Related papers: Chameleon Cosmology
Scalar field dynamics may give rise to a nonzero cosmological variation of fundamental constants. Within different scenarios based on the unification of gauge couplings, the various claimed observations and bounds may be combined in order…
Chameleon fields are scalar fields whose mass depends on the ambient matter density. We investigate the effects of these fields on the growth of density perturbations on sub-galactic scales and the formation of the first dark matter halos.…
We present a realistic scenario of tracking of scalar fields with varying equation of state. The astrophysical constraints on the evolution of scalar fields in the physical universe are discussed. The nucleosynthesis and the galaxy…
We describe scalar-bimetric theories where the dynamics of the Universe are governed by two separate metrics, each with an Einstein-Hilbert term. In this setting, the baryonic and dark matter components of the Universe couple to metrics…
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…
Light scalar fields very naturally appear in modern cosmological models, affecting such parameters of Standard Model as electromagnetic fine structure constant $\alpha$, dimensionless ratios of electron or quark mass to the QCD scale,…
The traditional "explanation" for the observed acceleration of the universe is the existence of a positive cosmological constant. However, this can hardly be a truly convincing explanation, as an expanding universe is not expected to have a…
It has been argued that the small perturbations to the homogeneous and isotropic configurations of a canonical scalar field in an expanding universe do not grow. We show that this is not true in general, and clarify the root of the…
Recent astrophysical observations of quasar absorption systems indicate that the fine structure constant $\alpha$ and the proton-electron mass ratio $\mu$ may have evolved through the history of the universe. Motivated by these…
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…
Many models of quintessence predict a time variation of the fundamental constants as well as a composition-dependent gravity like long-range force mediated by the cosmon. We present bounds for the cosmon coupling to matter and radiation…
We observe that the standard homogeneous cosmologies, those of Minkowski, de Sitter, and anti-de Sitter, which form the matrix for the Robertson--Walker scale factor, live naturally as isolated points inside a larger family of conformally…
Certain scalar-tensor theories exhibit the so-called chameleon mechanism, whereby observational signatures of scalar fields are hidden by a combination of self-interactions and interactions with ambient matter. Not all scalar-tensor…
Theories that attempt to explain the observed cosmic acceleration by modifying general relativity all introduce a new scalar degree of freedom that is active on large scales, but is screened on small scales to match experiments. We show…
We relate possible cosmological variations in the mass ratio mu \equiv m_p/m_e and the fine structure constant alpha to long-range composition-dependent forces mediated by a scalar field. The differential acceleration eta in Eotvos-type…
In many cases a scalar field can lead to accelerated expansion in cosmological models. This paper contains mathematical results on this subject particularly on type I Bianchi space-time. In this paper, global existence to the coupled…
We show by using the method of matched asymptotic expansions that a sufficient condition can be derived which determines when a local experiment will detect the cosmological variation of a scalar field which is driving the spacetime…
In order to satisfy limits on the allowed variation of particle masses from big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) until today, the chameleon scalar field is required to reach its attractor solution early on in its cosmological evolution. Brax et…
Light scalar fields are expected to arise in theories of high energy physics (such as string theory), and find phenomenological motivations in dark energy, dark matter, or neutrino physics. However, the coupling of light scalar fields to…
We consider a generalized Brans-Dicke model in which the scalar field has a self-interacting potential function. The scalar field is also allowed to couple non-minimally with the matter part. We assume that it has a chameleon behavior in…