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Positivity in the sky

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arxiv 1904.05874 v3 pith:FTRXBIHJ submitted 2019-04-11 astro-ph.CO gr-qchep-phhep-th

classification astro-ph.COgr-qchep-phhep-th
keywords boundspositivityparameterspaceallowedconstraintsdarkenergy
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal
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Positivity bounds - the consequences of requiring a unitary, causal, local UV completion - place strong restrictions on theories of dark energy and/or modified gravity. We derive and investigate such bounds for Horndeski scalar-tensor theories and for the first time pair these bounds with a cosmological parameter estimation analysis, using CMB, redshift space distortion, matter power spectrum and BAO measurements from the Planck, SDSS/BOSS and 6dF surveys. Using positivity bounds as theoretical priors, we show that their inclusion in the parameter estimation significantly improves the constraints on dark energy/modified gravity parameters. Considering as an example a specific class of models, which are particularly well-suited to illustrate the constraining power of positivity bounds, we find that these bounds eliminate over 60% of the previously allowed parameter space. We also discuss how combining positivity requirements with additional theoretical priors has the potential to further tighten these constraints: for instance also requiring a subluminal speed of gravitational waves eliminates all but 1% of the previously allowed parameter space.

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Forward citations

Cited by 6 Pith papers

Reviewed papers in the Pith corpus that reference this work. Sorted by Pith novelty score. Full citation record

  1. Propagator positivity bounds for cosmological correlators

    hep-th 2025-12 conditional novelty 7.0 of 10

    An infinite tower of two-sided positivity bounds constrains the EFT coefficients of heavy fields on de Sitter, ruling out correlators with no unitary/causal UV completion.

  2. Matrix moment approach to positivity bounds and UV reconstruction from IR

    hep-th 2024-11 conditional novelty 7.0 of 10

    Positivity bounds for multi-field EFTs are formulated as matrix moment problems, yielding optimal bounds and a method to reverse engineer the UV mass, spin, and coupling spectrum from low-energy coefficients.

  3. hi_class: Background Evolution, Initial Conditions and Approximation Schemes

    astro-ph.CO 2019-09 accept novelty 6.0 of 10

    hi_class now evolves the background from covariant Horndeski Lagrangians, provides consistent radiation-era initial conditions for scalar perturbations, and applies a quasi-static approximation automatically where it is safe.

  4. The Speed of Gravity

    hep-th 2019-09 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    In the standard effective field theory of gravity, gravitational waves on cosmological backgrounds propagate at a speed differing from unity, and analyticity arguments favor superluminal speed relative to matter.

  5. Positivity in the effective field theory of cosmological perturbations

    hep-th 2019-08 conditional novelty 6.0 of 10

    For a c_T=1 beyond-Horndeski EFT of cosmological perturbations, positivity bounds including H^2/Λ^2 corrections are derived and applied to slow-roll inflation.

  6. Causality bounds from charged shockwaves in 5d

    hep-th 2024-12 conditional novelty 5.0 of 10

    Causality on 5d charged shockwaves gives positivity bounds on four-derivative Einstein-Maxwell couplings, with gravity weakening the pure-field-theory bounds and near-horizon photons providing the strongest constraints.

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