Over the past decades, the role of torsion in gravity has been extensively investigated along the main direction of bringing gravity closer to its gauge formulation and incorporating spin in a geometric description. Here we review various torsional constructions, from teleparallel, to Einstein-Cartan, and metric-affine gauge theories, resulting in extending torsional gravity in the paradigm of f (T ) gravity, where f (T ) is an arbitrary function of the torsion scalar. Based on this theory, we further review the corresponding cosmological and astrophysical applications. In particular, we study cosmological solutions arising from f (T ) gravity, both at the background and perturbation levels, in different eras along the cosmic expansion. The f (T ) gravity construction can provide a theoretical interpretation of the late-time universe acceleration, alternative to a cosmological constant, and it can easily accommodate with the regular thermal expanding history including the radiation and cold dark matter dominated phases. Furthermore, if one traces back to very early times, for a certain class of f (T ) models, a sufficiently long period of inflation can be achieved and hence can be investigated by cosmic microwave background observations, or alternatively, the Big Bang singularity can be avoided at even earlier moments due to the appearance of non-singular bounces. Various observational constraints, especially the bounds coming from the large-scale structure data in the case of f (T ) cosmology, as well as the behavior of gravitational waves, are described in detail. Moreover, the spherically symmetric and black hole solutions of the theory are reviewed. Additionally, we discuss various extensions of the f (T ) paradigm. Finally, we consider the relation with other modified gravitational theories, such as those based on curvature, like f (R) gravity, trying to enlighten the subject of which formulation, or combination of formulations, might be more suitable for quantization ventures and cosmological applications. Contents

We review the paradigm of quintom cosmology. This scenario is motivated by the observational indications that the equation of state of dark energy across the cosmological constant boundary is mildly favored, although the data are still far from being conclusive. As a theoretical setup we introduce a no-go theorem existing in quintom cosmology, and based on it we discuss the conditions for the equation of state of dark energy realizing the quintom scenario. The simplest quintom model can be achieved by introducing two scalar fields with one being quintessence and the other phantom. Based on the double-field quintom model we perform a detailed analysis of dark energy perturbations and we discuss their effects on current observations. This type of scenarios usually suffer from a manifest problem due to the existence of a ghost degree of freedom, and thus we review various alternative realizations of the quintom paradigm. The developments in particle physics and string theory provide potential clues indicating that a quintom scenario may be obtained from scalar systems with higher derivative terms, as well as from nonscalar systems. Additionally, we construct a quintom realization in the framework of braneworld cosmology, where the cosmic acceleration and the phantom divide crossing result from the combined effects of the field evolution on the brane and the competition between four and five dimensional gravity. Finally, we study the outsets and fates of a universe in quintom cosmology. In a scenario with null energy condition violation one may obtain a bouncing solution at early times and therefore avoid the Big Bang singularity. Furthermore, if this occurs periodically, we obtain a realization of an oscillating universe. Lastly, we comment on several open issues in quintom cosmology and their connection to future investigations.

Using the "teleparallel" equivalent of General Relativity as the gravitational sector, which is based on torsion instead of curvature, we add a canonical scalar field, allowing for a nonminimal coupling with gravity. Although the minimal case is completely equivalent to standard quintessence, the nonminimal scenario has a richer structure, exhibiting quintessence-like or phantom-like behavior, or experiencing the phantom-divide crossing. The richer structure is manifested in the absence of a conformal transformation to an equivalent minimally-coupled model. 95.36.+x

We investigate the cosmological perturbations in f (T ) gravity. Examining the pure gravitational perturbations in the scalar sector using a diagonal vierbien, we extract the corresponding dispersion relation, which provides a constraint on the f (T ) ansatzes that lead to a theory free of instabilities. Additionally, upon inclusion of the matter perturbations, we derive the fully perturbed equations of motion, and we study the growth of matter overdensities. We show that f (T ) gravity with f (T ) constant coincides with General Relativity, both at the background as well as at the first-order perturbation level. Applying our formalism to the power-law model we find that on large subhorizon scales (O(100 Mpc) or larger), the evolution of matter overdensity will differ from ΛCDM cosmology. Finally, examining the linear perturbations of the vector and tensor sectors, we find that (for the standard choice of vierbein) f (T ) gravity is free of massive gravitons.

We show that the f(T) gravitational paradigm, in which gravity is described by an arbitrary function of the torsion scalar, can provide a mechanism for realizing bouncing cosmologies, thereby avoiding the Big Bang singularity. After constructing the simplest version of an f(T) matter bounce, we investigate the scalar and tensor modes of cosmological perturbations. Our results show that metric perturbations in the scalar sector lead to a background-dependent sound speed, which is a distinguishable feature from Einstein gravity. Additionally, we obtain a scale-invariant primordial power spectrum, which is consistent with cosmological observations, but suffers from the problem of a large tensor-to-scalar ratio. However, this can be avoided by introducing extra fields, such as a matter bounce curvaton.Communicated by P R L V Moniz

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We show that the well-known problem of frame dependence and violation of local Lorentz invariance in the usual formulation of f (T ) gravity is a consequence of neglecting the role of spin connection. We re-formulate f (T ) gravity starting, instead of the "pure-tetrad" teleparallel gravity, from the covariant teleparallel gravity, using both the tetrad and the spin connection as dynamical variables, resulting in the fully covariant, consistent, and frame-independent, version of f (T ) gravity, which does not suffer from the notorious problems of the usual, pure-tetrad, f (T ) theory. We present the method to extract solutions for the most physically important cases, such as the Minkowski, the FRW and the spherically-symmetric ones. We show that in the covariant f (T ) gravity we are allowed to use an arbitrary tetrad in an arbitrary coordinate system along with the corresponding spin connection, resulting always to the same physically relevant field equations.

We investigate cosmological scenarios with a non-minimal derivative coupling between the scalar field and the curvature, examining both the quintessence and the phantom cases in zero and constant potentials. In general, we find that the universe transits from one de Sitter solution to another, determined by the coupling parameter. Furthermore, according to the parameter choices and without the need for matter, we can obtain a Big Bang, an expanding universe with no beginning, a cosmological turnaround, an eternally contracting universe, a Big Crunch, a Big Rip avoidance and a cosmological bounce. This variety of behaviors reveals the capabilities of the present scenario.