As a layman, I can't follow, but the paper [1] references AQUAL [2] "This systematic deviation agrees with the boost factor that the AQUAL theory predicts." But that theory doesn't agree with observation? And I'll paraphrase Sean Carroll [3] as saying something like Scalar-vector-tensor theories are just dark matter theories in disguise. Positing an noninteracting energy density, is just positing dark matter.
