skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Vector field models of modified gravity and the dark sector

Journal Article · · Physical Review. D, Particles Fields
;  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. Astrophysics, University of Oxford, Denys Wilkinson Building, Keble Road, Oxford OX1 3RH (United Kingdom)
  2. Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, 31 Caroline Street North, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 2Y5 (Canada)
  3. CPHT, Ecole Polytechnique, 91128 Palaiseau cedex (France)
  4. Department of Physics/CERCA/ISO, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-7079 (United States)

We present a comprehensive investigation of cosmological constraints on the class of vector field formulations of modified gravity called generalized Einstein-aether models. Using linear perturbation theory we generate cosmic microwave background and large-scale structure spectra for general parameters of the theory, and then constrain them in various ways. We investigate two parameter regimes: a dark matter candidate where the vector field sources structure formation, and a dark energy candidate where it causes late-time acceleration. We find that the dark matter candidate does not fit the data, and identify five physical problems that can restrict this and other theories of dark matter. The dark energy candidate does fit the data, and we constrain its fundamental parameters; most notably we find that the theory's kinetic index parameter n{sub ae} can differ significantly from its {Lambda}CDM value.

OSTI ID:
21409734
Journal Information:
Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Vol. 81, Issue 10; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.81.104015; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 0556-2821
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English