Distinguishing GR and f(R) gravity with the gravitational lensing Minkowski functionals

Ling, C.; Wang, Q.; Li, R.; Li, B.; Wang, J.; Gao, L.

Abstract

We explore the Minkowski functionals (MFs) of weak lensing convergence map to distinguish between f(R) gravity and the general relativity (GR). The mock weak lensing convergence maps are constructed with a set of high-resolution simulations assuming different gravity models. It is shown that the lensing MFs of f(R) gravity can be considerably different from that of GR because of the environmentally dependent enhancement of structure formation. We also investigate the effect of lensing noise on our results, and find that it is likely to distinguish F5, F6, and GR gravity models with a galaxy survey of ∼3000  degree2 and with a background source number density of ng=30  arcmin−2, comparable to an upcoming survey dark energy survey (DES). We also find that the f(R) signal can be partially degenerate with the effect of changing cosmology, but combined use of other observations, such as the cosmic microwave background (CMB) data, can help break this degeneracy.

Citation

Ling, C., Wang, Q., Li, R., Li, B., Wang, J., & Gao, L. (2015). Distinguishing GR and f(R) gravity with the gravitational lensing Minkowski functionals. Physical Review D, 92(6), Article 064024. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.92.064024

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 4, 2015
• Publication Date: Sep 17, 2015
• Deposit Date: Aug 17, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 12, 2015
• Journal: Physical Review D - Particles, Fields, Gravitation, and Cosmology
• Print ISSN: 1550-7998
• Electronic ISSN: 1550-2368
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 92
• Issue: 6
• Article Number: 064024
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.92.064024
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1424130
• Related Public URLs: http://arxiv.org/abs/1410.2734