Related papers: Challenges to Self-Acceleration in Modified Gravit…
We identify a scalar-tensor model embedded in the Horndeski action whose cosmological background and linear scalar fluctuations are degenerate with the concordance cosmology. The model admits a self-accelerated background expansion at late…
Cosmic acceleration may be due to modifications of cosmic gravity and to test this we need robust connections between theory and observations. However, in a model independent approach like effective field theory or a broad class like…
The direct detection of gravitational waves (GWs) is an invaluable new tool to probe gravity and the nature of cosmic acceleration. A large class of scalar-tensor theories predict that GWs propagate with velocity different than the speed of…
The recent simultaneous detection of gravitational waves and a gamma ray burst from a neutron star merger significantly shrank the space of viable scalar-tensor theories by demanding that the speed of gravity is equal to that of light. The…
Theories of dark energy and modified gravity can be strongly constrained by astrophysical or cosmological observations, as illustrated by the recent observation of the gravitational wave event GW170817 and of its electromagnetic counterpart…
This review explores modified theories of gravity, particularly $f(R)$ gravity, as extensions to General Relativity (GR) that offer alternatives to dark energy for explaining cosmic acceleration. These models generalize the Einstein-Hilbert…
Since the discovery of the accelerated expansion of the present Universe, significant theoretical developments have been made in the area of modified gravity. In the meantime, cosmological observations have been providing more high-quality…
We review recent progress in the construction of modified gravity models as alternatives to dark energy as well as the development of cosmological tests of gravity. Einstein's theory of General Relativity (GR) has been tested accurately…
The observation of GW170817 and its electromagnetic counterpart implies that gravitational waves travel at the speed of light, with deviations smaller than a few $\times 10^{-15}$. We discuss the consequences of this experimental result for…
The coincident detection of gravitational waves (GW) and a gamma-ray burst from a merger of neutron stars has placed an extremely stringent bound on the speed of GW. We showed previously that the presence of gravitational slip ($\eta$) in…
In general the speed of Gravitational Waves (GWs) in Scalar-Tensor modifications of Einstein's gravity is different from the speed of Light. Nevertheless, it has been measured that their speeds are nearly the same. For the most general…
Gravitational wave (GW) constraints have recently been used to significantly restrict models of dark energy and modified gravity. New bounds arising from GW decay and GW-induced dark energy instabilities are particularly powerful in this…
In 'modified' gravity the observed acceleration of the universe is explained by changing the gravitational force law or the number of degrees of freedom in the gravitational sector. Both possibilities can be tested by measurements of…
The gravitational-wave event GW170817 from a binary neutron star merger together with the electromagnetic counterpart showed that the speed of gravitational waves $c_t$ is very close to that of light for the redshift $z<0.009$. This places…
This thesis focuses on late-time cosmic acceleration within modified theories of gravity, using various observational data sets and statistical analysis. The Universe is assumed to be spatially homogeneous and isotropic and is described by…
The notion of self-acceleration has been introduced as a convenient way to theoretically distinguish cosmological models in which acceleration is due to modified gravity from those in which it is due to the properties of matter or fields.…
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…
We review the evidence for recently accelerating cosmological expansion or "dark energy", either a negative pressure constituent in General Relativity (Dark Energy) or modified gravity (Dark Gravity), without any Dark Energy constituent. If…
The speed of gravitational waves provides us a new tool to test alternative theories of gravity. The constraint on the speed of gravitational waves from GW170817 and GRB170817A is used to test some classes of Horndeski theory. In…
We trace the origin of the cosmological constant problem to the assumption that Newton's constant $G$ sets the scale for cosmology. And then we show that once this assumption is relaxed, the very same cosmic acceleration which has served to…