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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 7 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. Geometry of effective field theory positivity cones

    math-ph 2025-08 accept novelty 7.0 of 10

    For three particle flavors, the positivity cone C_W has exactly three families of extremal rays, one of which yields genuinely new inelastic constraints not implied by elastic bounds.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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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