Test of the Gravitational Force Law on Cosmological Scales Using the Kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect

P. A. Gallardo; K. Pardo; O. H.E. Philcox; N. Battaglia; E. S. Battistelli; R. Bean; E. Calabrese; S. K. Choi; M. Devlin; J. Dunkley; R. Dünner; S. Ferraro; Y. Guan; E. Healy; C. Hervías-Caimapo; M. Hilton; A. D. Hincks; J. C. Hood; A. Kosowsky; A. La Posta; T. Louis; M. S. Madhavacheril; J. McMahon; K. Moodley; T. Mroczkowski; S. Naess; L. Newburgh; M. D. Niemack; L. A. Page; B. Partridge; R. Puddu; E. Schaan; N. Sehgal; C. Sifón; D. N. Spergel; S. T. Staggs; A. Van Engelen; C. Vargas; E. M. Vavagiakis; K. Wagoner; E. J. Wollack

doi:10.1103/rk8v-rcm3

Test of the Gravitational Force Law on Cosmological Scales Using the Kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect

P. A. Gallardo
, K. Pardo
, O. H.E. Philcox
, N. Battaglia
, E. S. Battistelli
, R. Bean
, E. Calabrese
, S. K. Choi
, M. Devlin
, J. Dunkley
, R. Dünner
, S. Ferraro
, Y. Guan
, E. Healy
, C. Hervías-Caimapo
, M. Hilton
, A. D. Hincks
, J. C. Hood
, A. Kosowsky
, A. La Posta

T. Louis, M. S. Madhavacheril, J. McMahon, K. Moodley, T. Mroczkowski, S. Naess, L. Newburgh, M. D. Niemack, L. A. Page, B. Partridge, R. Puddu, E. Schaan, N. Sehgal, C. Sifón, D. N. Spergel, S. T. Staggs, A. Van Engelen, C. Vargas, E. M. Vavagiakis, K. Wagoner, E. J. Wollack

Physics and Astronomy

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Abstract

The mean pairwise velocity of massive halos reflects the gravitational force law on cosmic scales. We combine cosmic microwave background intensity maps from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and a galaxy catalog from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to estimate the mean pairwise velocity using the kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (kSZ) effect. On scales from 30 to 230 megaparsecs, we constrain the gravitational acceleration between pairs of halos at separation r to be g∝1/rⁿ with n=2.1±0.3, which is consistent with Newtonian gravity in an expanding spacetime (i.e., the standard ΛCDM model). This constraint shows agreement with an inverse quadratic radial dependence over the large distances separating galaxy halos, as expected in standard cosmology. Upcoming surveys have the potential to rule out n=1 at 10σ significance. Our results establish the kSZ effect as a powerful tool for testing gravity on cosmological scales.

Original language	English
Article number	151002
Journal	Physical Review Letters
Volume	136
Issue number	15
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1103/rk8v-rcm3
State	Published - Apr 17 2026

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Gallardo, P. A., Pardo, K., Philcox, O. H. E., Battaglia, N., Battistelli, E. S., Bean, R., Calabrese, E., Choi, S. K., Devlin, M., Dunkley, J., Dünner, R., Ferraro, S., Guan, Y., Healy, E., Hervías-Caimapo, C., Hilton, M., Hincks, A. D., Hood, J. C., Kosowsky, A., ... Wollack, E. J. (2026). Test of the Gravitational Force Law on Cosmological Scales Using the Kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect. Physical Review Letters, 136(15), Article 151002. https://doi.org/10.1103/rk8v-rcm3

@article{528e66c637494d8f9be7303ae50755f3,

title = "Test of the Gravitational Force Law on Cosmological Scales Using the Kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect",

abstract = "The mean pairwise velocity of massive halos reflects the gravitational force law on cosmic scales. We combine cosmic microwave background intensity maps from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and a galaxy catalog from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to estimate the mean pairwise velocity using the kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (kSZ) effect. On scales from 30 to 230 megaparsecs, we constrain the gravitational acceleration between pairs of halos at separation r to be g∝1/rn with n=2.1±0.3, which is consistent with Newtonian gravity in an expanding spacetime (i.e., the standard ΛCDM model). This constraint shows agreement with an inverse quadratic radial dependence over the large distances separating galaxy halos, as expected in standard cosmology. Upcoming surveys have the potential to rule out n=1 at 10σ significance. Our results establish the kSZ effect as a powerful tool for testing gravity on cosmological scales.",

author = "Gallardo, \{P. A.\} and K. Pardo and Philcox, \{O. H.E.\} and N. Battaglia and Battistelli, \{E. S.\} and R. Bean and E. Calabrese and Choi, \{S. K.\} and M. Devlin and J. Dunkley and R. D{\"u}nner and S. Ferraro and Y. Guan and E. Healy and C. Herv{\'i}as-Caimapo and M. Hilton and Hincks, \{A. D.\} and Hood, \{J. C.\} and A. Kosowsky and \{La Posta\}, A. and T. Louis and Madhavacheril, \{M. S.\} and J. McMahon and K. Moodley and T. Mroczkowski and S. Naess and L. Newburgh and Niemack, \{M. D.\} and Page, \{L. A.\} and B. Partridge and R. Puddu and E. Schaan and N. Sehgal and C. Sif{\'o}n and Spergel, \{D. N.\} and Staggs, \{S. T.\} and \{Van Engelen\}, A. and C. Vargas and Vavagiakis, \{E. M.\} and K. Wagoner and Wollack, \{E. J.\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2026 American Physical Society us.",

