Cited by 112Cosmology and Gravitation TheoriesDark Matter and Cosmic PhenomenaNoncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories

Dark energy at early times and ACT data: A larger Hubble constant without late-time priors

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Poulin, Vivian, Smith, Tristan L., Bartlett, Alexa·2021·Physical Review D

Abstract

Recent observations using the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) have provided ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) maps with higher angular resolution than the Planck satellite. These have the potential to put interesting constraints on models resolving the ``Hubble tension.'' In this paper we fit two models of early dark energy (EDE) (an increase in the expansion rate around matter/radiation equality) to the combination of ACT data with large-scale measurements of the CMB either from the WMAP or the Planck satellite (including lensing), along with measurements of the baryon acoustic oscillations and uncalibrated supernovae luminosity distance. We study a phenomenological axionlike potential (``axEDE'') and a scalar field experiencing a first-order phase transition (``NEDE''). We find that for both models the ``Planck-free'' analysis yields nonzero EDE at $\ensuremath{\gtrsim}2\ensuremath{\sigma}$ and an increased value for ${H}_{0}\ensuremath{\sim}70--74\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{km}/\mathrm{s}/\mathrm{Mpc}$, compatible with local measurements, without the inclusion of any prior on ${H}_{0}$. On the other hand, the inclusion of Planck data restricts the EDE contribution to an upper limit only at 95% C.L. For axEDE, the combination of Planck and ACT leads to constraints 30% weaker than with Planck alone, and there is no residual Hubble tension. On the other hand, NEDE is more strongly constrained in a $Planck+\mathrm{ACT}$ analysis, and the Hubble tension remains at $\ensuremath{\sim}3\ensuremath{\sigma}$, illustrating the ability for CMB data to distinguish between different EDE models. We further explore the apparent inconsistency between the Planck and ACT data and find that it comes (mostly) from a slight tension between the temperature power spectrum at multipoles around $\ensuremath{\sim}1000$ and $\ensuremath{\sim}1500$. Finally, through a mock analysis of ACT data, we demonstrate that the preference for EDE is not driven by a lack of information at high $\ensuremath{\ell}$ when removing Planck data, and that a $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}$ cold dark matter fit to the fiducial EDE cosmology results in a significant bias on ${{H}_{0},{\ensuremath{\omega}}_{\mathrm{CDM}}}$. More accurate measurements of the TT CMB power spectra above $\ensuremath{\ell}\ensuremath{\sim}2500$ and EE between $\ensuremath{\ell}\ensuremath{\sim}300--500$ will play a crucial role in differentiating between EDE models.

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Crossref · 10.1103/physrevd.104.123550

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  • The evidence for EDE > 3σ persists with inclusion of Planck lensing and BAO data, but disappears completely once full Planck multipoles data are considered, with H0 in tension again with SH0ES.

    “the evidence for EDE > 3σ persists with the inclusion of Planck lensing and BAO data (shifting H 0 towards a lower value, but still able to alleviate the tension), but it disappears completely once the full Planck multipoles data are considered, with H 0 in tension again with SH0ES.”

    From Challenges of the Standard Cosmological Model (2022) · cites this paper as [96]

    The Discussion and Conclusions (section VI.A; page unavailable) reports a 3.1σ preference for axEDE with WMAP+ACT+BAO+Pantheon, and says full Planck data constrain the EDE contribution more strongly. It does not establish that a >3σ preference persists specifically after adding Planck lensing. More importantly, the Axionlike Early Dark Energy section reports only about 0.3σ tension with SH0ES for Planck+ACT+BAO+Pantheon in axEDE, contrary to the claim that full Planck data restore that tension. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Considering ACT-only data or combined with Planck TT up to multipoles 650, there is evidence for EDE > 3σ, which completely solves the Hubble tension.

    “considering ACT-only data or combined with Planck TT up to multipoles 650, there is evidence for EDE > 3σ, which completely solves the Hubble tension [96,97].”

    From Challenges of the Standard Cosmological Model (2022) · cites this paper as [96]

    The Discussion and Conclusions (page unavailable) report a 2.2σ preference for axEDE with ACT alone, not >3σ; the 3.1σ figure is for WMAP+ACT+BAO+Pantheon. The restricted-Planck analysis (page unavailable) uses multipoles l < 1060, not 650. The paper does say that its axEDE fits can resolve the Hubble tension, but not for the data combinations and significance stated here. (LLM, conf=0.90)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Planck and ACT-DR4 disagree on the results for the early dark energy scenario.

    “Planck and ACT-DR4 disagree on the results for the early dark energy scenario [96]”

    From Challenges of the Standard Cosmological Model (2022) · cites this paper as [96]

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Subinoy Das, Anshuman Maharana, Vivian Poulin, and Ravi Kumar, Non-thermal hot dark matter in light of the S 8 tension, arXiv:2104.03329. · arXiv
  2. Guillermo F. Abellan, Riccardo Murgia, Vivian Poulin, and Julien Lavalle, Hints for decaying dark matter from S 8 measurements, arXiv:2008.09615. · arXiv
  3. Matteo Lucca, Dark energy-dark matter interactions as a solution to the S 8 tension, arXiv:2105.09249. · arXiv

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Authors
Poulin, V., Smith, T. L., & Bartlett, A.
Affiliations
  • Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
  • Swarthmore College (US)
Venue
Physical Review D
Published
2021-12-27
Volume
104
Issue
12
Pages
123550
ISSN
  • 2470-0010 (ISSN-L)
  • 2470-0029
OpenAlex
W4200554270
Cited by
112
References
96
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 28 · 2022: 39 · 2021: 2
FWCI
11.89
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Physical review. D/Physical review. D. (publishedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University) (submittedVersion)
  • Works - Scholarship, Research, & Creative Expression (Swarthmore College) (submittedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
  • arXiv (Cornell University)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (2009377)
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NSSC18K0728)
  • Swarthmore College
  • Aix-Marseille Université (AMX-19-IET-008—IPhU)
  • Research Corporation
  • CNRS-IN2P3 (Dark21)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Astronomy and Astrophysics › Cosmology and Gravitation Theories
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Nuclear and High Energy Physics › Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Statistical and Nonlinear Physics › Noncommutative and Quantum Gravity Theories
Keywords
early dark energy, Hubble tension, Hubble constant, Atacama Cosmology Telescope, cosmic microwave background, first-order phase transition, scalar field, CMB temperature power spectrum, baryon acoustic oscillations, early universe expansion rate, matter-radiation equality

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