The value of the Hubble–Lemaître constant queried by Type Ia supernovae: a journey from the Calán-Tololo Project to the Carnegie Supernova Program
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Accurate distances to galaxies are critical to determining the present expansion rate of the Universe or Hubble Constant (H(sub 0)). An important step in resolving the current uncertainty in H(sub 0) is the measurement of the distance to the Virgo cluster of galaxies. New observations using the Hubble Space Telescope yield a distance of 17.1 +/- 1.8 Mpc to the Virgo cluster galaxy M100. This distance leads to a value of H(sub 0) = 17 km/sec/Mpc. A comparable value of H(sub 0) is also derived from the Coma cluster using independent estimates of its distance ratio relative to the Virgo cluster.
We discuss the possibility of constraining cosmological parameters using the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect and thermal bremsstrahlung caused by intra-cluster gas in clusters of galaxies. The new generation of X-ray satellites and ground based interferometers dedicated to SZ observations will enable one to reduce uncertainties in these measurements, and thus make this method potentially quite promising in the near future. The importance of this method is that, unlike most other methods, it is based on physical principles, no 'standard candles' or 'rulers' needed. We estimate the accuracy achievable in the determination of the matter density, OMEGA(sub m), the cosmological constant, OMEGA(sub LAMBDA), and the Hubble constant, h, using the redshift dependence of the angular diameter distance derived from observations in the near future. We demonstrate that constraints from the angular diameter distance are orthogonal to those from Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) fluctuations in the parameter space defined by OMEGA(sub m), OMEGA(sub LAMBDA), and h. Assuming a statistical error of five percent in the angular diameter distance for each cluster in a sample of five hundred clusters, we show that the redshift dependence of the angular diameter distance combined with constraints from CMB fluctuations can put stringent constraints on OMEGA(sub m) (+/- 0.03), OMEGA(sub LAMBDA) (+/- 0.03) and h (+/- 0.03, 3(sigma) errors). We also show that, with as few as 50 clusters between redshifts 0.01 and 1.5 with an assumed 10% statistical error in the angular diameter distance determination, one can distinguish between models with zero cosmological constant and spatially flat models with a cosmological constant with high confidence level (independently from the supernova results) and put meaningful constraints on OMEGA(sub m) (+/- 0.01), OMEGA(sub LAMBDA) (+/- 0.01) and h (+/- 0.01, 3(sigma) errors). With the expected advances in observational technology, we will be limited by systematic errors. We discuss the sources of systematic errors and how they can be reduced.
We report on the discovery of Cepheids in the field spiral galaxy NGC3621, based on observations made with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 on board the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). NGC 3621 is one of 18 galaxies observed as part of the HST Key Project on the Extragalctic Distance Scale, which aims to measure the Hubble Constant to 10 percent accuracy.
This is one of the galaxies being observed as part of the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Key Project on the Extragalactic Distance Scale which aims to determine the Hubble Constant to 10% accuracy.
Separating the components of redshift due to expansion and peculiar motion in the nearby universe (z < 0.1) is critical for using Type Ia Supernovae (SNe Ia) to measure the Hubble constant (H 0 ) and the equation-of-state parameter of dark energy (w). Here, we study the two dominant "motions" contributing to nearby peculiar velocities: large-scale, coherent-flow (CF) motions and small-scale motions due to gravitationally associated galaxies deemed to be in a galaxy group. We use a set of 584 low-z SNe from the Pantheon+ sample, and evaluate the efficacy of corrections to these motions by measuring the improvement of SN distance residuals. We study multiple methods for modeling the large and small-scale motions and show that, while group assignments and CF corrections individually contribute to small improvements in Hubble residual scatter, the greatest improvement comes from the combination of the two (relative standard deviation of the Hubble residuals, Rel. SD, improves from 0.167 to 0.157 mag). We find the optimal flow corrections derived from various local density maps significantly reduce Hubble residuals while raising H 0 by ~0.4 km s -1 Mpc -1 as compared to using CMB redshifts, disfavoring the hypothesis that unrecognized local structure could resolve the Hubble tension. We estimate that the systematic uncertainties in cosmological parameters after optimally correcting redshifts are 0.06–0.11 km s -1 Mpc -1 in H 0 and 0.02–0.03 in w which are smaller than the statistical uncertainties for these measurements: 1.5 km s -1 Mpc -1 for H 0 and 0.04 for w.
