Brax, P., van de Bruck, C., Davis, A.C. et al. (1 more author) (2008) f(R) gravity and chameleon theories. Physical Review D, 79 (10). Art. No. 104021. ISSN 1550-2368
Abstract
We analyze f(R) modifications of Einstein’s gravity as dark energy models in the light of their connection with chameleon theories. Formulated as scalar-tensor theories, the f(R) theories imply the existence of a strong coupling of the scalar field to matter. This would violate all experimental gravitational tests on deviations from Newton’s law. Fortunately, the existence of a matter dependent mass and a thin-shell effect allows one to alleviate these constraints. The thin-shell condition also implies strong restrictions on the cosmological dynamics of the f(R) theories. As a consequence, we find that the equation of state of dark energy is constrained to be extremely close to -1 in the recent past. We also examine the potential effects of f(R) theories in the context of the Eöt-wash experiments. We show that the requirement of a thin shell for the test bodies is not enough to guarantee a null result on deviations from Newton’s law. As long as dark energy accounts for a sizeable fraction of the total energy density of the Universe, the constraints that we deduce also forbid any measurable deviation of the dark energy equation of state from -1. All in all, we find that both cosmological and laboratory tests imply that f(R) models are almost coincident with a ΛCDM model at the background level.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2008 The American Physical Society. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in 'Physical Review D.' Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Mathematics and Statistics (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Mrs Megan Hobbs |
Date Deposited: | 24 Mar 2010 15:29 |
Last Modified: | 17 Nov 2015 02:26 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.78.104021 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Physical Society |
Refereed: | No |
Identification Number: | 10.1103/PhysRevD.78.104021 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:10571 |