Pseudoscalar sterile neutrino self-interactions in light of Planck, SPT and ACT data

Abstract

We reassess the viability of a cosmological model including a fourth additional sterile neutrino species that self-interacts through a new pseudoscalar degree of freedom. We perform a series of extensive analyses fitting various combinations of cosmic microwave background (CMB) data from Planck, the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and the South Pole Telescope (SPT), both alone and in combination with Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) and Supernova Ia (SnIa) observations. We show that the scenario under study, although capable to resolve the Hubble tension without worsening the so-called $S_8$ tension about the growth of cosmic structures, is severely constrained by high-multipole polarization data from both Planck and SPT. Intriguingly, when trading Planck TE-EE data for those from ACT, we find a $\gtrsim 3\sigma$ preference for a non-zero sterile neutrino mass, $m_s=3.6_{-0.6}^{+1.1}$ eV (68 % C.L.), compatible with the range suggested by longstanding short-baseline (SBL) anomalies in neutrino oscillation experiments. The pseudoscalar model provides indeed a better fit to ACT data compared to $\Lambda$CDM ($\Delta {\chi }^2\simeq -5$, $\Delta \mathrm{AIC}=-1.3$), although in a combined analysis with Planck the $\Lambda$CDM model is still favoured, as the preference for a non-zero sterile neutrino mass is mostly driven by ACT favouring a higher value for the primordial spectral index $n_s$ with respect to Planck. We show that the mild tension between Planck and ACT is due to the different pattern in the TE and EE power spectra on multipoles between $350\lesssim \ell \lesssim 1000$. We also check the impact of marginalizing over the gravitational lensing information in Planck data, showing that the model does not solve the CMB lensing anomaly. Future work including higher precision data from current and upcoming CMB ground-based experiments will be crucial to test these results.

34 pages, 12 figures, 9 tables. Comments are welcome. v3: Version published in JCAP

References in corpus (38)

• In the Realm of the Hubble tension $-$ a Review of Solutions
• Large Magellanic Cloud Cepheid Standards Provide a 1% Foundation for the Determination of the Hubble Constant and Stronger Evidence for Physics Beyond LambdaCDM
• The Clustering of the SDSS DR7 Main Galaxy Sample I: A 4 per cent Distance Measure at z=0.15
• The Reactor Antineutrino Anomaly
• Dark Energy Survey Year 3 Results: Cosmological Constraints from Galaxy Clustering and Weak Lensing
• Cosmic Distances Calibrated to 1% Precision with Gaia EDR3 Parallaxes and Hubble Space Telescope Photometry of 75 Milky Way Cepheids Confirm Tension with LambdaCDM
• The trouble with $H_0$
• Measurement of the solar neutrino capture rate with gallium metal. III: Results for the 2002--2007 data-taking period
• Measurements of the Hubble Constant: Tensions in Perspective
• Light Sterile Neutrinos: A White Paper
• Statistical Significance of the Gallium Anomaly
• On the Hubble constant tension in the SNe Ia Pantheon sample
• Measurements of the E-Mode Polarization and Temperature-E-Mode Correlation of the CMB from SPT-3G 2018 Data
• Cosmic Microwave Weak lensing data as a test for the dark universe
• On the use of the local prior on the absolute magnitude of Type Ia supernovae in cosmological inference
• Consistency tests of $\Lambda$CDM from the early integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect: Implications for early-time new physics and the Hubble tension
• The Hubble Constant from Infrared Surface Brightness Fluctuation Distances
• Results from the Baksan Experiment on Sterile Transitions (BEST)
• The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Constraints on Pre-Recombination Early Dark Energy
• The Parallax of Omega Centauri Measured from Gaia EDR3 and a Direct, Geometric Calibration of the Tip of the Red Giant Branch and the Hubble Constant
• Dark Energy at early times and ACT: a larger Hubble constant without late-time priors
• Short-Baseline Active-Sterile Neutrino Oscillations?
• Comparing Tip of the Red Giant Branch Distance Scales: An Independent Reduction of the Carnegie-Chicago Hubble Program and the Value of the Hubble Constant
• Cosmology with self-interacting sterile neutrinos and dark matter - A pseudoscalar model
• Thermalisation of sterile neutrinos in the early Universe in the 3+1 scheme with full mixing matrix
• Hints of Early Dark Energy in Planck, SPT, and ACT data: new physics or systematics?
• Reactor antineutrino anomaly in light of recent flux model refinements
• Constraints on Cosmological Parameters from the 500 deg${}^2$ SPTpol Lensing Power Spectrum
• Towards early dark energy and $n_s$=1 with Planck, ACT and SPT
• The gallium anomaly revisited
• Linear cosmological constraints on 2-body decaying dark matter scenarios and the $S_8$ tension
• Statistical significance of the sterile-neutrino hypothesis in the context of reactor and gallium data
• Testing sterile neutrino mixing with present and future solar neutrino data
• Exploring Early Dark Energy solution to the Hubble tension with Planck and SPTPol data
• Consistency of Planck, ACT and SPT constraints on magnetically assisted recombination and forecasts for future experiments
• BEST Impact on Sterile Neutrino Hypothesis
• Sources of $H_0$-tensions in dark energy scenarios
• Multi-Wavelength, Optical (VI) and Near-Infrared (JHK) Calibration of the Tip of the Red Giant Branch Method based on Milky Way Globular Clusters

Cited by in corpus (11)

• 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
• Hints of Early Dark Energy in Planck, SPT, and ACT data: new physics or systematics?
• Massive neutrino self-interactions and inflation
• Confronting interacting dark radiation scenarios with cosmological data
• Constraining the spatial curvature with cosmic expansion history in a cosmological model with a non-standard sound horizon
• Profiling Cold New Early Dark Energy
• A new life for sterile neutrino dark matter after the pandemic
• On the consistency of $\Lambda$CDM with CMB measurements in light of the latest Planck, ACT, and SPT data
• Probing neutrino interactions and dark radiation with gravitational waves
• First constraints on non-minimally coupled Natural and Coleman-Weinberg inflation and massive neutrino self-interactions with Planck+BICEP/Keck