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The standard model of cosmology has provided a good phenomenological description of a wide range of observations both at astrophysical and cosmological scales for several decades. This concordance model is constructed by a universal cosmological constant and supported by a matter sector described by the standard model of particle physics and a cold dark matter contribution, as well as very early-time inflationary physics, and underpinned by gravitation through general relativity. There have always been open questions about the soundness of the foundations of the standard model. However, recent years have shown that there may also be questions from the observational sector with the emergence of differences between certain cosmological probes. In this White Paper, we identify the key objectives that need to be addressed over the coming decade together with the core science projects that aim to meet these challenges. These discordances primarily rest on the divergence in the measurement of core cosmological parameters with varying levels of statistical confidence. These possible statistical tensions may be partially accounted for by systematics in various measurements or cosmological probes but there is also a growing indication of potential new physics beyond the standard model. After reviewing the principal probes used in the measurement of cosmological parameters, as well as potential systematics, we discuss the most promising array of potential new physics that may be observable in upcoming surveys. We also discuss the growing set of novel data analysis approaches that go beyond traditional methods to test physical models. These new methods will become increasingly important in the coming years as the volume of survey data continues to increase, and as the degeneracy between predictions of different physical models grows. There are several perspectives on the divergences between the values of cosmological parameters, such as the model-independent probes in the late Universe and model-dependent measurements in the early Universe, which we cover at length. The White Paper closes with a number of recommendations for the community to focus on for the upcoming decade of observational cosmology, statistical data analysis, and fundamental physics developments
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Unveiling the Universe with emerging cosmological probes
Abstract The detection of the accelerated expansion of the Universe has been one of the major breakthroughs in modern cosmology. Several cosmological probes (Cosmic Microwave Background, Supernovae Type Ia, Baryon Acoustic Oscillations) have been studied in depth to better understand the nature of the mechanism driving this acceleration, and they are being currently pushed to their limits, obtaining remarkable constraints that allowed us to shape the standard cosmological model. In parallel to that, however, the percent precision achieved has recently revealed apparent tensions between measurements obtained from different methods. These are either indicating some unaccounted systematic effects, or are pointing toward new physics. Following the development of CMB, SNe, and BAO cosmology, it is critical to extend our selection of cosmological probes. Novel probes can be exploited to validate results, control or mitigate systematic effects, and, most importantly, to increase the accuracy and robustness of our results. This review is meant to provide a state-of-art benchmark of the latest advances in emerging “beyond-standard” cosmological probes. We present how several different methods can become a key resource for observational cosmology. In particular, we review cosmic chronometers, quasars, gamma-ray bursts, standard sirens, lensing time-delay with galaxies and clusters, cosmic voids, neutral hydrogen intensity mapping, surface brightness fluctuations, stellar ages of the oldest objects, secular redshift drift, and clustering of standard candles. The review describes the method, systematics, and results of each probe in a homogeneous way, giving the reader a clear picture of the available innovative methods that have been introduced in recent years and how to apply them. The review also discusses the potential synergies and complementarities between the various probes, exploring how they will contribute to the future of modern cosmology.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2110507
- PAR ID:
- 10427937
- Author(s) / Creator(s):
- ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more »
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Living Reviews in Relativity
- Volume:
- 25
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2367-3613
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Context. Persistent tension between low-redshift observations and the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), in terms of two fundamental distance scales set by the sound horizon r d and the Hubble constant H 0 , suggests new physics beyond the Standard Model, departures from concordance cosmology, or residual systematics. Aims. The role of different probe combinations must be assessed, as well as of different physical models that can alter the expansion history of the Universe and the inferred cosmological parameters. Methods. We examined recently updated distance calibrations from Cepheids, gravitational lensing time-delay observations, and the tip of the red giant branch. Calibrating the baryon acoustic oscillations and type Ia supernovae with combinations of the distance indicators, we obtained a joint and self-consistent measurement of H 0 and r d at low redshift, independent of cosmological models and CMB inference. In an attempt to alleviate the tension between late-time and CMB-based measurements, we considered four extensions of the standard ΛCDM model. Results. The sound horizon from our different measurements is r d = (137 ± 3 stat. ± 2 syst. ) Mpc based on absolute distance calibration from gravitational lensing and the cosmic distance ladder. Depending on the adopted distance indicators, the combined tension in H 0 and r d ranges between 2.3 and 5.1 σ , and it is independent of changes to the low-redshift expansion history. We find that modifications of ΛCDM that change the physics after recombination fail to provide a solution to the problem, for the reason that they only resolve the tension in H 0 , while the tension in r d remains unchanged. Pre-recombination extensions (with early dark energy or the effective number of neutrinos N eff = 3.24 ± 0.16) are allowed by the data, unless the calibration from Cepheids is included. Conclusions. Results from time-delay lenses are consistent with those from distance-ladder calibrations and point to a discrepancy between absolute distance scales measured from the CMB (assuming the standard cosmological model) and late-time observations. New proposals to resolve this tension should be examined with respect to reconciling not only the Hubble constant but also the sound horizon derived from the CMB and other cosmological probes.more » « less
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null (Ed.)ABSTRACT Quantifying tensions – inconsistencies amongst measurements of cosmological parameters by different experiments – has emerged as a crucial part of modern cosmological data analysis. Statistically significant tensions between two experiments or cosmological probes may indicate new physics extending beyond the standard cosmological model and need to be promptly identified. We apply several tension estimators proposed in the literature to the dark energy survey (DES) large-scale structure measurement and Planck cosmic microwave background data. We first evaluate the responsiveness of these metrics to an input tension artificially introduced between the two, using synthetic DES data. We then apply the metrics to the comparison of Planck and actual DES Year 1 data. We find that the parameter differences, Eigentension, and Suspiciousness metrics all yield similar results on both simulated and real data, while the Bayes ratio is inconsistent with the rest due to its dependence on the prior volume. Using these metrics, we calculate the tension between DES Year 1 3 × 2pt and Planck, finding the surveys to be in ∼2.3σ tension under the ΛCDM paradigm. This suite of metrics provides a toolset for robustly testing tensions in the DES Year 3 data and beyond.more » « less
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The standard -Cold Dark Matter cosmological model informed by cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies makes a precise prediction for the growth of matter density fluctuations over cosmic time on linear scales. A variety of cosmological observables offer independent and complementary ways of testing this prediction, but results have been mixed, with many constraints on the amplitude of structure being 2–3 lower than the expectation fromPlanckprimary CMB anisotropies. It is currently unclear whether these discrepancies are due to observational systematics, nonlinearities and baryonic effects or new physics. We review how gravitational lensing of the CMB has and will continue to provide insights into this problem, including through tomographic cross-correlations with galaxy surveys over cosmic time. This article is part of the discussion meeting issue ‘Challenging the standard cosmological model’.more » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s41114-022-00040-z
