Reconstructions of Horndeski Subclasses by Gaussian Processes

Abstract

In this work we reconstruct two subclasses of theories from the Horndeski class, the most general scalar-tensor theories of gravity with second-order equations, according to a variety of late-universe cosmological data: model independent measurements of Hubble rate from Cosmic Chronometers, as well as Hubble rate and distance measurements from Baryonic Acoustic Oscillations. In the modified gravity family considered, the scalar field is non-minimally coupled to gravity leading to time variations in the gravitational constant at cosmological scales. The theories considered are also consistent with constraints on the propagation speed of gravitational waves. The reconstruction is carried out by using the Gaussian Processes bayesian technique either for the Brans-Dicke and the Cubic Galileon subclasses of Horndeski theory. We find that the most likely Gaussian Process reconstruction for the data favors a cosmology from the Brans-Dicke subclass over $Λ$CDM in the range $z \in (0.4, 1.7)$, and for the Cubic Galileon subclass we find that the most likely reconstruction indeed favors modifications of the scalar field to gravity with evolving dark energy density in the whole range of redshift observations.