arXiv subjects

Constantinos Skordis

Publications and source records attributed to Constantinos Skordis.

51 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2012

Towards a fully consistent parameterization of modified gravity

There is a distinct possibility that current and future cosmological data can be used to constrain Einstein's theory of gravity on the very largest scales. To be able to do this in a model-independent way, it makes sense to work with a general parameterization of modified gravity. Such an approach would be analogous to the Parameterized Post-Newtonian (PPN) approach which is used on the scale of the Solar System. A few such parameterizations have been proposed and preliminary constraints have been obtained. We show that the majority of such parameterizations are only exactly applicable in the quasistatic regime. On larger scales they fail to encapsulate the full behaviour of typical models currently under consideration. We suggest that it may be possible to capture the additions to the `Parameterized Post-Friedmann' (PPF) formalism by treating them akin to fluid perturbations.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2010

The Parameterised Post-Newtonian Limit of Bimetric Theories of Gravity

We consider the post-Newtonian limit of a general class of bimetric theories of gravity, in which both metrics are dynamical. The established parameterised post-Newtonian approach is followed as closely as possible, although new potentials are found that do not exist within the standard frame-work. It is found that these theories can evade solar system tests of post-Newtonian gravity remarkably well. We show that perturbations about Minkowski space in these theories contain both massless and massive degrees of freedom, and that in general there are two different types of massive mode, each with a different mass parameter. If both of these masses are sufficiently large then the predictions of the most general class of theories we consider are indistinguishable from those of general relativity, up to post-Newtonian order in a weak field, low velocity expansion. In the limit that the massive modes become massless, we find that these general theories do not exhibit a van Dam-Veltman-Zakharov-like discontinuity in their gamma parameter, although there are discontinuities in other post-Newtonian parameters as the massless limit is approached. This smooth behaviour in gamma is due to the discontinuities from each of the two different massive modes cancelling each other out. Such cancellations cannot occur in special cases with only one massive mode, such as the Isham-Salam-Strathdee theory.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2010

The linear growth rate of structure in Parametrized Post Friedmannian Universes

A possible solution to the dark energy problem is that Einstein's theory of general relativity is modified. A suite of models have been proposed that, in general, are unable to predict the correct amount of large scale structure in the distribution of galaxies or anisotropies in the Cosmic Microwave Background. It has been argued, however, that it should be possible to constrain a general class of theories of modified gravity by focusing on properties such as the growing mode, gravitational slip and the effective, time varying Newton's constant. We show that assuming certain physical requirements such as stability, metricity and gauge invariance, it is possible to come up with consistency conditions between these various parameters. In this paper we focus on theories which have, at most, 2nd derivatives in the metric variables and find restrictions that shed light on current and future experimental constraints without having to resort to a (as yet unknown) complete theory of modified gravity. We claim that future measurements of the growth of structure on small scales (i.e. from 1-200 h^{-1} Mpc) may lead to tight constraints on both dark energy and modified theories of gravity.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2009

Eddington-Born-Infeld gravity and the large scale structure of the Universe

It has been argued that a Universe governed by Eddington-Born-Infeld gravity can be compatible with current cosmological constraints. The extra fields introduced in this theory can behave both as dark matter and dark energy, unifying the dark sector in one coherent framework. We show the various roles the extra fields can play in the expansion of the Universe and study the evolution of linear perturbations in the various regimes. We find that, as a unified theory of the dark sector, Eddington-Born-Infeld gravity will lead to excessive fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave Background on large scales. In the presence of a cosmological constant, however, the extra fields can behave as a form of non-particulate dark matter and can lead to a cosmology which is entirely compatible with current observations of large scale structure. We discuss the interpretation of this form of dark matter and how it can differ from standard, particulate dark matter.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2009

A note on bigravity and dark matter

We show that a class of bi-gravity theories contain solutions describing dark matter. A particular member of this class is also shown to be equivalent to the Eddington-Born-Infeld gravity, recently proposed as a candidate for dark matter. Bigravity theories also have cosmological de Sitter backgrounds and we find solutions interpolating between matter and acceleration eras.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2009

The Tensor-Vector-Scalar theory and its cosmology

Over the last few decades, astronomers and cosmologists have accumulated vast amounts of data clearly demonstrating that our current theories of fundamental particles and of gravity are inadequate to explain the observed discrepancy between the dynamics and the distribution of the visible matter in the Universe. The Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) proposal aims at solving the problem by postulating that Newton's second law of motion is modified for accelerations smaller than ~10^{-10}m/s^2. This simple amendment, has had tremendous success in explaining galactic rotation curves. However, being non-relativistic, it cannot make firm predictions for cosmology. A relativistic theory called Tensor-Vector-Scalar (TeVeS) has been proposed by Bekenstein building on earlier work of Sanders which has a MOND limit for non-relativistic systems. In this article I give a short introduction to TeVeS theory and focus on its predictions for cosmology as well as some non-cosmological studies.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2008

Pseudoscalar perturbations and polarization of the cosmic microwave background

We show that models of new particle physics containing massless pseudoscalar fields super-weakly coupled to photons can be very efficiently probed with CMB polarization anisotropies. The stochastic pseudoscalar fluctuations generated during inflation provide a mechanism for converting E-mode polarization to B-mode during photon propagation from the surface of last scattering. The efficiency of this conversion process is controlled by the dimensionless ratio H/(2πf_a), where H is the Hubble scale during inflation, and f_a^{-1} is the strength of the pseudoscalar coupling to photons. The current observational limits on the B-mode constrain this ratio to be less than 0.07, which in many models of inflation translates to a sensitivity to values of f_a in excess of 10^{14} GeV, surpassing the sensitivity of other tests.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2008

