We use the latest Planck constraints, and in particular constraints on the derived parameters (Hubble constant and age of the Universe) for the local universe and compare them with local measurements of the same quantities. We propose a way to quantify whether cosmological parameters constraints from two different experiments are in tension or not. Our statistic, T, is an evidence ratio and therefore can be interpreted with the widely used Jeffrey's scale. We find that in the framework of the LCDM model, the Planck inferred two dimensional, joint, posterior distribution for the Hubble constant and age of the Universe is in "strong" tension with the local measurements; the odds being ~ 1:50. We explore several possibilities for explaining this tension and examine the consequences both in terms of unknown errors and deviations from the LCDM model. In some one-parameter LCDM model extensions, tension is reduced whereas in other extensions, tension is instead increased. In particular, small total neutrino masses are favored and a total neutrino mass above 0.15 eV makes the tension "highly significant" (odds ~ 1:150). A consequence of accepting this interpretation of the tension is that the degenerate neutrino hierarchy is highly disfavoured by cosmological data and the direct hierarchy is slightly favored over the inverse.
JWST high redshift galaxy observations predict a higher star formation efficiency than the standard cosmology does, which poses a new tension to $Λ$CDM. We find that the situation is worse than expected. The true situation is that the Planck CMB measurement has a strong tension with JWST high redshift galaxy observations. Specifically, we make a trial to alleviate this tension by considering alternative cosmological models including dark matter-baryon interaction, $f(R)$ gravity and dynamical dark energy. Within current cosmological constraints from Planck-2018 CMB data, we find that these mod…
The recent BICEP2 measurement of primordial gravity waves (r = 0.2^{+0.07}_{-0.05}) appears to be in tension with the upper limit from WMAP (r<0.13 at 95% CL) and Planck (r<0.11 at 95% CL). We carefully quantify the level of tension and show that it is very significant (around 0.1% unlikely) when the observed deficit of large-scale temperature power is taken into account. We show that measurements of TE and EE power spectra in the near future will discriminate between the hypotheses that this tension is either a statistical fluke, or a sign of new physics. We also discuss extensions of the sta…
One problem of the $Λ$CDM model is the tension between the $S_8$ found in Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiments and the smaller one obtained from large-scale observations in the late Universe. The $σ_8$ quantifies the relatively high level of clustering. Bayesian Analysis of the Redshift Space Distortion (RSD) selected data set yields: $S_8 = 0.700^{+0.038}_{-0.037}$. The fit has $3σ$ tension with the Planck 2018 results. With Gaussian processes method a model-independent reconstructions of the growth history of matter in-homogeneity is studied. The fit yields $S_8 = 0.707^{+0.085}_{-0…
Measurements of $σ_8$ from large scale structure observations show a discordance with the extrapolated $σ_8$ from Planck CMB parameters using $Λ$CDM cosmology. Similar discordance is found in the value of $H_0$ and $Ω_m$. In this paper, we show that the presence of viscosity in cold dark matter, shear or bulk or combination of both, can remove the above mentioned conflicts simultaneously. This indicates that the data from Planck CMB observation and different LSS observations prefer small but non-zero amount of viscosity in cold dark matter fluid.
