Modified Einstein versus modified Euler for dark matter

Sep 8, 2022
13 pages
Published in:
  • Nature Astron. 7 (2023) 9, 1127-1134
  • Published: Jun 22, 2023
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Abstract: (Springer)
Modifications of general relativity generically contain additional degrees of freedom that can mediate forces between matter particles. One of the common manifestations of a fifth force in alternative gravity theories is a difference between the gravitational potentials felt by relativistic and non-relativistic particles, also known as ‘the gravitational slip’. In contrast, a fifth force between dark matter particles, owing to dark sector interaction, does not cause a gravitational slip, making the latter a possible ‘smoking gun’ of modified gravity. Here we point out that a force acting on dark matter particles, as in models of coupled quintessence, would also manifest itself as a measurement of an effective gravitational slip by cosmological surveys of large-scale structure. This is linked to the fact that redshift-space distortions owing to peculiar motion of galaxies do not provide a measurement of the true gravitational potential if dark matter is affected by a fifth force. Hence, it is extremely challenging to distinguish a dark sector interaction from a modification of gravity with cosmological data alone. Future observations of gravitational redshift from galaxy surveys can help to break the degeneracy between these possibilities, by providing a direct measurement of the distortion of time. We discuss this and other possible ways to resolve this important question.
Note:
  • 13 pages, 2 figures
  • gravitation: potential
  • gravitation: model
  • quintessence: coupling
  • particle: nonrelativistic
  • gravitation: redshift
  • dark matter: parametrization
  • fifth force
  • galaxy
  • mediation
  • general relativity