Concordance cosmology?

Youngsoo Park, Eduardo Rozo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

We propose a new intuitive metric for evaluating the tension between two experiments, and apply it to several data sets. While our metric is non-optimal, if evidence of tension is detected, this evidence is robust and easy to interpret. Assuming a flat Lambda cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmological model, we find that there is a modest 2.2σ tension between the Dark Energy Survey (DES) Year 1 results and the Planck measurements of the cosmic microwave background. This tension is driven by the difference between the amount of structure observed in the late-time Universe and that predicted from fitting the Planck data, and appears to be unrelated to the tension between Planck and local estimates of the Hubble rate. In particular, combining DES, baryon acoustic oscillations, big bang nucleosynthesis, and supernovae measurements recover a Hubble constant and sound horizon consistent with Planck, and in tension with local distance-ladder measurements. If the tension between these various data sets persists, it is likely that reconciling all current data will require breaking the flat ΛCDM model in at least two different ways: one involving new physics in the early Universe, and one involving new late-time Universe physics.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)4638-4645
Number of pages8
JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume499
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1 2020

Keywords

  • cosmological parameters
  • early Universe
  • large-scale structure of the Universe

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

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