Testing viable extensions of Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity

Abstract: Some models within the framework of Gauss-Bonnet gravities are considered in the presence of a non-minimally coupled scalar field. By imposing a particular constraint on the scalar field coupling, an extension of the called Einstein-Gauss-Bonnet gravity that keeps the correct speed of propagation for gravitational waves, is considered. The cosmological evolution for this viable class of models is studied and compared with observational data (BAO, CMB, Sne Ia,..), where we obtain the corresponding bounds for these theories and show that such theories fit well the data and provide a well-behaved cosmological evolution in comparison to the standard model of cosmology. Some statistical parameters show that the goodness of the fits are slightly better than those for $\Lambda$CDM model.