Related papers: Symmetron Scalar Fields: Modified Gravity, Dark Ma…
Since last two decades $f(R)$ gravity theory has been extensively used as a serious alternative of general relativity to mimic the effects of dark energy. The theory presents a Yukawa correction to Newtonian gravitational potential, acting…
Theories that attempt to explain cosmic acceleration by modifying gravity typically introduces a long-range scalar force that needs to be screened on small scales. One common screening mechanism is the chameleon, where the scalar force is…
A scalar field interacting differently with dark matter and baryons may explain why their ratio is of order unity today. We provide three working examples, checking them against the observations of CMB, Large Scale Structure, supernovae Ia,…
Observations of galaxies suggest a one-to-one analytic relation between the inferred gravity of dark matter at any radius and the enclosed baryonic mass, a relation summarized by Milgrom's law of modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND). However,…
The standard approach to test for deviations from general relativity on cosmological scales is to combine measurements of the growth rate of structure with gravitational lensing. In this study, we show that this method suffers from an…
The discrepancy between the visible mass in galaxies or galaxy clusters, and that inferred from their dynamics is well known. The prevailing solution to this problem is dark matter. Here we show that a different approach, one that conforms…
An obvious criterion to classify theories of modified gravity is to identify their gravitational degrees of freedom and their coupling to the metric and the matter sector. Using this simple idea, we show that any theory which depends on the…
The existence and detection of scalar fields could provide solutions to long-standing puzzles about the nature of dark matter, the dark compact objects at the centre of most galaxies, and other phenomena. Yet, self-interacting scalar fields…
In the symmetron mechanism, the fifth force mediated by a coupled scalar field (the symmetron) is suppressed in high-density regions due to the restoration of symmetry in the symmetron potential. In this paper we study the background…
The acceleration of the universe can be explained either through dark energy or through the modification of gravity on large scales. In this paper we investigate modified gravity models and compare their observable predictions with dark…
Flat or almost flat rotation curves of spiral galaxies can be explained by logarithmic gravitational potentials. The field equations of GR admit of spacetime metrics with such behaviors. The scenario can be interpreted either as an…
General Relativity is able to describe the dynamics of galaxies and larger cosmic structures only if most of the matter in the Universe is dark, namely it does not emit any electromagnetic radiation. Intriguingly, on the scale of galaxies,…
A cosmic scalar field evolving very slowly in time can account for the observed dark energy of the Universe. Unlike a cosmological constant, an evolving scalar field also has local spatial gradients due to gravity. If the scalar field has a…
The symmetron scalar field is a matter-coupled dark energy candidate which effectively decouples from matter in high-density regions through a symmetry restoration. We consider a previously unexplored regime, in which the vacuum mass $\mu…
Nonlinear scalar-tensor theories of gravity have been considered as candidates for dark matter and dark energy. Often, they possess screening mechanisms, which allow the fifth force mediated by the additional scalar degree(s) of freedom to…
We investigate the cosmological implications of a new class of modified gravity, where the field equations generically include higher-order derivatives of the matter fields, arising from the introduction of non-dynamical auxiliary fields in…
Despite the overwhelming evidence for the existence of dark energy and dark matter, their underlying fundamental physics remains unknown. This review article explores the tantalizing possibility that the dark sector includes new light…
We extend the chameleon models by considering Scalar-Fluid theories where the coupling between matter and the scalar field can be represented by a quadratic effective potential with density-dependent minimum and mass. In this context, we…
Modern astrophysical and cosmological models are faced with two severe theoretical difficulties, that can be summarized as the dark energy and the dark matter problems. Relative to the former, it has been stated that cosmology has entered a…
The explicit violation of the general gauge invariance/relativity is adopted as the origin of dark matter and dark energy of the gravitational nature. The violation of the local scale invariance alone, with the residual unimodular one, is…