Addressing Tensions in Λ CDM Cosmology by an Increase in the Optical Depth to Reionization
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory · University of California, Berkeley
Abstract
Recent baryonic acoustic oscillation (BAO) measurements from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) are mildly discrepant (2.2σ) with the cosmic microwave background (CMB) when interpreted within ΛCDM. When analyzing these data with extended cosmologies this inconsistency manifests as a ≃3σ preference for subminimal neutrino mass or evolving dark energy. It is known that the preference for subminimal neutrino mass from the suppression of structure growth could be alleviated by increasing the optical depth to reionization τ. We show that, because the CMB-inferred τ is negatively correlated with the matter fraction, a larger optical depth resolves a similar preference from geometric constraints. Optical…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 33.95
- Percentile
- 99%
- References
- 78
Authors
4- NSNoah SailerCorresponding
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley
- GSGerrit S. Farren
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley
- SFSimone Ferraro
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley
- MWMartin White
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley
Topics & keywords
- Cosmic microwave background
- Planck
- Reionization
- Dark energy
- Cosmic variance
- Neutrino
- Cosmology
- Dark matter