Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2010-03-10
Reyes, R. et al. 2010, Nature, 464, 256-258.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Cosmology and Extragalactic Astrophysics
Submitted version; 13 pages, 2 figures. Accepted version and supplementary material are available at: http://www.nature.com/
Scientific paper
10.1038/nature08857
Although general relativity underlies modern cosmology, its applicability on cosmological length scales has yet to be stringently tested. Such a test has recently been proposed, using a quantity, EG, that combines measures of large-scale gravitational lensing, galaxy clustering and structure growth rate. The combination is insensitive to 'galaxy bias' (the difference between the clustering of visible galaxies and invisible dark matter) and is thus robust to the uncertainty in this parameter. Modified theories of gravity generally predict values of EG different from the general relativistic prediction because, in these theories, the 'gravitational slip' (the difference between the two potentials that describe perturbations in the gravitational metric) is non-zero, which leads to changes in the growth of structure and the strength of the gravitational lensing effect3. Here we report that EG = 0.39 +/- 0.06 on length scales of tens of megaparsecs, in agreement with the general relativistic prediction of EG $\approx$ 0.4. The measured value excludes a model within the tensor-vector-scalar gravity theory, which modifies both Newtonian and Einstein gravity. However, the relatively large uncertainty still permits models within f(R) theory, which is an extension of general relativity. A fivefold decrease in uncertainty is needed to rule out these models.
Baldauf Tobias
Gunn James E.
Lombriser Lucas
Mandelbaum Rachel
Reyes Reinabelle
No associations
LandOfFree
Confirmation of general relativity on large scales from weak lensing and galaxy velocities does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Confirmation of general relativity on large scales from weak lensing and galaxy velocities, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Confirmation of general relativity on large scales from weak lensing and galaxy velocities will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-342516