Speaker
Description
Several modifications to general relativity have been proposed to explain the nature of dark energy and the accelerated expansion of the Universe. In this talk, I will review the present status of modified theories of gravity in the light of astrophysical probes of gravity in the weak-field regime, ranging from stars to cosmological scales. I begin by setting the scene for how theories beyond General Relativity are expected to behave in the different astrophysical systems and their cosmological signatures. With these in hand, I present a range of observational tests intending to use the current and next generation of observations for tests of gravity. In particular, I will show how physical observables of the non-linear regime of structure formation are promising probes to constraining theoretical models in the nonlinear dynamics of galaxies, clusters and large-scale structures.
