Related papers: Designing Surveys for Tests of Gravity

Solar System tests give nowadays constraints on the estimated value of the cosmological constant, which can be accurately derived from different experiments regarding gravitational redshift, light deflection, gravitational time-delay and…

The current effort to test General Relativity employs multiple disparate formalisms for different observables, obscuring the relations between laboratory, astrophysical and cosmological constraints. To remedy this situation, we develop a…

In the last two decades, Modified Gravity (MG) models have been proposed to explain the accelerated expansion of the Universe. However, one of the main difficulties these theories face is that they must reduce to General Relativity (GR) at…

The current standard cosmological model is constructed within the framework of general relativity with a cosmological constant $\Lambda$, which is often associated with dark energy, and phenomenologically explains the accelerated cosmic…

I briefly discuss the challenges presented by attempting to modify general relativity to obtain an explanation for the observed accelerated expansion of the universe. Foremost among these are the questions of theoretical consistency - the…

The theoretical basis of dark energy remains unknown and could signify a need to modify the laws of gravity on cosmological scales. In this study we investigate how the clustering and motions of galaxies can be used as probes of modified…

We present some useful ways to visualize the nature of dark energy and the effects of the accelerating expansion on cosmological quantities. Expansion probes such as Type Ia supernovae distances and growth probes such as weak gravitational…

Gravitational theories differing from General Relativity may explain the accelerated expansion of the Universe without a cosmological constant. However, to pass local gravitational tests, a "screening mechanism" is needed to suppress, on…

Higher order curvature gravity has recently received a lot of attention due to the fact that it gives rise to cosmological models which seem capable of solving dark energy and quintessence issues without using "ad hoc" scalar fields. Such…

Two alternative theories to dark matter are investigated by testing their ability to describe consistently the dynamics of the Milky Way. The first one refers to a modified gravity theory having a running gravitational constant and the…

We review recent developments and results in testing general relativity (GR) at cosmological scales. The subject has witnessed rapid growth during the last two decades with the aim of addressing the question of cosmic acceleration and the…

Galaxy cluster surveys are power tools for studying the dark energy. In principle, the equation of state parameter w of the dark energy and its time evolution can be extracted from large solid angle, high yield surveys that deliver tens of…

Astrophysical tests of modified modified gravity theories in the nearby universe have been emphasized recently by Hui, Nicolis and Stubbs (2009) and Jain and VanderPlas (2011). A key element of such tests is the screening mechanism whereby…

The recent discovery of "dark energy" has challenged Einstein's general theory of relativity as a complete model for our macroscopic universe. From a theoretical view, the challenge is even stronger: general relativity clearly does not…

Using the linear theory of perturbations in General Relativity, we express a set of consistency relations that can be observationally tested with current and future large scale structure surveys. We then outline a stringent…

In modified gravity theories that seek to explain cosmic acceleration, dwarf galaxies in low density environments can be subject to enhanced forces. The class of scalar-tensor theories, which includes f(R) gravity, predict such a force…

Tests of gravity performed in the solar system show a good agreement with general relativity. The latter is however challenged by observations at larger, galactic and cosmic, scales which are presently cured by introducing "dark matter" or…

Recent developments in gravitational lensing astronomy have paved the way to genuine mappings of the gravitational potential at cosmological scales. We stress that comparing these data with traditional large scale structure surveys will…

Gravitational waves (GWs) provide a new tool to probe the nature of dark energy (DE) and the fundamental properties of gravity. We review the different ways in which GWs can be used to test gravity and models for late-time cosmic…

Galactic rotation curves are often considered the first robust evidence for the existence of dark matter. However, even in the presence of a dark matter halo, other galactic-scale observations, such as the Baryonic Tully-Fisher Relation and…