Cosmological gravity on all scales: Simple equations, required conditions, and a framework for modified gravity

Abstract

The cosmological phenomenology of gravity is typically studied in two limits: relativistic perturbation theory (on large scales) and Newtonian gravity (required for smaller, non-linear, scales). Traditional approaches to model-independent modified gravity are based on perturbation theory, so do not apply on non-linear scales. Future surveys such as Euclid will produce significant data on both linear and non-linear scales, so a new approach is required to constrain model-independent modified gravity by simultaneously using all of the data from these surveys. We use the higher order equations from the post-Friedmann approach to derive a single set of "simple 1PF" (first post-Friedmann) equations that apply in both the small scale and large scale limits, and we examine the required conditions for there to be no intermediate regime, meaning that these simple equations are valid on all scales. We demonstrate how the simple 1PF equations derived here can be used as a model-independent framework for modified gravity that applies on all cosmological scales, and we present an algorithm for determining which modified gravity theories are subsumed under this approach. This modified gravity framework provides a rigorous approach to phenomenological N-body simulations, and paves the way to consistently using all of the data from upcoming surveys to constrain modified gravity in a model-independent fashion.