Galaxy clustering constraints on deviations from Newtonian gravity at cosmological scales
- Department of Physics, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Tokyo 152-8551 (Japan)
- Department of Physics and Astrophysics, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602 (Japan)
- Department of Physics, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan)
In spite of the growing observational evidence for dark matter and dark energy in the universe, their physical nature is largely unknown. In fact, several authors have proposed modifications of Newton's law of gravity at cosmological scales to account for the apparent acceleration of the cosmic expansion. Inspired by such suggestions, we attempt to constrain possible deviations from Newtonian gravity by means of the clustering of SDSS (Sloan Digital Sky Survey) galaxies. To be specific, we assume a simple modification of Newton's law with an additional Yukawa-type term characterized by the amplitude {alpha} and the length scale {lambda}. Adopting spatially-flat universes dominated by cold dark matter and/or dark energy, we solve a linear perturbation equation for the growth of density fluctuations. In particular, we find an exact analytic solution for the Einstein-de Sitter case. Following the Peacock-Dodds prescription, we compute the nonlinear power spectra of mass fluctuations, perform a statistical comparison with the SDSS galaxy data, and derive constraints in the {alpha}-{lambda} plane; for instance, we obtain the constraints of -0.5<{alpha}<0.6 and -0.8<{alpha}<0.9 (99.7% confidence level) for {lambda}=5h{sup -1} Mpc and 10h{sup -1} Mpc, respectively. We also discuss several future possibilities for improving our analysis.
- OSTI ID:
- 20708907
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Vol. 71, Issue 6; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.71.064030; (c) 2005 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0556-2821
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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