English

Reconstructing Horndeski models from the effective field theory of dark energy

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2017-11-01 v2 Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Physics - Theory

Abstract

Studying the effects of dark energy and modified gravity on cosmological scales has led to a great number of physical models being developed. The effective field theory (EFT) of cosmic acceleration allows an efficient exploration of this large model space, usually carried out on a phenomenological basis. However, constraints on such parametrized EFT coefficients cannot be trivially connected to fundamental covariant theories. In this paper we reconstruct the class of covariant Horndeski scalar-tensor theories that reproduce the same background dynamics and linear perturbations as a given EFT action. One can use this reconstruction to interpret constraints on parametrized EFT coefficients in terms of viable covariant Horndeski theories. We demonstrate this method with a number of well-known models and discuss a range of future applications.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1705.09290,
  title  = {Reconstructing Horndeski models from the effective field theory of dark energy},
  author = {Joe Kennedy and Lucas Lombriser and Andy Taylor},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1705.09290},
  year   = {2017}
}