Decay of $f(R)$ quintessence into dark matter: mitigating the Hubble tension?

Fuente: arXiv
Enregistré dans:
Détails bibliographiques
Auteurs principaux: Montani, Giovanni, Escamilla, Luis A., Carlevaro, Nakia, Di Valentino, Eleonora
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2025
Sujets:
Accès en ligne:
Tags: Ajouter un tag
Pas de tags, Soyez le premier à ajouter un tag!
_version_ 1866912807564345344
author Montani, Giovanni
Escamilla, Luis A.
Carlevaro, Nakia
Di Valentino, Eleonora
author_facet Montani, Giovanni
Escamilla, Luis A.
Carlevaro, Nakia
Di Valentino, Eleonora
contents We propose a revised cosmological scenario that extends the $Λ$ Cold Dark Matter ($Λ$CDM) framework by incorporating metric $f(R)$ gravity in the Jordan frame. In this model, the dark energy component arises from a non-minimally coupled scalar field, decomposed into a smooth background (set to unity to recover General Relativity) and a rapidly varying, massive fluctuation that decays into the dark matter sector. In the near-GR limit, this setup provides a phenomenological extension of $Λ$CDM characterized by two additional parameters: the present-day value of the scalar fluctuation and a normalized decay rate. Using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis of low-redshift cosmological data, comprising Type Ia Supernovae, Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO), and Cosmic Chronometer measurements, we find that the proposed model achieves a better overall fit than $Λ$CDM, while the Bayesian evidence remains statistically inconclusive given the inclusion of two extra parameters. The model predicts a moderate increase in the inferred value of $H_0$ and an improved consistency with DESI BAO data when adopting the SH0ES prior. Furthermore, describing dark matter particle creation as a transition phase in the late Universe offers an intriguing physical interpretation, potentially capturing features already present in current data and providing a promising avenue to explore extensions of the standard cosmological model within modified gravity frameworks.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_20193
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Decay of $f(R)$ quintessence into dark matter: mitigating the Hubble tension?
Montani, Giovanni
Escamilla, Luis A.
Carlevaro, Nakia
Di Valentino, Eleonora
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
We propose a revised cosmological scenario that extends the $Λ$ Cold Dark Matter ($Λ$CDM) framework by incorporating metric $f(R)$ gravity in the Jordan frame. In this model, the dark energy component arises from a non-minimally coupled scalar field, decomposed into a smooth background (set to unity to recover General Relativity) and a rapidly varying, massive fluctuation that decays into the dark matter sector. In the near-GR limit, this setup provides a phenomenological extension of $Λ$CDM characterized by two additional parameters: the present-day value of the scalar fluctuation and a normalized decay rate. Using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo analysis of low-redshift cosmological data, comprising Type Ia Supernovae, Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO), and Cosmic Chronometer measurements, we find that the proposed model achieves a better overall fit than $Λ$CDM, while the Bayesian evidence remains statistically inconclusive given the inclusion of two extra parameters. The model predicts a moderate increase in the inferred value of $H_0$ and an improved consistency with DESI BAO data when adopting the SH0ES prior. Furthermore, describing dark matter particle creation as a transition phase in the late Universe offers an intriguing physical interpretation, potentially capturing features already present in current data and providing a promising avenue to explore extensions of the standard cosmological model within modified gravity frameworks.
title Decay of $f(R)$ quintessence into dark matter: mitigating the Hubble tension?
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.20193