Maximal freedom at minimum cost: linear large-scale structure in general modifications of gravity
- Institut für Theoretische Physik, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Philosophenweg 16, Heidelberg, 69120 (Germany)
- African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, 7 Melrose Road, Cape Town, 7945 South Africa (South Africa)
We present a turnkey solution, ready for implementation in numerical codes, for the study of linear structure formation in general scalar-tensor models involving a single universally coupled scalar field. We show that the totality of cosmological information on the gravitational sector can be compressed — without any redundancy — into five independent and arbitrary functions of time only and one constant. These describe physical properties of the universe: the observable background expansion history, fractional matter density today, and four functions of time describing the properties of the dark energy. We show that two of those dark-energy property functions control the existence of anisotropic stress, the other two — dark-energy clustering, both of which are can be scale-dependent. All these properties can in principle be measured, but no information on the underlying theory of acceleration beyond this can be obtained. We present a translation between popular models of late-time acceleration (e.g. perfect fluids, f(R), kinetic gravity braiding, galileons), as well as the effective field theory framework, and our formulation. In this way, implementing this formulation numerically would give a single tool which could consistently test the majority of models of late-time acceleration heretofore proposed.
- OSTI ID:
- 22373436
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2014, Issue 07; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1475-7516
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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