Astrophysical Tests of Modified Gravity: A Screening Map of the Nearby Universe

Abstract

Astrophysical tests of modified modified gravity theories in the nearby universe have been emphasized recently by Hui, Nicolis and Stubbs (2009) and Jain and VanderPlas (2011). A key element of such tests is the screening mechanism whereby general relativity is restored in massive halos or high density environments like the Milky Way. In chameleon theories of gravity, including all f(R) models, field dwarf galaxies may be unscreened and therefore feel an extra force, as opposed to screened galaxies. The first step to study differences between screened and unscreened galaxies is to create a 3D screening map. We use N-body simulations to test and calibrate simple approximations to determine the level of screening in galaxy catalogs. Sources of systematic errors in the screening map due to observational inaccuracies are modeled and their contamination is estimated. We then apply our methods to create a map out to 200 Mpc in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey footprint using data from the Sloan survey and other sources. In two companion papers this map will be used to carry out new tests of gravity using distance indicators and the disks of dwarf galaxies. We also make our screening map publicly available.

21 pages, 10 figures

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Cited by in corpus (47)

• Cosmological Tests of Modified Gravity
• Tests of Chameleon Gravity
• Astrophysical Tests of Modified Gravity: Constraints from Distance Indicators in the Nearby Universe
• Cosmological Tests of Gravity
• A local resolution of the Hubble tension: The impact of screened fifth forces on the cosmic distance ladder
• A Compendium of Chameleon Constraints
• A marked correlation function for constraining modified gravity models
• The Novel Probes Project -- Tests of Gravity on Astrophysical Scales
• Testing Screened Modified Gravity
• The first all-sky view of the Milky Way stellar halo with Gaia+2MASS RR Lyrae
• Testing the theory of gravity with DESI: estimators, predictions and simulation requirements
• Scaling relations and mass bias in hydrodynamical f(R) gravity simulations of galaxy clusters
• Cosmic Web and Environmental Dependence of Screening: Vainshtein vs. Chameleon
• Stellar Oscillations in Modified Gravity
• Galaxy morphology rules out astrophysically relevant Hu-Sawicki $f(R)$ gravity
• Astrophysical Tests of Modified Gravity: the Morphology and Kinematics of Dwarf Galaxies
• Modeling the nonlinear clustering in modified gravity models I: A fitting formula for matter power spectrum of f(R) gravity
• Astrophysical Tests of Modified Gravity: Stellar and Gaseous Rotation Curves in Dwarf Galaxies
• Cosmic voids: a novel probe to shed light on our Universe
• Marked clustering statistics in $f(R)$ gravity cosmologies
• The Fifth Force in the Local Cosmic Web
• Semi-analytic galaxy formation in f(R)-gravity cosmologies
• Fifth force constraints from the separation of galaxy mass components
• Constraints on Chameleon f(R)-Gravity from Galaxy Rotation Curves of the SPARC Sample
• Fifth force constraints from galaxy warps
• Testing Gravity Theories Using Stars
• An exponential shape function for wormholes in modified gravity
• Modified Gravity and the Black Hole Mass Gap
• A general study of chameleon fifth force in gravity space experiments
• Solar System tests and chameleon effect in f (R) gravity
• Phantom energy supported wormhole model in $f(R,T)$ gravity assuming conformal motion
• Highly compact neutron stars and screening mechanisms. I. Equilibrium and stability
• Constraints on chameleon gravity from the measurement of the electrostatic stiffness of the MICROSCOPE mission accelerometers
• Revisiting the screening mechanism in $f(R)$ gravity
• An Environmental Variation of Constants
• Accurate Computation of the Screening of Scalar Fifth Forces in Galaxies
• Cosmological tests of gravity with latest observations
• Screening maps of the local Universe I -- Methodology
• Extended Chameleons
• Testing screened modified gravity with SDSS-IV-MaNGA
• Chameleon Fragmentation
• Modified Gravity and the Flux-weighted Gravity-Luminosity Relationship of Blue Supergiant Stars
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• Using Elliptical Galaxy Kinematics to Compare of the Strength of Gravity in Cosmological Regions of Differing Gravitational Potential -- A First Look
• Euclid: Constraints on f(R) cosmologies from the spectroscopic and photometric primary probes