The overall cosmological parameter tension between the Atacama Cosmology Telescope 2020 (ACT) and Planck 2018 data within the concordance cosmological model is quantified using the suspiciousness statistic to be 2.6$σ$. Between ACT and the South Pole Telescope (SPT) we find a tension of 2.4$σ$, and 2.8$σ$ between ACT and Planck+SPT combined. While it is unclear whether the tension is caused by statistical fluctuations, systematic effects or new physics, caution should be exercised in combining these cosmic microwave background datasets in the context of the $Λ$CDM standard model of the univers…
We investigate the recently introduced metastable dark energy (DE) models after the final Planck 2018 legacy release. The essence of the present work is to analyze their evolution at the level of perturbations. Our analyses show that both the metastable dark energy models considered in this article, are excellent candidates to alleviate the $H_0$ tension. In particular, for the present models, Planck 2018 alone can alleviate the $H_0$ tension within 68\% CL. Along with the final cosmic microwave background data from the Planck 2018 legacy release, we also include external cosmological datasets…
We develop two parallel machine-learning pipelines to estimate the contribution of cosmic strings (CSs), conveniently encoded in their tension ($Gμ$), to the anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background radiation observed by {\it Planck}. The first approach is tree-based and feeds on certain map features derived by image processing and statistical tools. The second uses convolutional neural network with the goal to explore possible non-trivial features of the CS imprints. The two pipelines are trained on {\it Planck} simulations and when applied to {\it Planck} \texttt{SMICA} map yield the …
Resolving the Planck-DESI tension by nonminimally coupled quintessence
Institute of Theoretical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)（中国科学院理论物理研究所）；University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS)（中国科学院大学）；Institute of Fundamental Physics and Quantum Technology, Ningbo University（宁波大学基础物理与量子技术学院）；School of Fundamental Physics and Mathematical Sciences, Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院大学杭州高等研究院基础物理与数学科学学院）；Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics (APCTP)（亚太理论物理中心）
We examine the recent proposal [1] that the anti-cross-correlation of the scalar and tensor primordial fluctuations reconciles the tension between BICEP2 and Planck observations. We show that unfortunately the contribution from the scalar-tensor correlation to the CMB temperature power spectrum vanishes once summed over the angular mode $m$ so the tension between BICEP2 and Planck can not be reconciled. The reason is that one has to use the spin-weighted spherical harmonics when projecting fields with nonzero spins into the CMB sky. These nonzero spin-weighted spherical harmonics are subject t…
Quantifying the concordance between different cosmological experiments is important for testing the validity of theoretical models and systematics in the observations. In earlier work, we thus proposed the Surprise, a concordance measure derived from the relative entropy between posterior distributions. We revisit the properties of the Surprise and describe how it provides a general, versatile, and robust measure for the agreement between datasets. We also compare it to other measures of concordance that have been proposed for cosmology. As an application, we extend our earlier analysis and us…
We apply a recently developed method to directly measure the gravitational lensing power spectrum from CMB power spectra to the Planck satellite data. This method allows us to analyze the tension between the temperature power spectrum and lens reconstruction in a model independent way. Even when allowing for arbitrary variations in the lensing power spectrum, the tension remains at the 2.4$σ$ level. By separating the lensing and unlensed high redshift information in the CMB power spectra, we also show that under $Λ$CDM the two are in tension at a similar level whereas the unlensed information …
We study the global agreement between the most recent observations of the Cosmic Microwave Background temperature and polarization anisotropies angular power spectra released by the Atacama Cosmology Telescope and the Planck satellite in various cosmological models that differ by the inclusion of different combinations of additional parameters. By using the Suspiciousness statistic, we show that the global "CMB tension" between the two experiments, quantified at the Gaussian equivalent level of $\sim 2.5\,σ$ within the baseline $Λ$CDM, is reduced at the level of $1.8σ$ when the effective numbe…
Certain anomalies in the CMB bring out a tension between the six-parameter flat $Λ$CDM model and the CMB data. We revisit the PLANCK analysis with loop quantum cosmology (LQC) predictions and show that LQC alleviates both the large-scale power anomaly and the tension in the lensing amplitude. These differences arise because, in LQC, the primordial power spectrum is scale dependent for small $k$, with a specific power suppression. We conclude with a prediction of larger optical depth and power suppression in the $B$-mode polarization power spectrum on large scales.
