Scale-dependent and background-preserving gravity from an action: cosmological tests

Abstract We investigate the observational implications of a gravitational model wherein the gravitational constant G and the cosmological constant $$\Lambda $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi> </mml:math> exhibit scale-dependent behavior at the perturbative level, while preserving the General Relativity (GR) field equations at the background. This model is motivated by the potential influence of large-scale (infrared) Renormalization Group (RG) corrections to gravity and is constructed upon an effective action incorporating a scale definition via Lagrange multipliers. We explore the effects of these modifications during the recombination epoch with particular focus on their impact on the structure of acoustic oscillations. Additionally, we perform a comprehensive parameter fitting analysis using data from the Cosmic Microwave background (CMB), type Ia Supernovae (SN Ia), Baryon Acoustic Oscilations (BAO) and Redshift Space Distortions (RSD). Our results indicate that the RG corrections here considered are consistent with the main predictions of the $$\Lambda $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi> </mml:math> CDM model, and they slightly increase the uncertainties in the parameter estimations. Such small differences cannot be used to dismiss the current cosmological tensions. Although previous results indicated that this model is more flexible than $$\Lambda $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi> </mml:math> CDM regarding RSD data, potentially alleviating tensions, this advantage becomes negligible with the current extended data set. The framework maintains its theoretical consistency and foundation; however, unless further generalized, it cannot effectively address current cosmological issues.