No Arabic abstract
Among the various possibilities to probe the theory behind the recent accelerated expansion of the universe, the energy conditions (ECs) are of particular interest, since it is possible to confront and constrain the many models, including different theories of gravity, with observational data. In this context, we use the ECs to probe any alternative theory whose extra term acts as a cosmological constant. For this purpose, we apply a model-independent approach to reconstruct the recent expansion of the universe. Using Type Ia supernova, baryon acoustic oscillations and cosmic-chronometer data, we perform a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis to put constraints on the effective cosmological constant $Omega^0_{rm eff}$. By imposing that the cosmological constant is the only component that possibly violates the ECs, we derive lower and upper bounds for its value. For instance, we obtain that $0.59 < Omega^0_{rm eff} < 0.91$ and $0.40 < Omega^0_{rm eff} < 0.93$ within, respectively, $1sigma$ and $3sigma$ confidence levels. In addition, about 30% of the posterior distribution is incompatible with a cosmological constant, showing that this method can potentially rule it out as a mechanism for the accelerated expansion. We also study the consequence of these constraints for two particular formulations of the bimetric massive gravity. Namely, we consider the Vissers theory and the Hassan and Rosess massive gravity by choosing a background metric such that both theories mimic General Relativity with a cosmological constant. Using the $Omega^0_{rm eff}$ observational bounds along with the upper bounds on the graviton mass we obtain constraints on the parameter spaces of both theories.
Ghost-free bimetric gravity is an extension of general relativity, featuring a massive spin-2 field coupled to gravity. We parameterize the theory with a set of observables having specific physical interpretations. For the background cosmology and the static, spherically symmetric solutions (for example approximating the gravitational potential of the solar system), there are four directions in the parameter space in which general relativity is approached. Requiring that there is a working screening mechanism and a nonsingular evolution of the Universe, we place analytical constraints on the parameter space which rule out many of the models studied in the literature. Cosmological solutions where the accelerated expansion of the Universe is explained by the dynamical interaction of the massive spin-2 field rather than by a cosmological constant, are still viable.
Ghost-free bimetric gravity is a theory of two interacting spin-2 fields, one massless and one massive, in addition to the standard matter particles and fields, thereby generalizing Einsteins theory of general relativity. To parameterize the theory, we use five observables with specific physical interpretations. We present, for the first time, observational constraints on these parameters that: (i) apply to the full theory, (ii) are consistent with a working screening mechanism (i.e., restoring general relativity locally), (iii) exhibit a continuous, real-valued background cosmology (without the Higuchi ghost). For the cosmological constraints, we use data sets from the cosmic microwave background, baryon acoustic oscillations, and type Ia supernovae. Bimetric cosmology provides a good fit to data even for large values of the mixing angle between the massless and massive gravitons. Interestingly, the best-fit model is a self-accelerating solution where the accelerated expansion is due to the dynamical massive spin-2 field, without a cosmological constant. Due to the screening mechanism, the models are consistent with local tests of gravity such as solar system tests and gravitational lensing by galaxies. We also comment on the possibility of alleviating the Hubble tension with this theory.
Ghost-free bimetric theory describes two nonlinearly interacting spin-2 fields, one massive and one massless, thus extending general relativity. We confront bimetric theory with observations of Supernovae type 1a, Baryon Acoustic Oscillations and the Cosmic Microwave Background in a statistical analysis, utilising the recently proposed physical parametrisation. This directly constrains the physical parameters of the theory, such as the mass of the spin-2 field and its coupling to matter. We find that all models under consideration are in agreement with the data. Next, we compare these results to bounds from local tests of gravity. Our analysis reveals that all two- and three-parameter models are observationally consistent with both cosmological and local tests of gravity. The minimal bimetric model (only $beta_1$) is ruled out by our combined analysis.
We use the ideas of entropic gravity to derive the FRW cosmological model and show that for late time evolution we have an effective cosmological constant. By using the first law of thermodynamics and the modified entropy area relationship derived from the supersymmetric Wheeler-DeWitt equation of the Schwarzschild black hole, we obtain modifications to the Friedmann equations that in the late time regime gives an effective positive cosmological constant. Therefore, this simple model can account for the dark energy component of the universe by providing an entropic origin to the cosmological constant $Lambda$.
Screened modified gravity (SMG) is a kind of scalar-tensor theories with screening mechanisms, which can generate screening effect to suppress the fifth force in high density environments and pass the solar system tests. Meanwhile, the potential of scalar field in the theories can drive the acceleration of the late universe. In this paper, we calculate the parameterized post-Newtonian (PPN) parameters $gamma$ and $beta$, the effective gravitational constant $G_{rm eff}$ and the effective cosmological constant $Lambda$ for SMG with a general potential $V$ and coupling function $A$. The dependence of these parameters on the model parameters of SMG and/or the physical properties of the source object are clearly presented. As an application of these results, we focus on three specific theories of SMG (chameleon, symmetron and dilaton models). Using the formulae to calculate their PPN parameters and cosmological constant, we derive the constraints on the model parameters by combining the observations on solar system and cosmological scales.