Varying fundamental constants principal component analysis: additional hints about the Hubble tension

Abstract

Varying fundamental constants (VFC) [e.g., the fine-structure constant, ${\alpha }_{\mathrm{EM}}$] can arise in numerous extended cosmologies. Through their effect on the decoupling of baryons and photons during last scattering and reionisation, these models can be directly constrained using measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization anisotropies. Previous investigations focused mainly on time-independent changes to the values of fundamental constants. Here we generalize to time-dependent variations. Instead of directly studying various VFC parameterizations, we perform a model-independent principal component analysis (PCA), directly using an eigenmode decomposition of the varying constant during recombination. After developing the formalism, we use Planck 2018 data to obtain new VFC limits, showing that three independent VFC modes can be constrained at present. No indications for significant departures from the standard model are found with Planck data. Cosmic variance limited modes are also compared and simple forecasts for The Simons Observatory are carried out, showing that in the future improvements of the current constraints by a factor of $\simeq 3$ can be anticipated. Our modes focus solely on VFC at redshifts $z\ge 300$. This implies that they do not capture some of the degrees of freedom relating to the reionisation era. This aspect provides important new insights into the possible origin of the Hubble tension, hinting that indeed a combined modification of recombination and reionisation physics could be at work. An extended PCA, covering both recombination and reionisation simultaneously, could shed more light on this question, as we emphasize here.

arXiv comment22 pages, 25 figures, submitted to MNRAS

References in corpus (79)

• Planck 2015 results. XIII. Cosmological parameters
• Efficient Computation of CMB anisotropies in closed FRW models
• Cosmological parameters from CMB and other data: a Monte-Carlo approach
• The Eleventh and Twelfth Data Releases of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Final Data from SDSS-III
• Nine-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Final Maps and Results
• Large Magellanic Cloud Cepheid Standards Provide a 1% Foundation for the Determination of the Hubble Constant and Stronger Evidence for Physics Beyond LambdaCDM
• Planck 2018 results. I. Overview and the cosmological legacy of Planck
• The Simons Observatory: Science goals and forecasts
• 4-Year COBE DMR Cosmic Microwave Background Observations: Maps and Basic Results
• Planck 2018 results. V. CMB power spectra and likelihoods
• The fundamental constants and their variation: observational status and theoretical motivations
• Early Dark Energy Can Resolve The Hubble Tension
• Karhunen-Loeve eigenvalue problems in cosmology: how should we tackle large data sets?
• A measurement by BOOMERANG of multiple peaks in the angular power spectrum of the cosmic microwave background
• Varying constants, Gravitation and Cosmology
• Planck 2015 results. XI. CMB power spectra, likelihoods, and robustness of parameters
• The Hubble Hunter's Guide
• Planck evidence for a closed Universe and a possible crisis for cosmology
• Efficient sampling of fast and slow cosmological parameters
• CMB Constraints on WIMP Annihilation: Energy Absorption During the Recombination Epoch
• Can interacting dark energy solve the $H_0$ tension?
• Particle decays during the cosmic dark ages
• Approaches to Understanding Cosmic Acceleration
• Advanced ACTPol Cryogenic Detector Arrays and Readout
• Detecting Dark Matter Annihilation with CMB Polarization : Signatures and Experimental Prospects
• CMB constraints on Dark Matter models with large annihilation cross-section
• A Simple Varying-alpha Cosmology
• Cosmology with Phase 1 of the Square Kilometre Array; Red Book 2018: Technical specifications and performance forecasts
• Cosmological implications of ultra-light axion-like fields
• Neutrino Physics from the Cosmic Microwave Background and Large Scale Structure
• The Anisotropy of the Microwave Background to l = 3500: Mosaic Observations with the Cosmic Background Imager
• Evidence for massive neutrinos from CMB and lensing observations
• General Constraints on Dark Matter Decay from the Cosmic Microwave Background
• Relieving the Hubble tension with primordial magnetic fields
• Searching for Dark Matter in the CMB: A Compact Parameterization of Energy Injection from New Physics
• Measurement of the Cosmic Microwave Background Polarization Lensing Power Spectrum with the POLARBEAR experiment
• The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: CMB Polarization at $200<\ell <9000$
• The status of varying constants: a review of the physics, searches and implications
• Local and Global Variations of The Fine Structure Constant
• Massive Neutrinos and Magnetic Fields in the Early Universe
• Updated fundamental constant constraints from Planck 2018 data and possible relations to the Hubble tension
• Exploring Cosmic Origins with CORE: Cosmological Parameters
• Early-universe constraints on a time-varying fine structure constant
• Towards a complete treatment of the cosmological recombination problem
• Stringent Limit on Primordial Magnetic Fields from the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation
• Constraining Variations in the Fine-Structure Constant with the Cosmic Microwave Background
• Measurements of Sub-degree B-mode Polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background from 100 Square Degrees of SPTpol Data
• Could the Cosmological Recombination Spectrum Help Us Understand Annihilating Dark Matter?
• Cosmic concordance and the fine structure constant
• New constraints on time-dependent variations of fundamental constants using Planck data
• Model-independent constraints on reionization from large-scale CMB polarization
• Constraints on leptonically annihilating Dark Matter from reionization and extragalactic gamma background
• Spectral distortion constraints on photon injection from low-mass decaying particles
• High-precision limit on variation in the fine-structure constant from a single quasar absorption system
• Constraining primordial magnetic fields with distortions of the black-body spectrum of the cosmic microwave background: pre- and post-decoupling contributions
• Testing H0 in Acoustic Dark Energy Models with Planck and ACT Polarization
• First results from the Very Small Array -- IV. Cosmological parameter estimation
• Search for a Variation of the Fine Structure around the Supermassive Black Hole in Our Galactic Center
• Subaru Telescope limits on cosmological variations in the fine-structure constant
• General Dynamics of Varying-Alpha Universes
• Prospects for Constraining Neutrino Mass Using Planck and Lyman-Alpha Forest Data
• Hubble parameter reconstruction from a principal component analysis: minimizing the bias
• New Constraints on variations of the fine structure constant from CMB anisotropies
• Precise cosmological parameter estimation using CosmoRec
• Improved CMB anisotropy constraints on primordial magnetic fields from the post-recombination ionization history
• Can small-scale baryon inhomogeneities resolve the Hubble tension? An investigation with ACT DR4
• The Fine Structure Constant and the CMB Damping Scale
• High $H_0$ Values from CMB E-mode Data: A Clue for Resolving the Hubble Tension?
• Semi-blind Eigen-analyses of Recombination Histories Using CMB Data
• Measuring the fine structure constant on a white dwarf surface; a detailed analysis of Fe V absorption in G191-B2B
• Fundamental constants and high resolution spectroscopy
• Constraints on perturbations to the recombination history from measurements of the CMB damping tail
• Principal component analysis of the primordial tensor power spectrum
• Improved model-independent constraints on the recombination era and development of a direct projection method
• Testing the weak equivalence principle by differential measurements of fundamental constants in the Magellanic Clouds
• Dark sector evolution in Horndeski models
• Constraints on the electron-to-proton mass ratio variation at the epoch of reionization
• Constraining the reionization history with CMB and spectroscopic observations
• Spatial variation of fundamental constants: testing models with thermonuclear supernovae

