Related papers: Causal Modifications of Gravity and Their Observat…
Over the last few years, it was realised that non-canonical scalar fields can lead to the accelerated expansion in the early universe. The primordial spectrum in these scenarios not only shows near scale-invariance consistent with CMB…
In this paper, we analyze the conditions for convergence toward General Relativity of scalar-tensor gravity theories defined by an arbitrary coupling function $\alpha$ (in the Einstein frame). We show that, in general, the evolution of the…
In the context of f(R) theories of gravity, we study the cosmological evolution of scalar perturbations by using a completely general procedure. We find that the exact fourth-order differential equation for the matter density perturbations…
Extending general relativity by adding extra degrees of freedom is a popular approach for explaining the accelerated expansion of the Universe and to build high energy completions of the theory of gravity. The presence of such new degrees…
We study the effect of modified gravity on weak lensing in a class of scalar-tensor theory that includes $f(R)$ gravity as a special case. These models are designed to satisfy local gravity constraints by having a large scalar-field mass in…
Long range scalar fields with a coupling to matter appear to violate known bounds on gravitation in the solar system and the laboratory. This is evaded thanks to screening mechanisms. In this short review, we shall present the various…
The light scalar field with a coupling to standard model particles provide a possible source of the dark matter, long-range Yukawa forces or violation of the weak equivalence principle, which can be potentially explored by precision gravity…
Gravitation is described in the context of a dilatonic theory that is conformally related to general relativity. All dimensionless ratios of fundamental dimensional quantities, e.g. particle masses and the Planck mass, as well as the…
Although the Gauss-Bonnet term is a topological invariant for general relativity, it couples naturally to a quintessence scalar field, modifying gravity at solar system scales. We determine the solar system constraints due to this term by…
We study the growth of subhorizon perturbations in brane-induced gravity using perturbation theory. We solve for the linear evolution of perturbations taking advantage of the symmetry under gauge transformations along the extra-dimension to…
Screening mechanisms are essential features of dark energy models mediating a fifth force on large scales. We study the regime of strong scalar field nonlinearities, known as Vainshtein screening, in the most general scalar-tensor theories…
The Horndeski action is the most general scalar-tensor theory with at most second-order derivatives in the equations of motion, thus evading Ostrogradsky instabilities and making it of interest when modifying gravity at large scales. To…
We investigate the possibility of testing short distance modifications to General Relativity via higher curvature terms in the fundamental gravity Lagrangian by analysing their impact on observations of spinning astronomical binary systems.…
We investigate a class of gravity theories respecting only spatial covariance, termed spatially covariant gravity, in the presence of an auxiliary scalar field. We examine the conditions on the Lagrangian required to eliminate scalar…
In the Standard Model of particle physics, the mass of the Higgs particle can be linked to the scale at which the Standard Model breaks down due to a Landau pole/triviality problem: for a Higgs mass somewhat higher than the measured value,…
Low-energy effective field theories containing a light scalar field are used extensively in cosmology, but often there is a tension between embedding such theories in a healthy UV completion and achieving a phenomenologically viable…
A new method of post-Newtonian approximation (PNA) for weak gravitational fields is presented together with its application to test an alternative, scalar theory of gravitation. The new method consists in defining a one-parameter family of…
Non-linear special relativity (or doubly special relativity) is a simple framework for encoding properties of flat quantum space-time. In this paper we show how this formalism may be generalized to incorporate curvature (leading to what…
Although the (varying power)-law modified gravity toy model has the attractive feature of unifying the early and late-time expansions of the Universe, thanks to the peculiar dependence of the scalar field's potential on the scalar…
Gravitational wave observations can provide unprecedented insight into the fundamental nature of gravity and allow for novel tests of modifications to General Relativity. One proposed modification suggests that gravity may undergo a phase…