We show the possibility that the observational results of the primordial gravitational waves from Planck and BICEP2 for the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ can be reconciled when an early dark energy was included. This early dark energy behaves like a radiation component at very early epoch. This is equivalent to induce additional number of effective neutrino species: $ΔN_{eff}=[\frac{7}{8}(\frac{4}{11})^{4/3}]^{-1}ρ_{de}(a)/ρ_γ(a)$, where $ρ_γ(a)$ is the photon energy density and the numerical factors arise from converting to effective neutrino species. And $ρ_{de}(a)$ is the energy density of ear…
There is an apparent tension between cosmological parameters obtained from {\it Planck} cosmic microwave background radiation observations and that derived from the observed magnitude-redshift relation for the type Ia supernova (SNe Ia). Here, we show that the tension can be alleviated, if we first calibrate, with the help of the distance-duality relation, the light-curve fitting parameters in the distance estimation in SNe Ia observations with the angular diameter distance data of the galaxy clusters and then re-estimate the distances for the SNe Ia with the corrected fitting parameters. This…
In this article we compare a variety of well known dynamical dark energy models using the cosmic microwave background measurements from the 2018 Planck legacy and 2015 Planck data releases, the baryon acoustic oscillations measurements and the local measurements of $H_0$ obtained by the SH0ES (Supernovae, $H_0$, for the Equation of State of Dark energy) collaboration analysing the Hubble Space Telescope data. We discuss the alleviation of $H_0$ tension, that is obtained at the price of a phantom-like dark energy equation of state. We perform a Bayesian evidence analysis to quantify the improve…
Planck-2015 data seem to favour a large value of the lensing amplitude parameter, $A_{\rm L}=1.22\pm0.10$, in CMB spectra. This result is in $2σ$ tension with the lensing reconstruction result, $A_{\rm L}^{ϕϕ}=0.95\pm0.04$. In this paper, we simulate several CMB anisotropy and CMB lensing spectra based on Planck-2015 best-fit cosmological parameter values and Planck blue book beam and noise specifications. We analyse several modified gravity models within the effective field theory framework against these simulations and find that models whose effective Newton constant is enhanced can modulate…
The recent measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropies provided by the Planck satellite experiment have significantly improved the constraints on several cosmological parameters. In this brief paper we point out a small but interesting tension present between recent values of the primordial deuterium measured from quasar absorption line systems and the same value inferred, albeit indirectly, from the Planck measurements assuming ΛCDM and Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. Here we discuss this tension in detail investigating the possible new physics that could be responsible for the ten…
The precise measurements of Cosmic Microwave Background Anisotropy angular power spectra made by the Planck satellite show an anomalous value for the lensing amplitude, defined by the parameter $A_{lens}$, at more than $2$ standard deviations. In this paper, after discussing the current status of the anomaly, we quantify the potential of future CMB measurements in confirming/falsifying the $A_{lens}$ tension. We find that a space-based experiment as LiteBIRD could falsify the current $A_{lens}$ tension at the level of $5$ standard deviations. Similar constraints can be achieved by a Stage-III …
We examine the internal consistency of the Planck 2015 cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature anisotropy power spectrum. We show that tension exists between cosmological constant cold dark matter (LCDM) model parameters inferred from multipoles l<1000 (roughly those accessible to Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe), and from l>=1000, particularly the CDM density, Omega_ch^2, which is discrepant at 2.5 sigma for a Planck-motivated prior on the optical depth, tau=0.07+/-0.02. We find some parameter tensions to be larger than previously reported because of inaccuracy in the code used by …
The mismatch between the locally measured expansion rate of the universe and the one inferred from observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) assuming the canonical $Λ$CDM model has become the new cornerstone of modern cosmology, and many new-physics set ups are rising to the challenge. Concomitant with the so-called $H_0$ problem, there is evidence of a growing tension between the CMB-preferred value and the local determination of the weighted amplitude of matter fluctuations $S_8$. It would be appealing and compelling if both the $H_0$ and $S_8$ tensions were resolved at once, but…
A promising idea to resolve the long standing Hubble tension is to postulate a new subdominant dark-energy-like component in the pre-recombination Universe which is traditionally termed as the Early Dark Energy (EDE). However, as shown in Refs. \cite{Hill:2020osr,Ivanov:2020ril} the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and large-scale structure (LSS) data impose tight constraints on this proposal. Here, we revisit these strong bounds considering the Planck CMB temperature anisotropy data at large angular scales and the SPTPol polarization and lensing measurements. As advocated in Ref. \cite{Chuda…
