$$\Lambda $$CDM-like evolution in Einstein-scalar-Gauss–Bonnet gravity

Abstract In this work, we analyze the Einstein-scalar-Gauss–Bonnet (EsGB) theory of gravity in a cosmological context using the formalism of dynamical systems. We obtain the equations of motion of the theory and introduce an appropriate set of dynamical variables to allow for a direct comparison with the results from General Relativity (GR). We observe that the cosmological phase space features the same set of fixed points as in standard GR, i.e., radiation-dominated, matter-dominated, curvature-dominated, and exponentially-accelerated solutions independently of the values of the coupling function and the scalar field. Furthermore, the radiation-dominated fixed points are repellers and the exponentially accelerated fixed points are attractors in the phase space, thus allowing for cosmological solutions behaving qualitatively similar to the $$\Lambda $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi> </mml:math> CDM model, i.e., transitioning from a radiation-dominated phase into a matter-dominated phase, and later into a late-time cosmic acceleration phase supported by the scalar field potential. Following a reconstruction method through which we produce the cosmological solutions in the GR limit of the theory and introduce them into the general EsGB dynamical system, a numerical integration of the dynamical system shows that the EsGB theory provides cosmological solutions indistinguishable from those of the standard $$\Lambda $$ <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <mml:mi>Λ</mml:mi> </mml:math> CDM model, compatible with the current observations from the Planck satellite and weak-field solar system dynamics, while maintaining the scalar field and the coupling function finite and regular throughout the entire time evolution.