Can we avoid dark energy?

Abstract

The idea that we live near the centre of a large, nonlinear void has attracted attention recently as an alternative to dark energy or modified gravity. We show that an appropriate void profile can fit both the latest cosmic microwave background and supernova data. However, this requires either a fine-tuned primordial spectrum or a Hubble rate so low as to rule these models out. We also show that measurements of the radial baryon acoustic scale can provide very strong constraints. Our results present a serious challenge to void models of acceleration.

5 pages, 4 figures; minor changes; version published in Phys. Rev. Lett

References in corpus (12)

• Measuring the Baryon Acoustic Oscillation scale using the SDSS and 2dFGRS
• Correlation of CMB with large-scale structure: I. ISW Tomography and Cosmological Implications
• A general test of the Copernican Principle
• Confronting Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi models with Observational Cosmology
• Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi model and accelerating expansion
• Time drift of cosmological redshifts as a test of the Copernican principle
• A Test of the Copernican Principle
• CMB anisotropies seen by an off-center observer in a spherically symmetric inhomogeneous universe
• Looking the void in the eyes - the kSZ effect in LTB models
• Scalar Perturbations on Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi Spacetimes
• Mapping Luminosity-Redshift Relationship to LTB Cosmology
• The Evolution of the Cosmic Microwave Background

Cited by in corpus (19)

• The cosmological constant from the ghost. A toy model
• Testing the Void against Cosmological data: fitting CMB, BAO, SN and H0
• Precision cosmology defeats void models for acceleration
• Szekeres Swiss-Cheese model and supernova observations
• The radial BAO scale and Cosmic Shear, a new observable for Inhomogeneous Cosmologies
• The Cosmic Microwave Background in an Inhomogeneous Universe - why void models of dark energy are only weakly constrained by the CMB
• Reconciling the local void with the CMB
• Redshift Drift in LTB Void Universes
• Observational constraints on the LLTB model
• The cosmological constant as a manifestation of the conformal anomaly?
• Probing spatial homogeneity with LTB models: a detailed discussion
• Redshift drift in axially symmetric quasi-spherical Szekeres models
• The Averaging Problem in Cosmology
• Galaxy correlations and the BAO in a void universe: structure formation as a test of the Copernican Principle
• Age Problem in Lemaitre-Tolman-Bondi Void Models
• Spatial and temporal tuning in void models for acceleration
• Probing violation of the Copernican principle via the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect
• Evolution of linear perturbations in Lemaître-Tolman-Bondi void models
• Gravitational backreaction in cosmological spacetimes