The baryon acoustic oscillation peak: a flexible standard ruler

Abstract

For about a decade, the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) peak at about 105 Mpc/h has provided a standard ruler test of the LCDM cosmological model, a member of the Friedmann--Lemaitre--Robertson--Walker (FLRW) family of cosmological models---according to which comoving space is rigid. However, general relativity does not require comoving space to be rigid. During the virialisation epoch, when the most massive structures form by gravitational collapse, it should be expected that comoving space evolves inhomogeneous curvature as structure grows. The BAO peak standard ruler should also follow this inhomogeneous evolution if the comoving rigidity assumption is false. This "standard" ruler has now been detected to be flexible, as expected under general relativity.