Solving for screened scalar fields in arbitrary time evolving systems using SELCIE

A range of modified gravity models can be reframed as General Relativity with an additional scalar degree of freedom that couples conformally to the matter sector. With the right choice of potential these scalar fields can posses screening mechanisms. This allows them to evade historic efforts to detect them while still allowing them to explain observed phenomena such as the accelerated expansion of the universe. The problem we then face is that because these models are nonlinear obtaining analytic solutions (in both static and time evolving systems) becomes difficult, if not impossible, except for the simplest of systems with a high degree of symmetry. Consequently, when designing and performing table top experiments attempting the detect these fields, often a dedicated numerical simulation is required. For this reason, I have developed the software package called SELCIE to streamline this process. This software allows the user to define arbitrarily complicated systems and solves the nonlinear field equations for this system, and with large control over the accuracy and efficiency of the simulation, thanks to the use of the finite element method. Currently the publicly available software is only designed for the chameleon model in a static configuration. This talk will focus on the soon to be published upgrade to SELCIE which will expand its scope to wide range of models, including the symmetron and dilaton, in both static and time evolving systems. This talk is paired with a talk by my collaborator, Andrius Tamosiunas, where he will discuss some interesting physical phenomena that have been obtained using SELCIE for time evolving systems, which could be exploited to detect/constrain these scalar fields.