The Accelerated Universe and the Moon

TL;DR

This paper investigates cosmologically motivated infrared modifications of gravity and their testability at solar-system scales. It demonstrates that the linear vDVZ discontinuity is cured by nonlinear dynamics (Vainshtein mechanism) in a broad class of theories with a crossover scale $r_c$, yielding Einstein-like gravity near sources but with potentially observable corrections at intermediate distances. The authors derive the expected anomalous perihelion precession and connect it to Earth–Moon and Mars ranging experiments, providing a framework to constrain or detect such infrared modifications. They also outline an applicability criterion based on a continuum of massive gravitons and offer a practical prescription for estimating subleading Schwarzschild corrections. The work highlights precision gravitational measurements as a powerful probe of fundamental physics beyond General Relativity, with Lunar Laser Ranging as a key experimental channel.

Abstract

Cosmologically motivated theories that explain small acceleration rate of the Universe via modification of gravity at very large, horizon or super-horizon distances, can be tested by precision gravitational measurements at much shorter scales, such as the Earth-Moon distance. Contrary to the naive expectation the predicted corrections to the Einsteinian metric near gravitating sources are so significant that fall within sensitivity of the proposed Lunar Ranging experiments. The key reason for such corrections is the van Dam-Veltman-Zakharov discontinuity present in linearized versions of all such theories, and its subsequent absence at the non-linear level ala Vainshtein.