Cosmic dissonance: Are new physics or systematics behind a short sound horizon?
Open accessAbstract
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 rd and the Hubble constant H0, 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 H0 and rd 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 rd = (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 H0 and rd 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 H0, while the tension in rd remains unchanged. Pre-recombination extensions (with early dark energy or the effective number of neutrinos Neff = 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.
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Early time solutions such as Neff or EDE move in the right direction of correlation for both H0 and rs but cannot fully solve the Hubble constant tension between Planck and SH0ES without including a prior on H0.
“early time solutions, such as N eff or EDE, move in the right direction of correlation for both parameters, but cannot fully solve the Hubble constant tension between Planck and SH0ES without including a prior on H 0 .”
From Challenges of the Standard Cosmological Model (2022) · cites this paper as [64]
Section 4.1 says increasing N_eff lowers the Planck-inferred sound horizon and raises H₀, but leaves the Cepheid-calibrated measurements in tension. Section 4.2 says early dark energy and extra relativistic species behave similarly, and neither convincingly unifies Planck with measurements anchored by SH0ES. The paper does not establish the claim’s specific qualification that an H₀ prior is needed; it reports that the SH0ES calibration remains in tension. (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredFor early time solutions, the best fit obtained is always the ΛCDM one and the reduction of the tension is mainly due to a volume effect from increased error bars.
“the best fit obtained by these models is always the ΛCDM one and the reduction of the tension is mainly due to a volume effect due to the increase of the error bars of the parameters.”
From Challenges of the Standard Cosmological Model (2022) · cites this paper as [64]
Section 4.2 says early-time extensions may reduce the tension by expanding posterior contours rather than shifting best-fit values. It does not say that the best fit is always ΛCDM or that increased error bars are the main reason for the reduction. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredLate time solutions such as wCDM increase H0 because they reduce the expansion history at intermediate redshift but do not affect the sound horizon rs.
“late time solutions, such as wCDM, increase H 0 because they reduce the expansion history at intermediate redshift, but do not affect the sound horizon r s .”
From Challenges of the Standard Cosmological Model (2022) · cites this paper as [64]
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- Authors
- Arendse, N., Wojtak, R. J., Agnello, A., Chen, G. C.-F., Fassnacht, C. D., Sluse, D., Hilbert, S., Millon, M., Bonvin, V., Wong, K. C., Courbin, F., Suyu, S. H., Birrer, S., Treu, T., & Koopmans, L. V. E.
- Affiliations
- University of Copenhagen (DK)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- University of Liège (BE)
- Excellence Cluster Universe (DE)
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
- Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (JP)
- Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica (TW)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Astronomy & Astrophysics
- Publisher
- EDP Sciences
- Published
- 2020-07
- Volume
- 639
- Pages
- A57
- ISSN
- 0004-6361 (ISSN-L)
- 1432-0746
- OpenAlex
- W2973360751
- Cited by
- 93
- References
- 52
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 7
- FWCI
- 7.24
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
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- Research at the University of Copenhagen (University of Copenhagen) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- Open Repository and Bibliography (University of Liège) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation (1714953, 1906976, 1715611, GO-12889, 639.043.308, NAS 5-26555)
- David and Lucile Packard Foundation
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (HST-GO-10158, HST-GO-12889, NAS 526555, 526555)
- Villum Fonden (16599)
- Space Telescope Science Institute (NAS5- 26555, 5-26555, 26555)
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (NAS 5-26555)
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung (26555, GO-12889, 787886)
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (639.043.308, 787886)
- Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
- Danmarks Frie Forskningsfond (DFF - 6108-00470)
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (20K14511)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Cosmology and Gravitation Theories
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Galaxies: Formation, Evolution, Phenomena
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
- Keywords
- Hubble tension, Hubble constant, cosmic microwave background, baryon acoustic oscillations, cosmic distance scale, gravitational lensing time delays, Cepheid calibration, tip of the red giant branch, Type Ia supernovae, early dark energy, effective number of neutrino species
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