Consistent cosmological modifications to the Einstein equations

General Relativity (GR) is a phenomenologically successful theory that rests on firm foundations, but has not been tested on cosmological scales. The advent of dark energy (and possibly even the requirement of cold dark matter), has increased the need for testing modifications to GR, as the inference of such otherwise undetected fluids, depends crucially on the theory of gravity. In this work I outline a general scheme for constructing consistent and covariant modifications to the Einstein equations. This framework is such that there is a clear connection between the modification and the underlying field content that produces it. I conclude by a simple metric based modification of the fluctuation equations for which the background is exact Lambda-CDM and present its impact on observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation.

gr-qc↗

arXiv2008

Generalizing TeVeS Cosmology

I consider an extented version of Bekenstein's Tensor-Vector-Scalar theory where the action of the vector field is of a general Einstein-Ether form. This work presents the cosmological equations of this theory, both at the background and perturbed level, for scalar, vector and tensor perturbation modes. By solving the background equations in the radiation era analytically, to an excellent approximation, I construct the primordial adiabatic perturbation for a general family of scalar field kinetic functions.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2005

TeVeS Cosmology : Covariant formalism for the background evolution and linear perturbation theory

A relativistic theory of gravity has recently been proposed by Bekenstein, where gravity is mediated by a tensor, a vector and a scalar field, thus called TeVeS. The theory aims at modifying gravity in such a way as to reproduce Milgrom's MOdified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) in the weak field, non-relativistic limit, which provides a framework to solve the missing mass problem in galaxies without invoking dark matter. In this paper I apply a covariant approach to formulate the cosmological equations for this theory, for both the background and linear perturbations. I derive the necessary perturbed equations for scalar, vector and tensor modes without adhering to a particular gauge. Special gauges are considered in the appendix.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

Fast and reliable MCMC for cosmological parameter estimation

Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques are now widely used for cosmological parameter estimation. Chains are generated to sample the posterior probability distribution obtained following the Bayesian approach. An important issue is how to optimize the efficiency of such sampling and how to diagnose whether a finite-length chain has adequately sampled the underlying posterior probability distribution. We show how the power spectrum of a single such finite chain may be used as a convergence diagnostic by means of a fitting function, and discuss strategies for optimizing the distribution for the proposed steps. The methods developed are applied to current CMB and LSS data interpreted using both a pure adiabatic cosmological model and a mixed adiabatic/isocurvature cosmological model including possible correlations between modes. For the latter application, because of the increased dimensionality and the presence of degeneracies, the need for tuning MCMC methods for maximum efficiency becomes particularly acute.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2004

A new method for measuring the CMB temperature quadrupole with an accuracy better than cosmic variance

We present a new method for measuring the CMB temperature quadrupole, using large scale CMB polarization. The method exploits the fact that CMB polarization is partially sourced by the local temperature quadrupole. We link the temperature with the polarization spectrum directly by relating the local quadrupole at the onset of reionization to both of them. The dominant contribution is at l<30 and since we use many l values, we can reduce the error significantly below cosmic variance. In particular, for our fiducial model, the error on the temperature quadrupole is reduced to 24%. This has the potential of reducing the probability of a low quadrupole by two orders of magnitude.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2002

Rapid Calculation of Theoretical CMB Angular Power Spectra

We have developed a fast method for predicting the angular power spectrum, C_l, of the cosmic microwave background given cosmological parameters and a primordial power spectrum of perturbations. After pre--computing the radiation temperature and gravitational potential transfer functions over a small sub--space of the total model parameter space, the rest of the model space (six or more cosmological parameters and arbitrarily many primordial power spectrum parameters) is reached via rapid analytic and semi--analytic approximations which are highly accurate on all angular scales for which linear perturbation theory applies. A single power spectrum can be calculated in ~ 1 second on a desktop computer. We discuss applications to cosmological parameter estimation.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2000

Planck-scale quintessence and the physics of structure formation

In a recent paper we considered the possibility of a scalar field providing an explanation for the cosmic acceleration. Our model had the interesting properties of attractor-like behavior and having its parameters of O(1) in Planck units. Here we discuss the effect of the field on large scale structure and CMB anisotropies. We show how some versions of our model inspired by "brane" physics have novel features due to the fact that the scalar field has a significant role over a wider range of redshifts than for typical "dark energy" models. One of these features is the additional suppression of the formation of large scale structure, as compared with cosmological constant models. In light of the new pressures being placed on cosmological parameters (in particular H_0) by CMB data, this added suppression allows our "brane" models to give excellent fits to both CMB and large scale structure data.

astro-ph↗

arXiv2000

Phenomenology of a realistic accelerating universe using only Planck-scale physics

Modern data is showing increasing evidence that the Universe is accelerating. So far, all attempts to account for the acceleration have required some fundamental dimensionless quantities to be extremely small. We show how a class of scalar field models (which may emerge naturally from superstring theory) can account for acceleration which starts in the present epoch with all the potential parameters O(1) in Planck units.

astro-ph↗