Cosmological implications of massive gravitons

Abstract

The van Dam–Veltman–Zakharov (vDVZ) discontinuity requires that the mass m of the graviton is exactly zero, otherwise measurements of the deflection of starlight by the Sun and the precession of Mercury’s perihelion would conflict with their theoretical values. This theoretical discontinuity is open to question for numerous reasons. In this paper we show from a phenomenological viewpoint that the m>0 hypothesis is in accord with Supernova Ia and CMB observations, and that the large scale structure of the universe suggests that m∼10-30eV/c2.