How deep can a cosmic void be? Voids-informed theoretical bounds in Galileon gravity
Phys. Rev. D 113, 103510 – Published 6 May, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/nk9f-dw1z
Abstract
We establish a void-based consistency test for Galileon scalar-tensor theories. We show that the previously reported unphysical breakdown of the predicted Newtonian force in certain Galileon models is controlled by a single condition linking nonlinear void dynamics to the cosmic expansion history. This connection yields a redshift-dependent upper bound on the allowed depth of voids and promotes this requirement to a new viability condition, complementary to standard stability criteria. As an example, we apply this void-based criterion to a linear parametrization in the scale factor constrained by theoretical and observational bounds; we find that of the parameter space is excluded, with most problematic models failing by . These results position cosmic voids as sharp, complementary, and theory-informed filters for viable modified gravity, enabling more informed priors and parameter-space choices in future cosmological inference.