We present the evolution of dark matter halos in six large cosmological N-body simulations, called the $ν^2$GC (New Numerical Galaxy Catalog) simulations on the basis of the LCDM cosmology consistent with observational results obtained by the Planck satellite. The largest simulation consists of $8192^3$ (550 billion) dark matter particles in a box of $1.12 \, h^{-1} \rm Gpc$ (a mass resolution of $2.20 \times 10^{8} \, h^{-1} M_{\odot}$). Among simulations utilizing boxes larger than $1 \, h^{-1} \rm Gpc$, our simulation yields the highest resolution simulation that has ever been achieved. A $…
We investigate correlations induced by gravitational lensing on simulated cosmic microwave background data of experiments with an incomplete sky coverage and their effect on inferences from the South Pole Telescope data. These correlations agree well with the theoretical expectations, given by the sum of super-sample and intra-sample lensing terms, with only a typically negligible $\sim$ 5% discrepancy in the amplitude of the super-sample lensing effect. Including these effects we find that lensing constraints are in $3.0σ$ or $2.1σ$ tension between the SPT polarization measurements and Planck…
The apparent discrepancy between the value of the tensor-to-scalar ratio reported by the BICEP2 collaboration, $r = 0.20^{+0.07}_{-0.05}$ at 68% CL, and the Planck upper limit, $r < 0.11$ at 95% CL, has attracted a great deal of attention. In this short note, we show that this discrepancy is mainly due to an `apples to oranges' comparison. The result reported by BICEP2 was measured at a pivot scale $k_* = 0.05$ Mpc$^{-1}$, assuming $n_t = 0$, whereas the Planck limit was provided at $k_* = 0.002$ Mpc$^{-1}$, assuming the slow-roll consistency relation $n_t = -r/8$. One should obviously compare…
We update the cosmological parameter estimation for three non-vanilla models by a joint analysis of \CCCP\ X-ray cluster, the newly released \Planck\ CMB data as well as some external data sets, such as baryon acoustic oscillation measurements from the 6dFGS, SDSS DR7 and BOSS DR9 surveys, and Hubble Space Telescope $H_0$ measurement. First of all, we find that X-ray cluster data sets strongly favor a non-zero summed neutrino mass at more than 3$σ$ confidence level in these non-vanilla models. And then, we reveal some tensions between X-ray cluster and {\it Planck} data in some cosmological pa…
We propose a new intuitive metric for evaluating the tension between two experiments, and apply it to several data sets. While our metric is non-optimal, if evidence of tension is detected, this evidence is robust and easy to interpret. Assuming a flat $Λ$CDM cosmological model, we find that there is a modest $2.2σ$ tension between the DES Year 1 results and the ${\it Planck}$ measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). This tension is driven by the difference between the amount of structure observed in the late-time Universe and that predicted from fitting the ${\it Planck}$ data, …
Recent measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) by the Planck Collaboration have produced arguably the most powerful observational evidence in support of the standard model of cosmology, i.e. the spatially flat $Λ$CDM paradigm. In this work, we perform model selection tests to examine whether the base CMB temperature and large scale polarization anisotropy data from Planck 2015 (P15) prefer any of eight commonly used one-parameter model extensions with respect to flat $Λ$CDM. We find a clear preference for models with free curvature, $Ω_\mathrm{K}$, or free amplitude of the CMB le…
A large inflationary tensor-to-scalar ratio $r_\mathrm{0.002} = 0.20^{+0.07}_{-0.05}$ is reported by the BICEP2 team based on their B-mode polarization detection, which is outside of the $95\%$ confidence level of the Planck best fit model. We explore several possible ways to reduce the tension between the two by considering a model in which $α_\mathrm{s}$, $n_\mathrm{t}$, $n_\mathrm{s}$ and the neutrino parameters $N_\mathrm{eff}$ and $Σm_\mathrmν$ are set as free parameters. Using the Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) technique to survey the complete parameter space with and without the BICEP2…
We perform a Fisher matrix calculation of the predicted uncertainties on estimates of the cosmic string tension Gmu from upcoming observational data (namely, cosmic microwave background power spectra from the Planck satellite and an idealized future polarization experiment). We employ simulations that are more general than others commonly used in the literature, leaving the mean velocity of strings, correlation length of the string network, and "wiggliness" (which parametrizes smaller-scale structure along the strings) as free parameters that can be observationally measured. In a new code, Str…
The $E_G$ statistic is a powerful probe for detecting deviations from GR by combining weak lensing (WL), real-space clustering and redshift space distortion (RSD) measurements thus probing both the lensing and the growth effective Newton constants ($G_L$ and $G_{eff}$). We construct an up to date compilation of $E_G$ statistic data including both redshift and scale dependence ($E_G(R,z)$). We combine this $E_G$ data compilation with an up to date compilation of $fσ_8$ data from RSD observations to identify the current level of tension between the Planck/$Λ$CDM standard model based on general r…
