Horndeski Gravity as an Effective Dark Energy Fluid in Cosmological N-body Simulations

Abstract

Unraveling the nature of the cosmic expansion, driven by Dark Energy (DE), remains one of the key challenges in modern cosmology. Modified Gravity (MG) models provide an alternative to the standard cosmological constant paradigm. These models predict distinct signatures in the growth of structure, yet analytical predictions are challenging due to the highly non--linear equations involved. To overcome this problem, we study MG as an effective DE fluid. To this end, we have incorporated linear DE perturbations into the N--body code $\texttt{CO}N\texttt{CEPT}$, which relies on the Einstein--Boltzmann solver $\texttt{CLASS}$. We replaced the $\texttt{CLASS}$ version used by $\texttt{CO}N\texttt{CEPT}$ with $\texttt{mochi\_CLASS}$, a patched version that includes Horndeski family models. By writing linear DE perturbations ($δρ_{\rm DE}$, $δP_{\rm DE}$, $θ_{\rm DE}$, and $σ_{\rm DE}$) in terms of metric perturbations in the synchronous gauge, the N--body code is able to evolve the effective fluid using the Boltzmann equation. Our current simulations encompass a range of cosmological scenarios ---$w_0w_a$CDM, Hu--Sawicki $f(R)$ and cubic Galileon--- each extended to include massive neutrinos. For each of the models, we have found deviations from General Relativity close to what is predicted in the linear regime: a sub-$0.2\%$ relative difference for $Λ$CDM, up to $40\%$ for $f(R)$ and a sub-$25\%$ for cubic Galileon. Since our code is the first to implement Horndeski gravity into an N--body code, its validation is a non--trivial computational task. Our novel code opens the door to explore a vast number of modified gravity models in the context of current and future cosmological surveys.