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Dark energy after GW170817, revisited

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 Added by Antonio Padilla
 Publication date 2018
  fields Physics
and research's language is English




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We revisit the status of scalar-tensor theories with applications to dark energy in the aftermath of the gravitational wave signal GW170817 and its optical counterpart GRB170817A. At the level of the cosmological background, we identify a class of theories, previously declared unviable in this context, whose anomalous gravitational wave speed is proportional to the scalar equation of motion. As long as the scalar field is assumed not to couple directly to matter, this raises the possibility of compatibility with the gravitational wave data, for any cosmological sources, thanks to the scalar dynamics. This newly rescued class of theories includes examples of generalised quintic galileons from Horndeski theories. Despite the promise of this leading order result, we show that the loophole ultimately fails when we include the effect of large scale inhomogeneities.

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The gravitational-wave event GW170817 from a binary neutron star merger together with the electromagnetic counterpart showed that the speed of gravitational waves $c_t$ is very close to that of light for the redshift $z<0.009$. This places tight constraints on dark energy models constructed in the framework of modified gravitational theories. We review models of the late-time cosmic acceleration in scalar-tensor theories with second-order equations of motion (dubbed Horndeski theories) by paying particular attention to the evolution of dark energy equation of state and observables relevant to the cosmic growth history. We provide a gauge-ready formulation of scalar perturbations in full Horndeski theories and estimate observables associated with the evolution of large-scale structures, cosmic microwave background, and weak lensing by employing a so-called quasi-static approximation for the modes deep inside the sound horizon. In light of the recent observational bound of $c_t$, we also classify surviving dark energy models into four classes depending on different structure-formation patterns and discuss how they can be observationally distinguished from each other. In particular, the nonminimally coupled theories in which the scalar field $phi$ has a coupling with the Ricci scalar $R$ of the form $G_4(phi) R$, including $f(R)$ gravity, can be tightly constrained not only from the cosmic expansion and growth histories but also from the variation of screened gravitational couplings. The cross correlation of integrated Sachs-Wolfe signal with galaxy distributions can be a key observable for placing bounds on the relative ratio of cubic Galileon density to total dark energy density. The dawn of gravitational-wave astronomy will open up a new window to constrain nonminimally coupled theories further by the modified luminosity distance of tensor perturbations.
In this work, we discuss the polarization contents of Einstein-ae ther theory and the generalized tensor-vector-scalar (TeVeS) theory, as both theories have a normalized timelike vector field. We derive the linearized equations of motion around the flat spacetime background using the gauge-invariant variables to easily separate physical degrees of freedom. We find the plane wave solutions are then found, and identify the polarizations by examining the geodesic deviation equations. We find that there are five polarizations in Einstein-ae ther theory and six polarizations in the generalized TeVeS theory. In particular, the transverse breathing mode is mixed with the pure longitudinal mode. We also discuss the experimental tests of the extra polarizations in Einstein-ae ther theory using pulsar timing arrays combined with the gravitational-wave speed bound derived from the observations on GW 170817 and GRB 170817A. It turns out that it might be difficult to use pulsar timing arrays to distinguish different polarizations in Einstein-ae ther theory. The same speed bound also forces one of the propagating modes in the generalized TeVeS theory to travel much faster than the speed of light. Since the strong coupling problem does not exist in some parameter subspaces, the generalized TeVeS theory is excluded in these parameter subspaces.
We summarise the effective field theory of dark energy construction to explore observable predictions of linear Horndeski theories. Based on cite{Perenon:2016blf}, we review the diagnostic of these theories on the correlation of the large-scale structure phenomenological functions: the effective Newton constant, the light deflection parameter and the growth function of matter perturbations. We take this opportunity to discuss the evolution of the bounds the propagation speed of gravitational waves has undergone and use the most restrictive one to update the diagnostic.
The combined observation of GW170817 and its electromagnetic counterpart GRB170817A reveals that gravitational waves propagate at the speed of light in high precision. We apply the effective field theory approach to investigate the experimental consequences for the theory of $f(T)$ gravity. We find that the speed of gravitational waves within $f(T)$ gravity is exactly equal to the light speed, and hence the constraints from GW170817 and GRB170817A are trivially satisfied. The results are verified through the standard analysis of cosmological perturbations. Nevertheless, by examining the dispersion relation and the frequency of cosmological gravitational waves, we observe a deviation from the results of General Relativity, quantified by a new parameter. Although its value is relatively small in viable $f(T)$ models, its possible future measurement in advancing gravitational-wave astronomy would be the smoking gun of testing this type of modified gravity.
Inspired in the Standard Model of Elementary Particles, the Einstein Yang-Mills Higgs action with the Higgs field in the SU(2) representation was proposed in Class. Quantum Grav. 32 (2015) 045002 as the element responsible for the dark energy phenomenon. We revisit this action emphasizing in a very important aspect not sufficiently explored in the original work and that substantially changes its conclusions. This aspect is the role that the Yang-Mills Higgs interaction plays at fixing the gauge for the Higgs field, in order to sustain a homogeneous and isotropic background, and at driving the late accelerated expansion of the Universe by moving the Higgs field away of the minimum of its potential and holding it towards an asymptotic finite value. We analyse the dynamical behaviour of this system and supplement this analysis with a numerical solution whose initial conditions are in agreement with the current observed values for the density parameters. This scenario represents a step towards a successful merging of cosmology and well-tested particle physics phenomenology.
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