Null tests of the concordance model in the era of Euclid and the SKA

TL;DR

This paper assesses the capability of upcoming Euclid and SKA surveys to perform null tests on the standard cosmological model using non-parametric methods and simulated data, aiming to distinguish it from alternative dark energy models.

Contribution

It introduces a non-parametric approach to test the concordance model with future survey data, minimizing assumptions about the underlying cosmology.

Findings

SKA and Euclid can sharply distinguish the concordance model from alternatives.

Future surveys will be able to falsify the standard model if alternative models are correct.

The method effectively discriminates between cosmological models using simulated next-generation data.

Abstract

We perform null tests of the concordance model, using $H(z)$ measurements that mimic next-generation surveys such as Euclid and the SKA. To this end, we deploy a non-parametric method, so that we make minimal assumptions about the fiducial cosmology as well as the statistical analysis. We produce simulations assuming different cosmological models in order to verify how well we can distinguish between their signatures. We find that SKA- and Euclid-like surveys should be able to discriminate sharply between the concordance and alternative dark energy models that are compatible with the Planck CMB data. We conclude that SKA and Euclid will be able to falsify the concordance model in a statistically significant way, if one of the benchmarks models represents the true Universe, without making assumptions about the underlying cosmology.