Probing observational bounds on scalar-tensor theories from standard sirens

Rocco D’Agostino and Rafael C. Nunes
Phys. Rev. D 100, 044041 – Published 22 August 2019

Abstract

Standard sirens are the gravitational wave (GW) analog of the astronomical standard candles and can provide powerful information about the dynamics of the Universe. In this work, we simulate a catalog with 1000 standard siren events from binary neutron star mergers, within the sensitivity predicted for the third generation of the ground GW detector called the Einstein Telescope (ET). After correctly modifying the propagation of GWs as input to generate the catalog, we apply our mock dataset on scalar-tensor theories where the speed of GW propagation is equal to the speed of light. As a first application, we find new observational bounds on the running of the Planck mass, when considering appropriate values within the stability condition of the theory, and we discuss some consequences on the amplitude of the running of the Planck mass. In the second part, we combine our simulated standard sirens catalog with other geometric cosmological tests (supernovae Ia and cosmic chronometer measurements) to constrain the Hu-Sawicki f(R) gravity model. We thus find new and non-null deviations from the standard ΛCDM model, showing that in the future f(R) gravity can be tested up to 95% confidence level. The results obtained here show that the statistical accuracy achievable by future ground-based GW observations, mainly with the ET detector (and planned detectors with a similar sensitivity), can provide strong observational bounds on modified gravity theories.

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  • Received 16 July 2019

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.100.044041

© 2019 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Gravitation, Cosmology & Astrophysics

Authors & Affiliations

Rocco D’Agostino1,2,* and Rafael C. Nunes3,†

  • 1Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Napoli Federico II, Via Cinthia, I-80126, Napoli, Italy
  • 2Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Sezione di Napoli, Via Cinthia 9, I-80126 Napoli, Italy
  • 3Divisão de Astrofísica, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, Avenida dos Astronautas 1758, São José dos Campos, 12227-010, SP, Brazil

  • *rdagostino@na.infn.it
  • rafadcnunes@gmail.com

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Issue

Vol. 100, Iss. 4 — 15 August 2019

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