Big-bang nucleosynthesis and cosmic microwave background constraints on nonminimally coupled theories of gravity

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2018

Authors

Azevedo, RPL (Author) Other; Avelino, PP (Author) FCUP

Journal

Title: Physical Review D

Vol. 98

ISSN: 2470-0010

Publisher: American Physical Society

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 14 Citations

Scopus - 14 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00P-NCK

DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.98.064045

Abstract (EN): In this paper, we show that the baryon-to-photon ratio eta is in general not conserved before decoupling in nonminimally coupled theories of gravity. We use big-bang nucleosynthesis and cosmic microwave background (CMB) limits on the baryon-to-photon ratio eta to derive new constraints on modified gravity theories with a universal nonminimal coupling between matter and curvature, showing that they rule out a specific class of models previously considered in the literature as a substitute for the dark matter. We also compare these new constraints with the ones obtained from the COBE-FIRAS limits on CMB spectral distortions, highlighting the complementarity between them.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 5