Detecting a Lorentz-Violating Field in Cosmology

Abstract

We consider cosmology in the Einstein-aether theory (the generally covariant theory of gravitation coupled to a dynamical timelike Lorentz-violating vector field) with a linear aether-Lagrangian. The 3+1 spacetime splitting approach is used to derive covariant and gauge invariant perturbation equations which are valid for a general class of Lagrangians. Restricting attention to the parameter space of these theories which is consistent with local gravity experiments, we show that there are tracking behaviors for the aether field, both in the background cosmology and at linear perturbation level. The primordial power-spectrum of scalar perturbations in this model is shown to be the same that predicted by standard general relativity. However, the power-spectrum of tensor perturbation is different from that in general relativity, but has a smaller amplitude and so cannot be detected at present. We also study the implications for late-time cosmology and find that the evolution of photon and neutrino anisotropic stresses can source the aether field perturbation during the radiation and matter dominated epochs, and as a result the CMB and matter power spectra are modified. However these effects are degenerate with respect to other cosmological parameters, such as neutrino masses and the bias parameter in the observed galaxy spectrum.

13 pages, 3 figures; modified version to appear in Physical Review D

References in corpus (6)

• The Cosmology of f(R) Gravity in the Metric Variational Approach
• The Cosmology of Modified Gauss-Bonnet Gravity
• The Cosmology of Ricci-Tensor-Squared Gravity in the Palatini Variational Approach
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• UV stable, Lorentz-violating dark energy with transient phantom era
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Cited by in corpus (8)

• Generalizing TeVeS Cosmology
• Microscopic and Macroscopic Behaviors of Palatini Modified Gravity Theories
• Einstein-aether gravity: a status report
• Crossing of the Phantom Divided Barrier with Lorentz Invariance Violating Fields
• Attractor Solutions in Lorentz Violating Scalar-Vector-Tensor Theory
• Testing Alternative Theories of Dark Matter with the CMB
• Signatures of trans-Planckian dispersion in inflationary spectra
• New counterterms induced by trans-Planckian physics in semiclassical gravity