Related papers: Testing for w<-1 in the Solar System
Recently, type Ia supernovae data appear to support a dark energy whose equation of state $w$ crosses -1, which is a much more amazing problem than the acceleration of the universe. We show that it is possible for the equation of state to…
We show that in single scalar field models of the dark energy with equations of state satisfying $w \equiv p / \rho < -1$, the effective Lagrangian for fluctuations about the homogeneous background has a wrong sign spatial kinetic term. In…
We propose a generalisation of the Weak Gravity Conjecture in the presence of scalar fields. The proposal is guided by properties of extremal black holes in ${\cal N}=2$ supergravity, but can be understood more generally in terms of…
The prospect of detecting/constraining deviations from general relativity by studying gravitational waves (GWs) from merging black holes has been one of the primary motivations of GW interferometers like LIGO/Virgo. Within pure gravity, the…
Recent redshift-distance measurements of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) at cosmological distances suggest that two-third of the energy density of the universe is dominated by dark energy component with an effective negative pressure. This dark…
We extend previous work showing that violation of the null energy condition implies instability in a broad class of models, including gauge theories with scalar and fermionic matter as well as any perfect fluid. Simple examples are given to…
Attention has been recently called upon the fact that the weak and null energy conditions and the second law of thermodynamics are violated in wormhole solutions of Einstein's theory with classical, nonminimally coupled, scalar fields as…
Cosmological observations of the recent universe suggest that dark energy equation of state parameter $w$ is growing with time, departing from a cosmological constant for which $w=-1$. Standard quintessence models allow for a varying…
Recently Horava proposed a renormalizable gravity theory with higher spatial derivatives in four dimensions which reduces to Einstein gravity with a non-vanishing cosmological constant in IR but with improved UV behaviors. Here, I consider…
We consider how well the dark energy equation of state $w$ as a function of red shift $z$ will be measured using current and anticipated experiments. We use a procedure which takes fair account of the uncertainties in the functional…
We discuss the influence of the cosmological constant $\Lambda$ on the gravitational equations of motion of bodies with arbitrary masses and eventually solve the two-body problem. Observational constraints are derived from measurements of…
In the standard cosmological framework of the 0th-order FLRW metric and the use of perfect fluids in the stress-energy tensor, dark energy with an equation-of-state parameter $w < -1$ (known as phantom dark energy) implies negative kinetic…
We generalize tensor-scalar theories of gravitation by the introduction of an abnormally weighting type of energy. This theory of tensor-scalar anomalous gravity is based on a relaxation of the weak equivalence principle that is now…
We point out that extended gravity theories, the Lagrangian of which is an arbitrary function of scalar curvature $R$, are equivalent to a class of the scalar tensor theories of gravity. The corresponding gravity theory is $\omega=0$…
The dynamical equivalence between modified and scalar-tensor gravity theories is revisited and it is concluded that it breaks down in the limit to general relativity. A gauge-independent analysis of cosmological perturbations in both…
We propose a new Dark Energy parametrization based on the dynamics of a scalar field. We use an equation of state $w=(x-1)/(x+1)$, with $x=E_k/V$, the ratio of kinetic energy $E_k=\dot\phi^2/2$ and potential $V$. The eq. of motion gives…
We present a model in which the equation of state parameter w approaches -1 near a particular value of z, and has significant negative values in a restricted range of z. For example, one can have w ~ -1 near z = 1, and w > -0.2 from z = 0…
We consider multiple scalar fields coupled to gravity, with special attention given to two-field theories. First, the conditions necessary for these theories to meet solar system tests are given. Next, we investigate the cosmological…
The weak gravity conjecture (WGC) is an ultraviolet consistency condition asserting that an Abelian force requires a state of charge $q$ and mass $m$ with $q>m/m_{\rm Pl}$. We generalize the WGC to product gauge groups and study its tension…
Theories of evolving quintessence are constructed that generically lead to deviations from the w = -1 prediction of non-evolving dark energy. The small mass scale that governs evolution, m_\phi \approx 10^{-33} eV, is radiatively stable,…