https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-026-15607-1
Regular Article - Theoretical Physics
Testing Gauss–Bonnet gravity with DESI BAO data
1
Symbiosis Institute of Technology, Nagpur Campus, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), 440008, Pune, Maharashtra, India
2
Laboratory of Physics of Matter and Radiations, Mohammed I University, BP 717, Oujda, Morocco
3
Rwanda Astrophysics Space and Climate Science Research Group, College of Science and Technology, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda
4
Faculty of Education, Kibogora Polytechnic, Nyamasheke, Western Province, Rwanda
5
Institute for Gravitational Wave Astronomy, Henan Academy of Sciences, 450046, Zhengzhou, Henan, China
6
Department of Physics, College of Science and Technology, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda
a
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Received:
25
November
2025
Accepted:
22
March
2026
Published online:
8
April
2026
Abstract
In this work, we observationally constrain two phenomenological f(G) gravity models at the background level using Type Ia supernovae from the Pantheon+ (PP) sample, cosmic chronometer (CC) measurements, and the recent Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) data released by DESI. The analysis is performed using two dataset combinations: (i) PP+CC and (ii) PP+CC+DESI BAO. The modified Friedmann equations are solved numerically for two functional forms of f(G) gravity, namely the power-law and exponential models. The cosmological parameters are constrained through Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulations. To evaluate the statistical performance of the models, we compute the corrected Akaike Information Criterion (AIC
and the Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC). Our results show that both f(G) models provide background evolutions consistent with current observational data. While the AIC
criterion indicates that the models are statistically comparable to the 
CDM model, the BIC slightly favors the simpler CDM scenario due to its smaller number of free parameters. In addition, the exponential model predicts a distinctive future dynamical feature, namely an additional transition from accelerated to decelerated expansion at 
which is absent in both the power-law model and the CDM framework.
© The Author(s) 2026
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Funded by SCOAP3.
