Curvature tension: Evidence for a closed Universe
Open accessAbstract
The curvature parameter tension between Planck 2018, cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing, and baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) data is measured using the suspiciousness statistic to be $2.5--3\ensuremath{\sigma}$. Conclusions regarding the spatial curvature of the Universe which stem from the combination of these data should therefore be viewed with suspicion. Without CMB lensing or BAO, Planck 2018 has a moderate preference for closed universes, with Bayesian betting odds of over $50\ensuremath{\mathbin:}1$ against a flat universe and over $2000\ensuremath{\mathbin:}1$ against an open universe.
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Independent analyses in Refs. [89] and [90] show the same disagreement, including a similar tension with full-shape galaxy power spectrum measurements from the BOSS DR12 CMASS sample.
“The same disagreement is evident in the independent analysis shown in Figure 1 of Ref. [89], as well as in Figure 1 of Ref. [90], which reports a similar tension with the full-shape (FS) galaxy power spectrum measurements from the BOSS DR12 CMASS sample.”
From Challenges of the Standard Cosmological Model (2022) · cites this paper as [89]
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References 71 · Cited by 377
Research works printed but not linked: 3
- [6]A. A. Starobinski ˇ i. Spectrum of relict gravitational radiation and the early state of the universe. Soviet Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics Letters , 30:682, December 1979.
- [33]Roberto Trotta. Bayesian Methods in Cosmology. arXiv e-prints , art. arXiv:1701.01467, Jan 2017. · arXiv
- [52]Martin Kunz, Roberto Trotta, and David R. Parkinson. Measuring the effective complexity of cosmological models. Phys. Rev. D, 74:023503, July 2006. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevD.74.023503. · DOI
- Authors
- Handley, W.
- Affiliations
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Handley, Will
- ORCID
- Handley, Will
- Venue
- Physical Review D
- Publisher
- American Physical Society (APS)
- Published
- 2021-02-05
- Volume
- 103
- Issue
- 4
- ISSN
- 2470-0010 (ISSN-L)
- 2470-0029
- OpenAlex
- W2969746395
- Cited by
- 377
- References
- 71
- Citations by year
- 2026: 33 · 2025: 55 · 2024: 66 · 2023: 72 · 2022: 57 · 2021: 63 · 2020: 30 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 34.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- arxiv.org
- Locations
- Physical review. D/Physical review. D. (publishedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Funders
- University of Cambridge
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/P020259/1)
- Science and Technology Facilities Council
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Cosmology and Gravitation Theories
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Statistical and Nonlinear Physics › Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Nuclear and High Energy Physics › Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
- Keywords
- spatial curvature, closed universe, Planck 2018, CMB lensing, baryon acoustic oscillations, flat universe, open universe
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