We analyze the final release of the Planck satellite data to constrain the gravitational lensing potential in a model-independent manner. The amount of lensing determined from the smoothing of the acoustic peaks in the temperature and polarization power spectra is 2$σ$ too high when compared with the measurements using the lensing reconstruction and 2.8$σ$ too high when compared with $Λ$CDM expectation based on the "unlensed" portion of the temperature and polarization power spectra. The largest change from the previous data release is the $Λ$CDM expectation, driven by improved constraints to …
We provide a new interpretation for the Bayes factor combination used in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) first year analysis to quantify the tension between the DES and Planck datasets. The ratio quantifies a Bayesian confidence in our ability to combine the datasets. This interpretation is prior-dependent, with wider prior widths boosting the confidence. We therefore propose that if there are any reasonable priors which reduce the confidence to below unity, then we cannot assert that the datasets are compatible. Computing the evidence ratios for the DES first year analysis and Planck, given that…
In a recent paper, we investigated possible systematic uncertainties related to the Cepheid color-luminosity calibration method and their influence on the tension between the Hubble constant as inferred from distances to Type Ia supernovae and the cosmic microwave background as measured with the Planck satellite. Here, we study the impact of other sources of uncertainty in the supernova distance ladder, including Cepheid temperature and metallicity variations, supernova magnitudes and GAIA parallax distances. Using Cepheid data in 19 Type Ia supernova host galaxies from Riess et al (2016), anc…
Interacting dark energy models are widely renowned for giving an explanation to the cosmic coincidence problem as well as several observational issues. According to the recent observational data, and so far we are concerned with the literature, the choice of the interaction function between dark matter and dark energy is always questionable since there is no such underlying theory that could derive it. Thus, in this work we have raised this issue by proposing two new nonlinear interaction functions and constrain them using cosmic microwave background (CMB) from Planck 2018, baryon acoustic osc…
We show that involving a sterile neutrino species in the $Λ$CDM+$r$ model can help relieve the tension about the tensor-to-scalar ratio $r$ between the Planck temperature data and the BICEP2 B-mode polarization data. Such a model is called the $Λ$CDM+$r$+$ν_s$ model in this paper. Compared to the $Λ$CDM+$r$ model, there are two extra parameters, $N_{\rm eff}$ and $m_{ν,{\rm sterile}}^{\rm eff}$, in the $Λ$CDM+$r$+$ν_s$ model. We show that in this model the tension between Planck and BICEP2 can be greatly relieved at the cost of the increase of $n_s$. However, comparing with the $Λ$CDM+$r$+$dn_…
The curvature parameter tension between Planck 2018, cosmic microwave background lensing, and baryon acoustic oscillation data is measured using the suspiciousness statistic to be 2.5 to 3$σ$. 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 50:1 against a flat universe, and over 2000:1 against an open universe.
The abundance of clusters is a classical cosmological probe sensitive to both the geometrical aspects and the growth rate of structures. The abundance of clusters of galaxies measured by Planck has been found to be in tension with the prediction of the LCDM models normalized to Planck CMB fluctuations power spectra. The same tension appears with X-ray cluster local abundance. Massive neutrinos and modified gravity are two possible solutions to fix this tension. Alternatively, others options include a bias in the selection procedure or in the mass calibration of clusters. We present a study, ba…
We present updated constraints on the variation of the fine structure constant, $α_{\rm EM}$, and effective electron rest mass, $m_{\rm e}$, during the cosmological recombination era. These two fundamental constants directly affect the ionization history at redshift $z\simeq 1100$ and thus modify the temperature and polarisation anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) measured precisely with {\it Planck }. The constraints on $α_{\rm EM}$ tighten slightly due to improved {\it Planck} 2018 polarisation data but otherwise remain similar to previous CMB analysis. However, a compariso…
The well-known tensions on the cosmological parameters $H_0$ and $σ_8$ within the $Λ$CDM cosmology shown by the Planck-CMB and LSS data are possibly due to the systematics in the data or our ignorance of some new physics beyond the $Λ$CDM model. In this letter, we focus on the second possibility, and investigate a minimal extension of the $Λ$CDM model by allowing a coupling between its dark sector components (dark energy and dark matter). We analyze this scenario with Planck-CMB, KiDS and HST data, and find that the $H_0$ and $σ_8$ tensions disappear at 68\% CL. In the joint analyzes with Plan…
Exploring $Λ$CDM extensions with SPT-3G and Planck data: 4$σ$ evidence for neutrino masses and implications of extended dark energy models for cosmological tensions
We discuss various examples and ramifications of the conjecture that there exists a maximum force (or tension) in general relativistic systems. We contrast this situation with that in Newtonian gravity, where no maximum force exists, and relate it to the existence of natural units defined by constants of Nature and the fact that the Planck units of force and power do not depend on Planck's constant. We discuss how these results change in higher dimensions where the Planck units of force are no longer non-quantum. We discuss the changes that might occur to the conjecture if a positive cosmologi…
