Objective: We examine whether a finite-range scalar–tensor modification of gravity can be simultaneously compatible with cosmological background data, galaxy rotation curves, and local/astrophysical consistency tests, while satisfying the luminal gravitational-wave propagation constraint (
) implied by GW170817 at low
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Objective: We examine whether a finite-range scalar–tensor modification of gravity can be simultaneously compatible with cosmological background data, galaxy rotation curves, and local/astrophysical consistency tests, while satisfying the luminal gravitational-wave propagation constraint (
) implied by GW170817 at low redshifts.
Methods: We formulate the model at the level of an explicit covariant action and derive the corresponding field equations; for cosmological inferences, we adopt an effective background closure in which the late-time dark-energy density is modulated by a smooth activation function characterized by a length scale
and amplitude
. We constrain this background model using Pantheon+, DESI Gaussian Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAOs), and a Planck acoustic-scale prior, including an explicit
CDM comparison. We then propagate the inferred characteristic length by fixing
in the weak-field Yukawa kernel used to model 175 SPARC galaxy rotation curves with standard baryonic components and a controlled spherical approximation for the scalar response.
Results: The joint background fit yields
,
, and
. With
fixed, the baryons + scalar model describes the SPARC sample with a median reduced chi-square of
; for a 14-galaxy subset, this model is moderately preferred over the standard baryons + NFW halo description in the finite-sample information criteria, with a mean
AICc outcome in favor of the baryons + scalar model (≈2.8). A Vainshtein-type screening completion with
eV satisfies Cassini, Lunar Laser Ranging, and binary pulsar bounds while keeping the kpc scales effectively unscreened. For linear growth observables, we adopt a conservative General Relativity-like baseline (
) and show that current
data are consistent with
for our best-fit background; the model predicts
, consistent with representative cosmic-shear constraints.
Conclusions: Within the present scope (action-level weak-field dynamics for galaxy modeling plus an explicitly stated effective closure for background inference), the results support a mutually compatible characteristic length at the Mpc scale; however, a full perturbation-level implementation of the covariant theory remains an issue for future work, and the role of cold dark matter beyond galaxy scales is not ruled out.
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