariant form these coincide with the Horndeski theories on a cosmological background with a slowly varying Hubble rate and a time-dependent scalar field. We show that in the case of an exactly de Sitter universe both the weak and strong equivalence principles hold. This occurs due to the com…
A new interpretation is introduced for MOND based on the Sciama's interpretation of Mach principle and an Unruh like effect, in the context of a generalized equivalence principle. It is argued that in a locally accelerated frame with acceleration $a$ the appearance of a Rindler horizon may give rise to a constant acceleration $a_0$ as the local properties of cosmological horizon or Hubble length. The total gravitational acceleration inside this frame becomes the combination of $a$ with $a_0$. For $a\gg a_0$, the conventional gravitational mass $m_g$ interacts with the dominant acceleration as …
To describe dark energy we introduce a fluid model with no free parameter on the microscopic level. The constituents of this fluid are massless particles which are a dynamical realisation of the unextended $D=(3+1)$ Galilei algebra. These particles are exotic as they live in an enlarged phase space. Their only interaction is with gravity. A minimal coupling to the gravitational field, satisfying Einstein's equivalence principle, leads to a dynamically active gravitational mass density of either sign. A two-component model containing matter (baryonic and dark) and dark energy leads, through the…
Verlinde (2016) has recently proposed that spacetime and gravity may emerge from an underlying microscopic theory. In a de Sitter spacetime, such emergent gravity (EG) contains an additional gravitational force due to dark energy, which may explain the mass discrepancies observed in galactic systems without the need of dark matter. For a point mass, EG is equivalent to Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND). We show that this equivalence does not hold for finite-size galaxies: there are significant differences between EG and MOND in the inner regions of galaxies. We confront theoretical prediction…
The strong equivalence principle (SEP) distinguishes General Relativity from other viable theories of gravity. The SEP demands that the internal dynamics of a self-gravitating system under free-fall in an external gravitational field should not depend on the external field strength. We test the SEP by investigating the external field effect (EFE) in Milgromian dynamics (MOND), proposed as an alternative to dark matter in interpreting galactic kinematics. We report a detection of this EFE using galaxies from the Spitzer Photometry and Accurate Rotation Curves (SPARC) sample together with estima…
