Constraints on the Combined Models with $R^{2-q}$ Inflation and Viable $f(R)$ Dark Energy

Abstract

We investigate the observational constraints on the modified gravity, which combines the $R^{2-q}$ inflation with the power-law (exponential) type of the viable $f(R)$ dark energy models. We discuss the difference between the combined model and $R^{2-q}$ gravity in the inflationary epoch and obtain the constraints on the deviation power $q$ as well as the parameters in $f(R)$ by using the CosmoMC package. The allowed ranges of the spectral index and tensor-to-scalar ratio from the Planck data are highly restricted, resulting in $q<2.66\times 10^{-2}$ and $2.17\times 10^{-2}$ for the power-law and exponential types of $f(R)$ gravity, respectively.

9 pages, 6 figures, revised version accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Science