Model-independent constraints on modified gravity from current data and from the Euclid and SKA future surveys

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to constrain modified gravity with redshift space distortion observations and supernovae measurements. Compared with a standard ΛCDM analysis, we include three additional free parameters, namely the initial conditions of the matter perturbations, the overall perturbation normalization, and a scale-dependent modified gravity parameter modifying the Poisson equation, in an attempt to perform a more model-independent analysis. First, we constrain the Poisson parameter Y (also called Geff) by using currently available fσ8 data and the recent SN catalog JLA. We find that the inclusion of the additional free parameters makes the constraints significantly weaker than when fixing them to the standard cosmological value. Second, we forecast future constraints on Y by using the predicted growth-rate data for Euclid and SKA missions. Here again we point out the weakening of the constraints when the additional parameters are included. Finally, we adopt as modified gravity Poisson parameter the specific Horndeski form, and use scale-dependent forecasts to build an exclusion plot for the Yukawa potential akin to the ones realized in laboratory experiments, both for the Euclid and the SKA surveys.