year = "2026",

month = apr,

day = "17",

doi = "10.1103/rk8v-rcm3",

language = "English",

volume = "136",

journal = "Physical Review Letters",

issn = "0031-9007",

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Gallardo, PA, Pardo, K, Philcox, OHE, Battaglia, N, Battistelli, ES, Bean, R, Calabrese, E, Choi, SK, Devlin, M, Dunkley, J, Dünner, R, Ferraro, S, Guan, Y, Healy, E, Hervías-Caimapo, C, Hilton, M, Hincks, AD, Hood, JC, Kosowsky, A, La Posta, A, Louis, T, Madhavacheril, MS, McMahon, J, Moodley, K, Mroczkowski, T, Naess, S, Newburgh, L, Niemack, MD, Page, LA, Partridge, B, Puddu, R, Schaan, E, Sehgal, N, Sifón, C, Spergel, DN, Staggs, ST, Van Engelen, A, Vargas, C, Vavagiakis, EM, Wagoner, K & Wollack, EJ 2026, 'Test of the Gravitational Force Law on Cosmological Scales Using the Kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect', Physical Review Letters, vol. 136, no. 15, 151002. https://doi.org/10.1103/rk8v-rcm3

TY - JOUR

T1 - Test of the Gravitational Force Law on Cosmological Scales Using the Kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect

AU - Gallardo, P. A.

AU - Pardo, K.

AU - Philcox, O. H.E.

AU - Battaglia, N.

AU - Battistelli, E. S.

AU - Bean, R.

AU - Calabrese, E.

AU - Choi, S. K.

AU - Devlin, M.

AU - Dunkley, J.

AU - Dünner, R.

AU - Ferraro, S.

AU - Guan, Y.

AU - Healy, E.

AU - Hervías-Caimapo, C.

AU - Hilton, M.

AU - Hincks, A. D.

AU - Hood, J. C.

AU - Kosowsky, A.

AU - La Posta, A.

AU - Louis, T.

AU - Madhavacheril, M. S.

AU - McMahon, J.

AU - Moodley, K.

AU - Mroczkowski, T.

AU - Naess, S.

AU - Newburgh, L.

AU - Niemack, M. D.

AU - Page, L. A.

AU - Partridge, B.

AU - Puddu, R.

AU - Schaan, E.

AU - Sehgal, N.

AU - Sifón, C.

AU - Spergel, D. N.

AU - Staggs, S. T.

AU - Van Engelen, A.

AU - Vargas, C.

AU - Vavagiakis, E. M.

AU - Wagoner, K.

AU - Wollack, E. J.

PY - 2026/4/17

Y1 - 2026/4/17

N2 - The mean pairwise velocity of massive halos reflects the gravitational force law on cosmic scales. We combine cosmic microwave background intensity maps from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and a galaxy catalog from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to estimate the mean pairwise velocity using the kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (kSZ) effect. On scales from 30 to 230 megaparsecs, we constrain the gravitational acceleration between pairs of halos at separation r to be g∝1/rn with n=2.1±0.3, which is consistent with Newtonian gravity in an expanding spacetime (i.e., the standard ΛCDM model). This constraint shows agreement with an inverse quadratic radial dependence over the large distances separating galaxy halos, as expected in standard cosmology. Upcoming surveys have the potential to rule out n=1 at 10σ significance. Our results establish the kSZ effect as a powerful tool for testing gravity on cosmological scales.

AB - The mean pairwise velocity of massive halos reflects the gravitational force law on cosmic scales. We combine cosmic microwave background intensity maps from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and a galaxy catalog from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to estimate the mean pairwise velocity using the kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich (kSZ) effect. On scales from 30 to 230 megaparsecs, we constrain the gravitational acceleration between pairs of halos at separation r to be g∝1/rn with n=2.1±0.3, which is consistent with Newtonian gravity in an expanding spacetime (i.e., the standard ΛCDM model). This constraint shows agreement with an inverse quadratic radial dependence over the large distances separating galaxy halos, as expected in standard cosmology. Upcoming surveys have the potential to rule out n=1 at 10σ significance. Our results establish the kSZ effect as a powerful tool for testing gravity on cosmological scales.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105036250459

U2 - 10.1103/rk8v-rcm3

DO - 10.1103/rk8v-rcm3

M3 - Article

C2 - 42066306

AN - SCOPUS:105036250459

SN - 0031-9007

VL - 136

JO - Physical Review Letters

JF - Physical Review Letters

IS - 15

M1 - 151002

ER -

Test of the Gravitational Force Law on Cosmological Scales Using the Kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich Effect

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