Filippo Vernizzi

The Effective Field Theory of Dark Energy

We propose a universal description of dark energy and modified gravity that includes all single-field models. By extending a formalism previously applied to inflation, we consider the metric universally coupled to matter fields and we write in terms of it the most general unitary gauge action consistent with the residual unbroken symmetries of spatial diffeomorphisms. Our action is particularly suited for cosmological perturbation theory: the background evolution depends on only three operators. All other operators start at least at quadratic order in the perturbations and their effects can be studied independently and systematically. In particular, we focus on the properties of a few operators which appear in non-minimally coupled scalar-tensor gravity and galileon theories. In this context, we study the mixing between gravity and the scalar degree of freedom. We assess the quantum and classical stability, derive the speed of sound of fluctuations and the renormalization of the Newton constant. The scalar can always be de-mixed from gravity at quadratic order in the perturbations, but not necessarily through a conformal rescaling of the metric. We show how to express covariant field-operators in our formalism and give several explicit examples of dark energy and modified gravity models in our language. Finally, we discuss the relation with the covariant EFT methods recently appeared in the literature.

Exploring gravitational theories beyond Horndeski

We have recently proposed a new class of gravitational scalar-tensor theories free from Ostrogradski instabilities, in arXiv:1404.6495. As they generalize Horndeski theories, or generalized galileons, we call them G

The Effective Theory of Quintessence: the w<-1 Side Unveiled

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Essential Building Blocks of Dark Energy

. These theories possess a simple formulation when the time hypersurfaces are chosen to coincide with the uniform scalar field hypersurfaces. We confirm that they contain only three propagating degrees of freedom by presenting the details of the Hamiltonian formulation. We examine the coupling between these theories and matter. Moreover, we investigate how they transform under a disformal redefinition of the metric. Remarkably, these theories are preserved by disformal transformations that depend on the scalar field gradient, which also allow to map subfamilies of G

Effective Field Theory of Cosmological Perturbations

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Full-sky lensing shear at second order

into Horndeski theories.

Sachs-Wolfe at second order: the CMB bispectrum on large angular scales

We study generic single-field dark energy models, by a parametrization of the most general theory of their perturbations around a given background, including higher derivative terms. In appropriate limits this approach reproduces standard quintessence, k-essence and ghost condensation. We find no general pathology associated to an equation of state w{sub Q} < -1 or in crossing the phantom divide w{sub Q} = -1. Stability requires that the w{sub Q} < -1 side of dark energy behaves, on cosmological scales, as a k-essence fluid with a virtually zero speed of sound. This implies that one should set the speed of sound to zero when comparing with data models with w{sub Q} < -1 or crossing the phantom divide. We summarize the theoretical and stability constraints on the quintessential plane (1+w{sub Q}) vs. speed of sound squared.

Effective Theory of Interacting Dark Energy

We propose a minimal description of single field dark energy/modified gravity within the effective field theory formalism for cosmological perturbations, which encompasses most existing models. We start from a generic Lagrangian given as an arbitrary function of the lapse and of the extrinsic and intrinsic curvature tensors of the time hypersurfaces in unitary gauge, i.e. choosing as time slicing the uniform scalar field hypersurfaces. Focusing on linear perturbations, we identify seven Lagrangian operators that lead to equations of motion containing at most two (space or time) derivatives, the background evolution being determined by the time dependent coefficients of only three of these operators. We then establish a dictionary that translates any existing or future model whose Lagrangian can be written in the above form into our parametrized framework. As an illustration, we study Horndeskis-or generalized Galileon-theories and show that they can be described, up to linear order, by only six of the seven operators mentioned above. This implies, remarkably, that the dynamics of linear perturbations can be more general than that of Horndeski while remaining second order. Finally, in order to make the link with observations, we provide the entire set of linear perturbation equations in Newtonian gauge, the effective Newton constant in the quasi-static approximation and the ratio of the two gravitational potentials, in terms of the time-dependent coefficients of our Lagrangian.

Cosmic microwave background bispectrum from recombination.

The effective field theory of cosmological perturbations stems from considering a cosmological background solution as a state displaying spontaneous breaking of time translations and (adiabatic) perturbations as the related Nambu-Goldstone modes. With this insight, one can systematically develop a theory for the cosmological perturbations during inflation and, with minor modifications, also describe in full generality the gravitational interactions of dark energy, which are relevant for late-time cosmology. The formalism displays a unique set of Lagrangian operators containing an increasing number of cosmological perturbations and derivatives. We give an introductory description of the unitary gauge formalism for theories with broken gauge symmetry---that allows to write down the most general Lagrangian---and of the Stueckelberg trick---that allows to recover gauge invariance and to make the scalar field explicit. We show how to apply this formalism to gravity and cosmology and we reproduce the detailed analysis of the action in the ADM variables. We also review some basic applications to inflation and dark energy.

Single-field consistency relations of large scale structure part II: resummation and redshift space

We compute the reduced cosmic shear up to second order in the gravitational potential without relying on the small-angle or thin-lens approximation. This is obtained by solving the Sachs equation which describes the deformation of the infinitesimal cross section of a light bundle in the optical limit, and maps galaxy intrinsic shapes into their angular images. The calculation is done in the Poisson gauge without a specific matter content, including vector and tensor perturbations generated at second order and taking account of the inhomogeneities of a fixed redshift source plane. Our final result is expressed in terms of spin-2 operators on the sphere and is valid on the full sky. Beside the well-known lens-lens and Born corrections that dominate on small angular scales, we find new nonlinear couplings. These are a purely general relativistic intrinsic contribution, a coupling between the gravitational potential at the source with the lens, couplings between the time delay with the lens and between two photon deflections, as well as nonlinear couplings due to the second-order vector and tensor components. The inhomogeneity in the redshift of the source induces a coupling between the photon redshift with the lens. All these corrections become important on large angular scales and should thus be included when computing higher-order observables such as the bispectrum, in full or partially full-sky surveys.