Extending the toolset for cosmological tests of gravity

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Gravity presents some of the hardest challenges to physicists. We do not know how to reconcile gravity with quantum physics, nor do we understand dark energy and dark matter. These puzzles motivate extensive studies of new theories of gravity, as well as ways of testing them using astronomical observations. Testing gravity is one of the main science drivers for the large-scale internationally funded cosmological surveys in which Canada plays a leading role. MGCAMB is a numerical code developed and maintained by the cosmology group at SFU that has become one of the standard tools for cosmological tests of gravity. The proposed collaboration will take advantage of the unique expertise of Profs Kazuya Koyama (Portsmouth) and Claudia de Rham (Imperial) to extend the capabilities of MGCAMB and help keep it as the go-to tool for the cosmological community, keeping Canada at the forefront of discovery in the field of testing gravity.Prof. Koyama is a global leader in nonlinear effects of modified gravity. Members of the SFU group will work with his group to add to MGCAMB the option of making predictions for cosmic structures on small distances, where most of the information resides. Prof. de Rham is the world leading expert on massive gravity, which is an important class of modified gravity theories that could explain the origin of cosmic acceleration. Working jointly with Profs de Rham and Koyama's groups, the SFU group will identify cosmological signatures of massive gravity and add the corresponding capabilities to MGCAMB.