Null energy condition violation and beyond Horndeski physics in light of DESI DR2 data

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Ye, Gen, Cai, Yong
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Ye, Gen
Cai, Yong
author_facet Ye, Gen
Cai, Yong
contents Inflation and dark energy (DE), both featuring accelerated expansion, are crucial components of modern cosmology. As indicated by singularity theorems, null energy condition (NEC) violation is essential for resolving the initial singularity of inflation. The latest DESI DR2 results show that the DE equation of state evolves from $w_{\rm DE} < -1$ at redshift $z \lesssim 1$ to $w_{\rm DE} > -1$ today, reinforcing interest in testing NEC violation in the observable Universe. Within a unified effective field theory framework that applies to both inflation and DE, we use DESI DR2 data and a non-parametric reconstruction approach to test, for the first time, the ``beyond Horndeski'' physics known to support fully stable NEC violation in nonsingular cosmology. Therefore, our work provides a novel avenue to constrain the physics underlying NEC violation in a model agnostic way. It also highlights the potential relevance of NEC violation to both the primordial Universe and late-time cosmic acceleration.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_22515
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Null energy condition violation and beyond Horndeski physics in light of DESI DR2 data
Ye, Gen
Cai, Yong
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Physics - Theory
Inflation and dark energy (DE), both featuring accelerated expansion, are crucial components of modern cosmology. As indicated by singularity theorems, null energy condition (NEC) violation is essential for resolving the initial singularity of inflation. The latest DESI DR2 results show that the DE equation of state evolves from $w_{\rm DE} < -1$ at redshift $z \lesssim 1$ to $w_{\rm DE} > -1$ today, reinforcing interest in testing NEC violation in the observable Universe. Within a unified effective field theory framework that applies to both inflation and DE, we use DESI DR2 data and a non-parametric reconstruction approach to test, for the first time, the ``beyond Horndeski'' physics known to support fully stable NEC violation in nonsingular cosmology. Therefore, our work provides a novel avenue to constrain the physics underlying NEC violation in a model agnostic way. It also highlights the potential relevance of NEC violation to both the primordial Universe and late-time cosmic acceleration.
title Null energy condition violation and beyond Horndeski physics in light of DESI DR2 data
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Physics - Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.22515