Constraining Dark Energy from Local Group dynamics

TL;DR

This paper introduces a method to constrain the Cosmological Constant using the dynamics of binary galaxies like the Milky Way and Andromeda, providing bounds that complement cosmological measurements and testing alternative gravity theories.

Contribution

It develops an analytical solution to the two-body problem with $\Lambda$ and applies it to Local Group dynamics to estimate bounds on the Cosmological Constant.

Findings

Current bounds on $\Lambda$ are within a factor of 5.44 of Planck's value.

Future measurements could reduce the uncertainty to about 0.79 times $\Lambda_{ m PL}$.

Local Group dynamics can test alternative theories of gravity over large scales.

Abstract

This Letter develops a method to constrain the Cosmological Constant $\Lambda$ from binary galaxies, focusing on the Milky Way and Andromeda. We provide an analytical solution to the two-body problem with $\Lambda$ and show that the ratio between the Keplerian period and $T_\Lambda = 2\pi/(c \sqrt{\Lambda}) \approx 63.2$ Gyr controls the importance of effects from the Cosmological Constant. The Andromeda-Milky Way orbit has a period of $\sim 20$ Gyr and so Dark Energy has to be taken into account. Using the current best mass estimates of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies, we find the Cosmological Constant value based only on the Local Group dynamics to be lower then $5.44$ times the value obtained by Planck. With future astrometric measurements, the bound on the Cosmological Constant can be reduced to $\left(1.67 \pm 0.79\right) \Lambda_{\rm PL}$. Our results offer the prospects of constraints on $\Lambda$ over very different scales than previously. The Local Group provides also a completely novel platform to test alternative theories of gravity. We illustrate this by deriving bounds on scalar-tensor theories of gravity over Megaparsec scales.