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Investigating a possible variation of the gravitational constant through gas mass fraction measurements and type Ia supernovae observations

L. R. Colaço1,2,*, R. F. L. Holanda3,2,†, and Marcelo Ferreira3,‡

  • *Contact author: colacolrc@gmail.com
  • †Contact author: holandarfl@gmail.com
  • ‡Contact author: fsm.fisica@gmail.com
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Phys. Rev. D 114, 023515 – Published 6 July, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/58jh-n2sx

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate a possible time variation of the gravitational constant (G) using a nonparametric approach. Our main cosmological probe is the gas mass fraction of galaxy clusters measured from x-ray observations. We also account for the effect of a varying G on the intrinsic luminosity of type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) through the Chandrasekhar mass–luminosity relation. We consider a specific phenomenological scenario, motivated by some scalar-tensor and screened modified-gravity frameworks, in which the standardized luminosity of SNe Ia decreases with increasing Chandrasekhar mass. Using gas mass fraction measurements jointly with luminosity distances from the Pantheon+ compilation, we reconstruct the evolution of G through Gaussian processes. Our results indicate that a constant gravitational coupling remains broadly consistent with the data, although mild low-redshift departures are allowed.

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 023515– Published 6 July, 2026
  • Received 10 March 2026
  • Accepted 9 June 2026
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