A Future Test of Gravitation Using Galaxy Cluster Velocities

Abstract

The accelerating expansion of the Universe at recent epochs has called into question the validity of general relativity on cosmological scales. One probe of gravity is a comparison of expansion history of the Universe with the history of structure growth via gravitational instability: general relativity predicts a specific relation between these two observables. Here we show that the mean pairwise streaming velocity of galaxy clusters provides a useful method of constraining this relation. Galaxy cluster velocities can be measured via the kinetic Sunyaev-Zeldovich distortion of the cosmic microwave background radiation; future surveys can provide large enough catalogs of cluster velocities to discriminate between general relativity and other proposed gravitational theories.

4 pages, 1 figure