Is the Effective Field Theory of Dark Energy Effective?

Abstract

The effective field theory of cosmic acceleration systematizes possible contributions to the action, accounting for both dark energy and modifications of gravity. Rather than making model dependent assumptions, it includes all terms, subject to the required symmetries, with four (seven) functions of time for the coefficients. These correspond respectively to the Horndeski and general beyond Horndeski class of theories. We address the question of whether this general systematization is actually effective, i.e. useful in revealing the nature of cosmic acceleration when compared with cosmological data. The answer is no and yes: {\it there is no simple time dependence of the free functions} -- assumed forms in the literature are poor fits, but one can derive some general characteristics in early and late time limits. For example, we prove that the gravitational slip must restore to general relativity in the de Sitter limit of Horndeski theories, and why it doesn't more generally. We also clarify the relation between the tensor and scalar sectors, and its important relation to observations; in a real sense the expansion history $H(z)$ or dark energy equation of state $w(z)$ is $1/5$ or less of the functional information! In addition we discuss the de Sitter, Horndeski, and decoupling limits of the theory utilizing Goldstone techniques.

16+5 pages, 7 figures

References in corpus (15)

• Beyond the Cosmological Standard Model
• The Effective Field Theory of Inflation
• The Effective Field Theory of Cosmological Large Scale Structures
• Effective Field Theory for Inflation
• Maximal freedom at minimum cost: linear large-scale structure in general modifications of gravity
• Introduction to Effective Field Theory
• The Effective Theory of Quintessence: the w<-1 Side Unveiled
• Anisotropic stress as signature of non-standard propagation of gravitational waves
• Stability of Cosmological Solution in f(R) Models of Gravity
• Piercing the Vainshtein screen with anomalous gravitational wave speed: Constraints on modified gravity from binary pulsars
• TASI Lectures on Effective Field Theories
• Who You Gonna Call? Runaway Ghosts, Higher Derivatives and Time-Dependence in EFTs
• Cosmological Implications of the Effective Field Theory of Cosmic Acceleration
• Are Scalar and Tensor Deviations Related in Modified Gravity?
• A Model Independent Approach to (p)Reheating

Cited by in corpus (43)

• Testing General Relativity in Cosmology
• Effective Field Theory of Dark Energy: a Review
• hi_class: Horndeski in the Cosmic Linear Anisotropy Solving System
• Cosmological Tests of Gravity
• The Observational Future of Cosmological Scalar-Tensor Theories
• Cosmological parameter constraints for Horndeski scalar-tensor gravity
• An overview of what current data can (and cannot yet) say about evolving dark energy
• Positivity in the sky
• A comparison of Einstein-Boltzmann solvers for testing General Relativity
• Challenges in Connecting Modified Gravity Theory and Observations
• Cosmological constraints on dark energy in light of gravitational wave bounds
• Modified Gravity Constraints from the Full Shape Modeling of Clustering Measurements from DESI 2024
• Optimising growth of structure constraints on modified gravity
• Reconstructing Horndeski theories from phenomenological modified gravity and dark energy models on cosmological scales
• Hiding neutrino mass in modified gravity cosmologies
• A parametrisation of modified gravity on nonlinear cosmological scales
• Gravity's Islands: Parametrizing Horndeski Stability
• Reconstructing Horndeski models from the effective field theory of dark energy
• Non-standard gravitational waves imply gravitational slip: on the difficulty of partially hiding new gravitational degrees of freedom
• Testing gravity theories using tensor perturbations
• Toward an Effective Field Theory Approach to Reheating
• Current constraints on deviations from General Relativity using binning in redshift and scale
• Inherently stable effective field theory for dark energy and modified gravity
• Sweeping Horndeski Canvas: New Growth-Rate Parameterization for Modified-Gravity Theories
• Parametrizations for tests of gravity
• Radiative stability and observational constraints on dark energy and modified gravity
• Limited Modified Gravity
• Modified Gravity Away from a $\Lambda$CDM Background
• Whether Lyra's Manifold Itself is a Hidden Source of Dark Energy
• Tackling non-linearities with the effective field theory of dark energy and modified gravity
• No slip gravity in light of LISA standard sirens
• No Run Gravity
• Subpercent Accurate Fitting of Modified Gravity Growth
• On tachyonic stability priors for dark energy
• An Expansion of Well Tempered Gravity
• A de Sitter limit analysis for dark energy and modified gravity models
• Misinterpreting Modified Gravity as Dark Energy: a Quantitative Study
• Theoretical priors in scalar-tensor cosmologies: Shift-symmetric Horndeski models
• Cosmological Perturbations in the Early Universe
• Testing modified (Horndeski) gravity by combining intrinsic galaxyalignments with cosmic shear
• Dark energy constraints in light of theoretical priors
• Testing No slip model with pulsar timing arrays: NANOGrav and IPTA
• The Effects of the Gravitational Coupling Variation on the Local $H_0$ Estimation