Tram et al. 2016 recently pointed out that power-law inflation in presence of a dark radiation component may relieve the 3.3 sigma tension which exists within standard LCDM between the determination of the local value of the Hubble constant by Riess et al. (2016) and the value derived from CMB anisotropy data by the Planck collaboration. In this comment, we simply point out that this interesting proposal does not help in solving the $σ_8$ tension between the Planck data and, e.g., the weak lensing measurements. Moreover, when the latest constraints on the reionization optical depth obtained fr…
We propose a principled Bayesian method for quantifying tension between correlated datasets with wide uninformative parameter priors. This is achieved by extending the Suspiciousness statistic, which is insensitive to priors. Our method uses global summary statistics, and as such it can be used as a diagnostic for internal consistency. We show how our approach can be combined with methods that use parameter space and data space to identify the existing internal discrepancies. As an example, we use it to test the internal consistency of the KiDS-450 data in 4 photometric redshift bins, and to r…
The introduction of Dark Matter-neutrino interactions modifies the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) angular power spectrum at all scales, thus affecting the reconstruction of the cosmological parameters. Such interactions can lead to a slight increase of the value of $H_0$ and a slight decrease of $σ_8$, which can help reduce somewhat the tension between the CMB and lensing or Cepheids datasets. Here we show that it is impossible to solve both tensions simultaneously. While the 2015 Planck temperature and low multipole polarisation data combined with the Cepheids datasets prefer large values …
We analyze the claimed tension between redshift space distorsions measurements of $f(z)σ_8(z)$ and the predictions of standard $Λ$CDM (Planck 2015 and 2018) cosmology. We consider a dataset consisting of 17 data points extending up to redshift $z=1.52$ and corrected for the Alcock-Paczynski effect. Thus, calculating the evolution of the growth factor in a $w$CDM cosmology, we find that the tension for the best fit parameters $w$, $Ω_m$ and $σ_8$ with respect to the Planck 2018 $Λ$CDM parameters is below $2σ$ in all the marginalized confidence regions.
Weak galaxy lensing surveys have consistently reported a lower amplitude for the matter fluctuation spectrum, as measured by the $S_8$ parameter, than expected in the $Λ{\rm CDM}$ cosmology favoured by $Planck$. However, the expansion history follows the predictions of the $Planck$ $Λ{\rm CDM}$ cosmology to high accuracy, as do measurements of lensing of the cosmic microwave background anisotropies. Redshift space distortion measurements also appear to be consistent with $Planck$ $Λ{\rm CDM}$. In this paper, we argue that these observations can be reconciled with the $Planck$ $Λ{\rm CDM}$ cosm…
We constrain interacting dark matter and dark energy (IDMDE) models using a 450-degree-square cosmic shear data from the Kilo Degree Survey (KiDS) and the angular power spectra from Planck's latest cosmic microwave background measurements. We revisit the discordance problem in the standard Lambda cold dark matter ($Λ$CDM) model between weak lensing and Planck datasets and extend the discussion by introducing interacting dark sectors. The IDMDE models are found to be able to alleviate the discordance between KiDS and Planck as previously inferred from the $Λ$CDM model, and moderately favored by…
The simple assumption of an instantaneous reionization of the Universe may bias estimates of cosmological parameters. In this paper a model-independent principal component method for the reionization history is applied to give constraints on the cosmological parameters from recent Planck 2015 data. We find that the Universe are not completely reionized at redshifts $z \ge 8.5$ at 95% CL. Both the reionization optical depth and the matter fluctuation amplitude are higher than but consistent with those obtained in the standard instantaneous reionization scheme. The high estimated value of the ma…
We study if the discrepancy between the local and cosmological measurements of the Hubble constant $H_0$ can be reformulated as a tension in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) monopole temperature $T_0$. The latter is customarily fixed to the FIRAS best-fit value in CMB data analyses. Although this value was confirmed by several independent experiments, it is interesting to see how much parameter constraints depend on this prior. We first provide a detailed pedagogical description of the $T_0$ effects on cosmological observables. We show that the recombination history and transfer functions…
Recently, the Planck satellite found a larger and most precise value of the matter energy density, that impacts on the present values of other cosmological parameters such as the Hubble constant, the present cluster abundances and the age of the Universe. The existing tension between Planck determination of these parameters in the frame of the base LambdaCDM model and their direct measurements generated lively discussions and several interpretations. In this paper we quantify this tension by exploring several extensions of the base LambdaCDM model that include the leptonic asymmetry. We set bo…