Abstract Type Ia supernova (SN) measurements of the Hubble constant, H 0 ; cosmic mass density, Ω M ; and dark energy equation-of-state parameter, w , rely on heterogeneous SN surveys across three decades of observation. These distinct surveys may have undiagnosed, relative photometric zero-point errors. We determine the sensitivities of the SH0ES+Pantheon+ cosmological constraints to unknown gray systematics in the photometric zero-point calibration between the 19 surveys that comprise the Pantheon+ SN compendium. Varying the surveys’ gray zero-points simultaneously with cosmological parameters, we determine that the SH0ES+Pantheon+ measurement of H 0 is robust against gray intersurvey photometric miscalibration. Specifically, uncalibrated intersurvey systematics could represent a source of uncertainty no larger than 0.39 km s −1 Mpc −1 for H 0 . This modest increase in H 0 uncertainty could not account for the 7 km s −1 Mpc −1 “Hubble tension” between the SH0ES measurement of H 0 and the Planck ΛCDM-based inference of H 0 . However, the SH0ES+Pantheon+ best-fit values of Ω M and w are not robust against gray zero-point error, slipping by up to 0.16 and −0.63. Because measurements of Ω M and w depend on intrasurvey cross-band calibration, the hypothetical gray miscalibration underestimates the sensitivity of these measurements to zero-point miscalibration. Because the Pantheon+ compendium contains many surveys that share low- z Hubble flow (HF) and Cepheid-paired SNe, intersurvey photometric calibration errors do not significantly impede the joint use of SH0ES and Pantheon+ to measure H 0 to 1% accuracy. However, H 0 constraints that rely on one HF survey but numerous galactic distance calibration surveys are susceptible to intersurvey photometric miscalibration.
The article Measuring the Hubble constant by Mario Livio and Adam Riess (Physics Today, October 2013, page 41) reviewed studies of the expanding universe from the 1920s to the present. Although the history of the subject underwent considerable compression to fit the length of a magazine article, we think it may leave a misleading impression of some of the key steps to our current understanding. We therefore offer the following clarifications. Most significantly, papers by Arthur Eddington and by Willem de Sitter in 1930, who successfully promoted Georges Lematres 1927 article for the Scientific Society of Brussels, effected a paradigm shift in interpretation of extragalactic redshifts in 1930. Before then, the astronomical community was generally unaware of the existence of nonstatic cosmological solutions and did not broadly appreciate that redshifts could be thought of locally as Doppler shifts in an expanding matter distribution. Certainly, in 1929 Edwin Hubble referred only to the de Sitter solution of 1917. At the time, the relation between distance and redshift predicted in that model was generally seen purely as a manifestation of static spacetime curvature.
The upcoming Vera Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) will dramatically increase the number of strong gravitational lensing systems, requiring precise modeling of line-of-sight (LOS) effects to mitigate biases in lensing observations and cosmological inferences. We develop a method to construct joint distributions of external convergence (κ ext ) and shear (γ ext ) for strong lensing LOS by aggregating large-scale structure simulations with high-resolution halo renderings and non-linear correction. Our approach captures both smooth background matter and perturbations from halos, enabling accurate modeling of LOS effects. Here, we apply non-linear LOS corrections to κ ext and γ ext that address the non-additive lensing effects caused by objects along the LOS in strong lensing. We find that, with a minimum image separation of 1.0'', non-linear LOS correction due to the presence of a dominant deflector slightly increases the ratio of quadruple to double lenses; this non-linear LOS correction also introduces systematic biases of ∼ 0.1% for galaxy-AGN lens in the inferred Hubble constant (H 0 ) if not accounted for. We also observe a 0.66% bias for galaxy-galaxy lenses on H 0 , and even larger biases 1.02% for galaxy-AGN systems if LOS effects are not accounted for. These results highlight the importance of LOS for precision cosmology. The publicly available code and datasets provide tools for incorporating LOS effects in future analyses.
