Dark Energy After GW170817: Dead Ends and the Road Ahead
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid · University of California, Berkeley · +7 more institutions
Abstract
Multimessenger gravitational-wave (GW) astronomy has commenced with the detection of the binary neutron star merger GW170817 and its associated electromagnetic counterparts. The almost coincident observation of both signals places an exquisite bound on the GW speed |c_{g}/c-1|≤5×10^{-16}. We use this result to probe the nature of dark energy (DE), showing that a large class of scalar-tensor theories and DE models are highly disfavored. As an example we consider the covariant Galileon, a cosmologically viable, well motivated gravity theory which predicts a variable GW speed at low redshift. Our results eliminate any late-universe application of these models, as well as their Horndeski and most of their beyond…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 81.38
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 74
Authors
2- JMJosé María EzquiagaCorresponding
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, University of California, Berkeley
- MZMiguel Zumalacárregui
Université Paris-Saclay, CEA Paris-Saclay, Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives, Institut de Physique Théorique, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, University of California, Berkeley, Stockholm University
Topics & keywords
- Physics
- Energy (signal processing)