We perform a combined perturbation and observational investigation of the scenario of non-minimal derivative coupling between a scalar field and curvature. First we extract the necessary condition that ensures the absence of instabilities, which is f
ulfilled more sufficiently for smaller coupling values. Then using Type Ia Supernovae (SNIa), Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO), and Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observations, we show that, contrary to its significant effects on inflation, the non-minimal derivative coupling term has a negligible effect on the universe acceleration, since it is driven solely by the usual scalar-field potential. Therefore, the scenario can provide a unified picture of early and late time cosmology, with the non-minimal derivative coupling term responsible for inflation, and the usual potential responsible for late-time acceleration. Additionally, the fact that the necessary coupling term does not need to be large, improves the model behavior against instabilities.
We investigate the cosmological perturbations in f(T) gravity. Examining the pure gravitational perturbations in the scalar sector using a diagonal vierbien, we extract the corresponding dispersion relation, which provides a constraint on the f(T) an
satzes that lead to a theory free of instabilities. Additionally, upon inclusion of the matter perturbations, we derive the fully perturbed equations of motion, and we study the growth of matter overdensities. We show that f(T) gravity with f(T) constant coincides with General Relativity, both at the background as well as at the first-order perturbation level. Applying our formalism to the power-law model we find that on large subhorizon scales (O(100 Mpc) or larger), the evolution of matter overdensity will differ from LCDM cosmology. Finally, examining the linear perturbations of the vector and tensor sectors, we find that (for the standard choice of vierbein) f(T) gravity is free of massive gravitons.
We examine the accuracy of the growth equation $ddot{delta} + 2Hdot{delta} - 4pi Grhodelta = 0$, which is ubiquitous in the cosmological literature, in the context of the Newtonian gauge. By comparing the growth predicted by this equation to a numeri
cal solution of the linearized Einstein equations in the $Lambda$CDM scenario, we show that while this equation is a reliable approximation on small scales ($kgtrsim $h Mpc$^{-1}$), it can be disastrously inaccurate ($sim 10^4% $) on larger scales in this gauge. We propose a modified version of the growth equation for the Newtonian gauge, which while preserving the simplicity of the original equation, provides considerably more accurate results. We examine the implications of the failure of the growth equation on a few recent studies, aimed at discriminating general relativity from modified gravity, which use this equation as a starting point. We show that while the results of these studies are valid on small scales, they are not reliable on large scales or high redshifts, if one works in the Newtonian gauge. Finally, we discuss the growth equation in the synchronous gauge and show that the corrections to the Poisson equation are exactly equivalent to the difference between the overdensities in the synchronous and Newtonian gauges.
We examine hilltop quintessence models, in which the scalar field is rolling near a local maximum in the potential, and w is close to -1. We first derive a general equation for the evolution of the scalar field in the limit where w is close to -1. We
solve this equation for the case of hilltop quintessence to derive w as a function of the scale factor; these solutions depend on the curvature of the potential near its maximum. Our general result is in excellent agreement (delta w < 0.5%) with all of the particular cases examined. It works particularly well (delta w < 0.1%) for the pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone Boson potential. Our expression for w(a) reduces to the previously-derived slow-roll result of Sen and Scherrer in the limit where the curvature goes to zero. Except for this limiting case, w(a) is poorly fit by linear evolution in a.
The effect of quintessence perturbations on the ISW effect is studied for a mixed dynamical scalar field dark energy (DDE) and pressureless perfect fluid dark matter. A new and general methodology is developed to track the growth of the perturbations
, which uses only the equation of state (EoS) parameter $w_{rm DDE} (z) equiv p_{rm DDE}/rho_{rm DDE}$ of the scalar field DDE, and the initial values of the the relative entropy perturbation (between the matter and DDE) and the intrinsic entropy perturbation of the scalar field DDE as inputs. We also derive a relation between the rest frame sound speed $hat{c}_{s,{rm DDE}}^2$ of an arbitrary DDE component and its EoS $w_{rm DDE} (z)$. We show that the ISW signal differs from that expected in a $Lambda$CDM cosmology by as much as +20% to -80% for parameterizations of $w_{rm DDE}$ consistent with SNIa data, and about $pm$ 20% for parameterizations of $w_{rm DDE}$ consistent with SNIa+CMB+BAO data, at 95% confidence. Our results indicate that, at least in principle, the ISW effect can be used to phenomenologically distinguish a cosmological constant from DDE.
Oscillating scalar fields, with an oscillation frequency much greater than the expansion rate, have been proposed as models for dark energy. We examine these models, with particular emphasis on the evolution of the ratio of the oscillation frequency
to the expansion rate. We show that this ratio always increases with time if the dark energy density declines less rapidly than the background energy density. This allows us to classify oscillating dark energy models in terms of the epoch at which the oscillation frequency exceeds the expansion rate, which is effectively the time at which rapid oscillations begin. There are three basic types of behavior: early oscillation models, in which oscillations begin during the matter-dominated era, late oscillation models, in which oscillations begin after scalar-field domination, and non-oscillating models. We examine a representative set of models (those with power-law potentials) and determine the parameter range giving acceptable agreement with the supernova observations. We show that a subset of all three classes of models can be consistent with the observational data.
We study the creation of solitons from particles, using the $lambda phi^4$ model as a prototype. We consider the scattering of small, identical, wave pulses, that are equivalent to a sequence of particles, and find that kink-antikink pairs are create
d for a large region in parameter space. We also find that scattering at {it low} velocities is favorable for creating solitons that have large energy compared to the mass of a particle.
