Model independent tests of the standard cosmological model
  The dark energy problem has led to speculation that not only may LCDM be
wrong, but that the FLRW models themselves may not even provide the correct
family of background models. We discuss how direct measurements of H(z) can be
used to formulate tests of the standard paradigm in cosmology. On their own,
such measurements can be used to test for deviations from flat LCDM. When
combined with supernovae distances, Hubble rate measurements provide a test of
the Copernican principle and the homogeneity assumption of the standard model,
which is independent of dark energy or metric based theory of gravity. A
modification of this test also provides a model independent observable for
flatness which decorrelates curvature determination from dark energy. We
investigate these tests using Hubble rate measurements from age data, as well
as from a Hubble rate inferred from recent measurements of the baryon acoustic
oscillations. While the current data is too weak to say anything significant,
these tests are exciting prospects for the future.
