Cosmological constraints on the gravitational constant

Abstract

Abstract We study the variation of the gravitational constant on cosmological scales in scalar-tensor theories of gravity. We focus on the simplest models of scalar-tensor theories with a coupling to the Ricci scalar of the form F(σ) = N 2 pl + ξσ 2, such as extended Jordan-Brans-Dicke (N pl = 0), or a non-minimally coupled scalar field with N pl = M pl, which permits the gravitational constant to vary self-consistently in time and space. In addition, we allow the effective gravitational constant on cosmological scales to differ from the Newton's measured constant G, i.e. G eff(z = 0) = G(1+Δ)2. We study the impact of this imbalance Δ jointly with the coupling ξ into anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background and matter power spectrum at low-redshift. Combining the information from Planck 2018 CMB temperature, polarization and lensing, together with a compilation of BAO measurements from the release DR12 of the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), we constrain the imbalance to Δ = -0.022 ± 0.023 (68% CL) and the coupling parameter to 103 ξ < 0.82 (95% CL) for Jordan-Brans-Dicke and for a non-minimally coupled scalar field with F(σ) = M 2 pl + ξσ 2 we constrain the imbalance to Δ > -0.018 (< 0.021) and the coupling parameter to ξ < 0.089 (ξ > - 0.041) both at 95% CL. With current data, we observe that the degeneracy between Δ, the coupling ξ to the Ricci scalar, and H 0 allows for a larger value of the Hubble constant increasing the consistency between the distance-ladder measurement of the Hubble constant from supernovae type Ia by the SH0ES team and its value inferred by CMB data. We also study how future cosmological observations can constrain the gravitational Newton's constant. Future data such as the combination of CMB anisotropies from LiteBIRD and CMB-S4, and large-scale structures galaxy clustering from DESI and galaxy shear from LSST reduce the uncertainty in Δ to σ(Δ) ≃ 0.004.