TY - JOUR
T1 - Cosmological Perturbations and Quasi-Static Assumptions in f(R) Theories
AU - Chiu, Mu-Chen
AU - Taylor, Andrew
AU - Shu, Chenggang
AU - Tu, Hong
PY - 2015/8/7
Y1 - 2015/8/7
N2 - f(R) gravity is one of the simplest theories of modified gravity to explain the accelerated cosmic expansion. Although it is usually assumed that the quasi-Newtonian approach (a combination of the quasi-static approximation and sub-Hubble limit) for cosmic perturbations is good enough to describe the evolution of large scale structure in f(R) models, some studies have suggested that this method is not valid for all f(R) models. Here, we show that in the matter-dominated era, the pressure and shear equations alone, which can be recast into four first-order equations to solve for cosmological perturbations exactly, are sufficient to solve for the Newtonian potential, Ψ, and the curvature potential, Φ. Based on these two equations, we are able to clarify how the exact linear perturbations fit into different limits. We find that the Compton length controls the quasi-static behaviours in f(R) gravity. In addition, regardless the validity of quasi-static approximation, a strong version of the sub-Hubble limit alone is sufficient to reduce the exact linear perturbations in any viable f(R) gravity to second order. Our findings disagree with some previous studies where we find little difference between our exact and quasi-Newtonian solutions even up to k = 10 H0/c.
AB - f(R) gravity is one of the simplest theories of modified gravity to explain the accelerated cosmic expansion. Although it is usually assumed that the quasi-Newtonian approach (a combination of the quasi-static approximation and sub-Hubble limit) for cosmic perturbations is good enough to describe the evolution of large scale structure in f(R) models, some studies have suggested that this method is not valid for all f(R) models. Here, we show that in the matter-dominated era, the pressure and shear equations alone, which can be recast into four first-order equations to solve for cosmological perturbations exactly, are sufficient to solve for the Newtonian potential, Ψ, and the curvature potential, Φ. Based on these two equations, we are able to clarify how the exact linear perturbations fit into different limits. We find that the Compton length controls the quasi-static behaviours in f(R) gravity. In addition, regardless the validity of quasi-static approximation, a strong version of the sub-Hubble limit alone is sufficient to reduce the exact linear perturbations in any viable f(R) gravity to second order. Our findings disagree with some previous studies where we find little difference between our exact and quasi-Newtonian solutions even up to k = 10 H0/c.
M3 - Article
SN - 0556-2821
VL - 92
SP - 103514
JO - Physical Review D, particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology
JF - Physical Review D, particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology
ER -