5,972 research outputs found
Cosmology of a covariant Galileon field
We study the cosmology of a covariant scalar field respecting a Galilean
symmetry in flat space-time. We show the existence of a tracker solution that
finally approaches a de Sitter fixed point responsible for cosmic acceleration
today. The viable region of model parameters is clarified by deriving
conditions under which ghosts and Laplacian instabilities of scalar and tensor
perturbations are absent. The field equation of state exhibits a peculiar
phantom-like behavior along the tracker, which allows a possibility to
observationally distinguish the Galileon gravity from the Lambda-CDM model.Comment: 4 pages, uses RevTe
Generalized Galileon cosmology
We study the cosmology of a generalized Galileon field with five
covariant Lagrangians in which is replaced by general scalar functions
(i=1,...,5). For these theories, the equations of motion remain
at second-order in time derivatives. We restrict the functional forms of
from the demand to obtain de Sitter solutions responsible for
dark energy. There are two possible choices for power-law functions
, depending on whether the coupling with the Ricci
scalar is independent of or depends on . The former
corresponds to the covariant Galileon theory that respects the Galilean
symmetry in the Minkowski space-time. For generalized Galileon theories we
derive the conditions for the avoidance of ghosts and Laplacian instabilities
associated with scalar and tensor perturbations as well as the condition for
the stability of de Sitter solutions. We also carry out detailed analytic and
numerical study for the cosmological dynamics in those theories.Comment: 24 pages, 10 figures, version to appear in Physical Review
Cosmological perturbation in f(R,G) theories with a perfect fluid
In order to classify modified gravity models according to their physical
properties, we analyze the cosmological linear perturbations for f(R,G)
theories (R being the Ricci scalar and G, the Gauss-Bonnet term) with a
minimally coupled perfect fluid. For the scalar type perturbations, we identify
in general six degrees of freedom. We find that two of these physical modes
obey the same dispersion relation as the one for a non-relativistic de Broglie
wave. This means that spacetime is either highly unstable or its fluctuations
undergo a scale-dependent super-luminal propagation. Two other modes correspond
to the degrees of freedom of the perfect fluid, and propagate with the sound
speed of such a fluid. The remaining two modes correspond to the entropy and
temperature perturbations of the perfect fluid, and completely decouple from
the other modes for a barotropic equation of state. We then provide a concise
condition on f(R,G) theories, that both f(R) and R+f(G) do fulfill, to avoid
the de Broglie type dispersion relation. For the vector type perturbation, we
find that the perturbations decay in time. For the tensor type perturbation,
the perturbations can be either super-luminal or sub-luminal, depending on the
model. No-ghost conditions are also obtained for each type of perturbation.Comment: 12 pages, uses RevTe
Density perturbations in general modified gravitational theories
We derive the equations of linear cosmological perturbations for the general
Lagrangian density , where is a Ricci scalar,
is a scalar field, and is a field kinetic energy. We
take into account a nonlinear self-interaction term recently studied in
the context of "Galileon" cosmology, which keeps the field equations at second
order. Taking into account a scalar-field mass explicitly, the equations of
matter density perturbations and gravitational potentials are obtained under a
quasi-static approximation on sub-horizon scales. We also derive conditions for
the avoidance of ghosts and Laplacian instabilities associated with propagation
speeds. Our analysis includes most of modified gravity models of dark energy
proposed in literature and thus it is convenient to test the viability of such
models from both theoretical and observational points of view.Comment: 17 pages, no figure
Impulsive gravitational waves of massless particles in extended theories of gravity
We investigate the vacuum pp-wave and Aichelburg-Sexl-type solutions in f(R)
and the modified Gauss-Bonnet theories of gravity with both minimal and
nonminimal couplings between matter and geometry. In each case, we obtain the
necessary condition for the theory to admit the solution and examine it for
several specific models. We show that the wave profiles are the same or
proportional to the general relativistic one
Testing general relativity by micro-arcsecond global astrometry
The global astrometric observations of a GAIA-like satellite were modeled
within the PPN formulation of Post-Newtonian gravitation. An extensive
experimental campaign based on realistic end-to-end simulations was conducted
to establish the sensitivity of global astrometry to the PPN parameter \gamma,
which measures the amount of space curvature produced by unit rest mass. The
results show that, with just a few thousands of relatively bright,
photometrically stable, and astrometrically well behaved single stars, among
the ~10^9 objects that will be observed by GAIA, \gamma can be estimated after
1 year of continuous observations with an accuracy of ~10^{-5} at the 3\sigma
level. Extrapolation to the full 5-year mission of these results based on the
scaling properties of the adjustment procedure utilized suggests that the
accuracy of \simeq 2x10^{-7}, at the same 3\sigma level, can be reached with
\~10^6 single stars, again chosen as the most astrometrically stable among the
millions available in the magnitude range V=12-13. These accuracies compare
quite favorably with recent findings of scalar-tensor cosmological models,
which predict for \gamma a present-time deviation, |1-\gamma|, from the General
Relativity value between 10^{-5} and 10^{-7}.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, to be published in A&
A general relativistic model for the light propagation in the gravitational field of the Solar System: the dynamical case
Modern astrometry is based on angular measurements at the micro-arcsecond
level. At this accuracy a fully general relativistic treatment of the data
reduction is required. This paper concludes a series of articles dedicated to
the problem of relativistic light propagation, presenting the final
microarcsecond version of a relativistic astrometric model which enable us to
trace back the light path to its emitting source throughout the non-stationary
gravity field of the moving bodies in the Solar System. The previous model is
used as test-bed for numerical comparisons to the present one. Here we also
test different versions of the computer code implementing the model at
different levels of complexity to start exploring the best trade-off between
numerical efficiency and the micro-arcsecond accuracy needed to be reached.Comment: 40 pages, 5 figures. Accepted for publication on The Astrophysical
Journal. Manuscript prepared with AASLaTeX macros v.5.
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