http://arxiv.org/abs/1909.06388
Cosmological tensions can arise within $\Lambda$CDM scenario amongst different observational windows, such as measurements of the $H_0$ and $\sigma_8$ parameters. These tensions, if finally confirmed by measurements, may indicate new physics beyond the standard paradigm. In this Letter, we report how to alleviate both the $H_0$ and $\sigma_8$ tensions simultaneously within torsional gravity from the perspective of effective field theory (EFT). We apply the EFT approach, which allows to investigate the evolution equations at the background and perturbation levels in a systematic way, and examine the conditions followed by the coefficients of various possibly involved operators such that cosmological tensions can be relaxed. Following these observations we construct concrete models of Lagrangians of torsional gravity. Specifically, we consider the parametrization $f(T)=-T -2\Lambda/M_P^2 +\alpha T^\beta$, where two out of the three parameters are independent (in which an additional term of the form $cT^{1/2}$ can be added). This model can efficiently fit observations solving all statistical tensions. To our knowledge, this is the first time where a modified gravity theory can alleviate both $H_0$ and $\sigma_8$ tensions simultaneously, hence offering an additional argument in favor of gravitational modification.
S. Yan, P. Zhang, J. Chen, et. al.
Tue, 17 Sep 19
31/98
Comments: 7 pages, 2 figures