Intensity mapping of post-reionization 21-cm signal and its cross-correlations as a probe of f(R) gravity

Abstract

We propose the intensity mapping of the redshifted Hi 21-cm signal from the post-reionization epoch as a cosmological probe of f(R) gravity. We consider the Hu–Sawicki family of f(R) gravity models characterized by a single parameter $$f_{,R0}$$ . The f(R) modification to gravity affects the post-reionization 21-cm power spectrum through the change in the growth rate of density fluctuations. We find that a radio interferometric observation with a SKA1-mid-like radio telescope in both auto-correlation and cross-correlation with galaxy weak-lensing and Lyman- $$\alpha $$ forest may distinguish f(R) models from $$\Lambda $$ CDM cosmology at a precision, which is competitive with other probes of f(R) gravity.