Cosmological tests of gravity

Journal Article · Thu Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Annals of Physics (New York)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aop.2010.04.002· OSTI ID:21452989

Jain, Bhuvnesh ^[1]; Khoury, Justin ^[1]

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1. Center for Particle Cosmology, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 (United States)

Modifications of general relativity provide an alternative explanation to dark energy for the observed acceleration of the universe. We review recent developments in modified gravity theories, focusing on higher-dimensional approaches and chameleon/f(R) theories. We classify these models in terms of the screening mechanisms that enable such theories to approach general relativity on small scales (and thus satisfy solar system constraints). We describe general features of the modified Friedman equation in such theories. The second half of this review describes experimental tests of gravity in light of the new theoretical approaches. We summarize the high precision tests of gravity on laboratory and solar system scales. We describe in some detail tests on astrophysical scales ranging from {approx} kpc (galaxy scales) to {approx} Gpc (large-scale structure). These tests rely on the growth and inter-relationship of perturbations in the metric potentials, density and velocity fields which can be measured using gravitational lensing, galaxy cluster abundances, galaxy clustering and the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect. A robust way to interpret observations is by constraining effective parameters, such as the ratio of the two metric potentials. Currently tests of gravity on astrophysical scales are in the early stages - we summarize these tests and discuss the interesting prospects for new tests in the coming decade.

• OSTI ID: 21452989
• Journal Information: Annals of Physics (New York), Vol. 325, Issue 7; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.aop.2010.04.002; PII: S0003-4916(10)00066-7; Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, All rights reserved.; ISSN 0003-4916
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ABUNDANCE
ACCELERATION
ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY
DENSITY
DISTURBANCES
GALAXIES
GALAXY CLUSTERS
GENERAL RELATIVITY THEORY
GRAVITATION
METRICS
NONLUMINOUS MATTER
POTENTIALS
REVIEWS
SOLAR SYSTEM
UNIVERSE
DOCUMENT TYPES
FIELD THEORIES
MATTER
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PHYSICS
RELATIVITY THEORY