Cosmology and fundamental physics with the Euclid satellite.

Euclid is a European Space Agency medium-class mission selected for launch in 2020 within the cosmic vision 2015-2025 program. The main goal of Euclid is to understand the origin of the accelerated expansion of the universe. Euclid will explore the expansion history of the universe and the evolution of cosmic structures by measuring shapes and red-shifts of galaxies as well as the distribution of clusters of galaxies over a large fraction of the sky. Although the main driver for Euclid is the nature of dark energy, Euclid science covers a vast range of topics, from cosmology to galaxy evolution to planetary research. In this review we focus on cosmology and fundamental physics, with a strong emphasis on science beyond the current standard models. We discuss five broad topics: dark energy and modified gravity, dark matter, initial conditions, basic assumptions and questions of methodology in the data analysis. This review has been planned and carried out within Euclid's Theory Working Group and is meant to provide a guide to the scientific themes that will underlie the activity of the group during the preparation of the Euclid mission.

Nonzero Density-Velocity Consistency Relations for Large Scale Structures.

We present exact kinematic consistency relations for cosmological structures that do not vanish at equal times and can thus be measured in surveys. These rely on cross correlations between the density and velocity, or momentum, fields. Indeed, the uniform transport of small-scale structures by long-wavelength modes, which cannot be detected at equal times by looking at density correlations only, gives rise to a shift in the amplitude of the velocity field that could be measured. These consistency relations only rely on the weak equivalence principle and Gaussian initial conditions. They remain valid in the nonlinear regime and for biased galaxy fields. They can be used to constrain nonstandard cosmological scenarios or the large-scale galaxy bias.

Releasing scalar fields: cosmological simulations of scalar-tensor theories for gravity beyond the static approximation.

Several extensions of general relativity and high energy physics include scalar fields as extra degrees of freedom. In the search for predictions in the nonlinear regime of cosmological evolution, the community makes use of numerical simulations in which the quasistatic limit is assumed when solving the equation of motion of the scalar field. In this Letter, we propose a method to solve the full equations of motion for scalar degrees of freedom coupled to matter. We run cosmological simulations which track the full time and space evolution of the scalar field, and find striking differences with respect to the commonly used quasistatic approximation. This novel procedure reveals new physical properties of the scalar field and uncovers concealed astrophysical phenomena which were hidden in the old approach.

Shape of clusters of galaxies as a probe of screening mechanisms in modified gravity.

Scalar fields are crucial components in high energy physics and extensions of general relativity. The fact that they are not observed in the Solar System may be due to a mechanism which screens their presence in high dense regions. We show how observations of the ellipticity of galaxy clusters can discriminate between models with and without scalar fields and even between different screening mechanisms. Using current x-ray observations we put novel constraints on the different models.

Cosmology and Fundamental Physics with the Euclid Satellite.

Euclid is a European Space Agency medium-class mission selected for launch in 2019 within the Cosmic Vision 2015-2025 program. The main goal of Euclid is to understand the origin of the accelerated expansion of the universe. Euclid will explore the expansion history of the universe and the evolution of cosmic structures by measuring shapes and red-shifts of galaxies as well as the distribution of clusters of galaxies over a large fraction of the sky. Although the main driver for Euclid is the nature of dark energy, Euclid science covers a vast range of topics, from cosmology to galaxy evolution to planetary research. In this review we focus on cosmology and fundamental physics, with a strong emphasis on science beyond the current standard models. We discuss five broad topics: dark energy and modified gravity, dark matter, initial conditions, basic assumptions and questions of methodology in the data analysis. This review has been planned and carried out within Euclid's Theory Working Group and is meant to provide a guide to the scientific themes that will underlie the activity of the group during the preparation of the Euclid mission.

Screening modifications of gravity through disformally coupled fields.

It is shown that extensions to general relativity, which introduce a strongly coupled scalar field, can be viable if the interaction has a nonconformal form. Such disformal coupling depends upon the gradients of the scalar field. Thus, if the field is locally static and smooth, the coupling becomes invisible in the Solar System: this is the disformal screening mechanism. A cosmological model is considered where the disformal coupling triggers the onset of accelerated expansion after a scaling matter era, giving a good fit to a wide range of background observational data. Moreover, the interaction leaves signatures in the formation of large-scale structure that can be used to probe such couplings.

Strongly coupled chameleon fields: new horizons in scalar field theory.

We show that, as a result of nonlinear self-interactions, scalar field theories that couple to matter much more strongly than gravity are not only viable but could well be detected by a number of future experiments provided that they are properly designed to do so.