Modified gravity with disappearing cosmological constant

New corrections to General Relativity are considered in the context of modified f(R) gravity, that satisfy cosmological and local gravity constraints. The proposed models behave asymptotically as R − 2Λ at large curvature and show the vanishing of the cosmological constant at the flat spacetime limit. The chameleon mechanism and thin shell restrictions for local systems were analyzed, and bounds on the models were found. The steepness of the deviation parameter m at late times leads to measurable signal of scalar-tensor regime in matter perturbations, that allows to detect departures form the ΛCDM model. The theoretical results for the evolution of the weighted growth rate fσ8(z), from the proposed models, were analyzed.

Late-time cosmic acceleration: ABCD of dark energy and modified theories of gravity

We briefly review the problems and prospects of the standard lore of dark energy. We have shown that scalar fields, in principle, cannot address the cosmological constant problem. Indeed, a fundamental scalar field is faced with a similar problem dubbed naturalness. In order to keep the discussion pedagogical, aimed at a wider audience, we have avoided technical complications in several places and resorted to heuristic arguments based on physical perceptions. We presented underlying ideas of modified theories based upon chameleon mechanism and Vainshtein screening. We have given a lucid illustration of recently investigated ghost-free nonlinear massive gravity. Again, we have sacrificed rigor and confined to the basic ideas that led to the formulation of the theory. The review ends with a brief discussion on the difficulties of the theory applied to cosmology.

Probing Dark Energy models with neutrons

There is a deep connection between cosmology — the science of the infinitely large — and particle physics — the science of the infinitely small. This connection is particularly manifest in neutron particle physics. Basic properties of the neutron — its Electric Dipole Moment and its lifetime — are intertwined with baryogenesis and nucleosynthesis in the early Universe. I will cover this topic in the first part, that will also serve as an introduction (or rather a quick recap) of neutron physics and Big Bang cosmology. Then, the rest of the paper will be devoted to a new idea: using neutrons to probe models of Dark Energy. In the second part, I will present the chameleon theory: a light scalar field accounting for the late accelerated expansion of the Universe, which interacts with matter in such a way that it does not mediate a fifth force between macroscopic bodies. However, neutrons can alleviate the chameleon mechanism and reveal the presence of the scalar field with properly designed experiments. In the third part, I will describe a recent experiment performed with a neutron interferometer at the Institut Laue Langevin that sets already interesting constraints on the chameleon theory. Last, the chameleon field can be probed by measuring the quantum states of neutrons bouncing over a mirror. In the fourth part, I will present the status and prospects of the GRANIT experiment at the ILL.