Cited by in corpus (19)

• Challenges for $\Lambda$CDM: An update
• Seven hints that early-time new physics alone is not sufficient to solve the Hubble tension
• The CosmoVerse White Paper: Addressing observational tensions in cosmology with systematics and fundamental physics
• On the evolution of the Hubble constant with the SNe Ia Pantheon Sample and Baryon Acoustic Oscillations: a feasibility study for GRB-cosmology in 2030
• What it takes to solve the Hubble tension through modifications of cosmological recombination
• Using the cosmological recombination radiation to probe early dark energy and fundamental constant variations
• Scaling Transformations and the Origins of Light Relics Constraints from Cosmic Microwave Background Observations
• Is Dynamical Dark Energy Necessary? DESI BAO and Modified Recombination
• Thomson scattering: One rate to rule them all
• Hubble tension as a window on the gravitation of the dark matter sector: Exploration of a family of models
• Constraints on extended Bekenstein models from cosmological, astrophysical, and local data
• Runaway dilaton models: improved constraints from the full cosmological evolution
• Sound-Horizon-Agnostic Inference of the Hubble Constant and Neutrino Mass from BAO, CMB Lensing, and Galaxy Weak Lensing and Clustering
• A search for the fine-structure constant evolution from fast radio bursts and type Ia supernovae data
• Improving Constraints on Models Addressing the Hubble Tension with CMB Delensing
• Revisiting CPL with sign-switching density: To cross or not to cross the NECB
• Incompatibility of fine-structure constant variations at recombination with local observations
• Non-parametric reconstruction of the fine structure constant with galaxy clusters
• Inference of cosmological models with principal component analysis