Bayesian test of Brans-Dicke theories with planetary ephemerides: Investigating the strong equivalence principle

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Main Authors: Mariani, Vincenzo, Minazzoli, Olivier, Fienga, Agnès, Laskar, Jacques, Gastineau, Mickaël
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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author Mariani, Vincenzo
Minazzoli, Olivier
Fienga, Agnès
Laskar, Jacques
Gastineau, Mickaël
author_facet Mariani, Vincenzo
Minazzoli, Olivier
Fienga, Agnès
Laskar, Jacques
Gastineau, Mickaël
contents Context: We are testing the Brans-Dicke class of scalar tensor theories with planetary ephemerides. Aims: In this work, we apply our recently proposed Bayesian methodology to the Brans-Dicke case, with an emphasis on the issue of the strong equivalence principle (SEP). Methods: We use an MCMC approach coupled to full consistent planetary ephemeris construction (from point-mass body integration to observational fit) and compare the posterior distributions obtained with and without the introduction of potential violations of the SEP. Results: We observe a shift in the confidence levels of the posteriors obtained. We interpret this shift as marginal evidence suggesting that the effect of violation of the SEP can no longer be assumed to be negligible in planetary ephemerides with the current data. We also notably report that the constraint on the Brans-Dicke parameter with planetary ephemerides is getting closer to the figure reported from the Cassini spacecraft alone, but also to the constraints from pulsars. We anticipate that data from future spacecraft missions, such as BepiColombo, will significantly enhance the constraints based on planetary ephemerides.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2310_00719
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Bayesian test of Brans-Dicke theories with planetary ephemerides: Investigating the strong equivalence principle
Mariani, Vincenzo
Minazzoli, Olivier
Fienga, Agnès
Laskar, Jacques
Gastineau, Mickaël
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Context: We are testing the Brans-Dicke class of scalar tensor theories with planetary ephemerides. Aims: In this work, we apply our recently proposed Bayesian methodology to the Brans-Dicke case, with an emphasis on the issue of the strong equivalence principle (SEP). Methods: We use an MCMC approach coupled to full consistent planetary ephemeris construction (from point-mass body integration to observational fit) and compare the posterior distributions obtained with and without the introduction of potential violations of the SEP. Results: We observe a shift in the confidence levels of the posteriors obtained. We interpret this shift as marginal evidence suggesting that the effect of violation of the SEP can no longer be assumed to be negligible in planetary ephemerides with the current data. We also notably report that the constraint on the Brans-Dicke parameter with planetary ephemerides is getting closer to the figure reported from the Cassini spacecraft alone, but also to the constraints from pulsars. We anticipate that data from future spacecraft missions, such as BepiColombo, will significantly enhance the constraints based on planetary ephemerides.
title Bayesian test of Brans-Dicke theories with planetary ephemerides: Investigating the strong equivalence principle
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.00719