Testing the DGP model with ESSENCE

We use the recent supernova data set from the ESSENCE collaboration combined with data from the Supernova Legacy Survey and nearby supernovae to test the Dvali-Gabadadze-Porrati (DGP) brane world model and its generalizations. Combination of these data with a flatness prior and the position of the peak of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation disfavours the DGP model slightly. Inclusion of the baryon acoustic peak from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey increase the tension of the DGP model with the data, although it is not clear how self-consistent this procedure would be without a re-analysis of the survey data in the framework of the DGP cosmology. Generalizations of the DGP model are tested and constraints on relevant parameters obtained.