Abstract We present a Bayesian graph neural network (BGNN) that can estimate the weak lensing convergence ( κ ) from photometric measurements of galaxies along a given line of sight (LOS). The method is of particular interest in strong gravitational time-delay cosmography (TDC), where characterizing the “external convergence” ( κ ext ) from the lens environment and LOS is necessary for precise Hubble constant ( H 0 ) inference. Starting from a large-scale simulation with a κ resolution of ∼1′, we introduce fluctuations on galaxy–galaxy lensing scales of ∼1″ and extract random sight lines to train our BGNN. We then evaluate the model on test sets with varying degrees of overlap with the training distribution. For each test set of 1000 sight lines, the BGNN infers the individual κ posteriors, which we combine in a hierarchical Bayesian model to yield constraints on the hyperparameters governing the population. For a test field well sampled by the training set, the BGNN recovers the population mean of κ precisely and without bias (within the 2 σ credible interval), resulting in a contribution to the H 0 error budget well under 1%. In the tails of the training set with sparse samples, the BGNN, which can ingest all available information about each sight line, extracts a stronger κ signal compared to a simplified version of the traditional method based on matching galaxy number counts, which is limited by sample variance. Our hierarchical inference pipeline using BGNNs promises to improve the κ ext characterization for precision TDC. The code is available as a public Python package, Node to Joy ⏬ .
The Hubble Tension is a well-known issue in modern cosmology that refers to the apparent disagreement in inferences of the Hubble constant H 0 as found through low-redshift observations and those derived from the ΛCDM model utilizing early universe observations. Several extensions to ΛCDM have been proposed to address the Hubble Tension that involve new ingredients or dynamics in the early universe. Reversing the effects of gravitational lensing on cosmic microwave background (CMB) maps produces sharper acoustic peaks in power spectra and allows for tighter constraints on cosmological parameters. We investigate the efficacy of CMB delensing for improving the constraints on parameters used in extensions of the ΛCDM model that are aimed at resolving the Hubble Tension (such as varying fundamental constants, contributions from early dark energy, and self-interacting dark radiation). We use Fisher forecasting to predict the expected constraints with and without this delensing procedure. We demonstrate that CMB delensing improves constraints on H 0 by ~ 20% for viable models and significantly improves constraints on parameters across the board in the low-noise regime.
The fine-scale anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation has been studied in cosmological models with a scale-invariant primordial adiabatic density fluctuation spectrum dominated by cold, weakly interacting particles. Normalization of the present fluctuation spectrum to the observed galaxy distribution results in excessive temperature anisotropy when compared to a recent upper limit on 4.5 arcmin unless the density parameter exceeds 0.4. When this result is combined with the requirement that the universe be at least 13 billion years old, it is found that if the cosmological constant is zero, then the density parameter is between roughly 0.4 and 1 and the Hubble constant is between roughly 60 km/s/Mpc and 50 km/s/Mpc.
The theory and numerical analysis of ancient astronomical observations (1374 to 1715) are combined with modern data in a simultaneous solution for: the tidal acceleration of the lunar longitude; the observed apparent acceleration of the earth's rotation; the true nontidal geophysical part of this acceleration; and the rate of change in the gravitational constant. Provided are three independent determinations of a rate of change of G consistent with the Hubble Constant and a near zero nontidal rotational acceleration of the earth. The tidal accelerations are shown to have remained constant during the historical period within uncertainties. Ancient and modern solar system data, and extragalactic observations provided a completely consistent astronomical and cosmological scheme.
A summary is presented of the issues addressed by the papers delivered at this conference. Papers addressing classical cosmological topics, including the distances to nearby objects, the intermediate scale distance determination, the local peculiar velocity, the local Hubble constant and other age parameters, and the density parameter from Virgo infall are reviewed. Papers discussing new cosmological developments, including large-scale inhomogeneities, large-scale deviations from Hubble flow, and the origin of the velocity and density inhomogeneities are briefly summarized. Prospects for the next 10 years are examined.
Pixelated dark energy is a string theory scenario with a quantum mechanically stable cosmological constant. The number of pixels that make up the universe slowly increases, manifesting as a time-dependent source of dark energy. DESI has recently reported evidence for dynamical dark energy that fits within this framework. In light of this, we perform the first cosmological analysis of the pixelated model. We find that the simplest model where the pixel growth rate is constant is able to accommodate the data, providing a marginally better fit than Λ CDM; and we show that models where the pixel growth rate is increasing and of order the Hubble constant today could provide better fits. Our analysis helps to clarify the features of UV constructions of dark energy necessary to accommodate the data.
The effect of He diffusion on the evolution of stars is to speed it up by increasing the mean atomic weight at the center, thereby minimizing the apparent conflict between the great ages of globular clusters and the age of the universe, as arrived at via the Hubble constant. Attention is presently given to the consequences of work on this effect by Noerdlinger and Arrigo (1980) and Stringfellow et al. (1983), implying that Tayler's (1986) estimate for globular clusters of 16 Gyr should be reduced to 13 Gyr.
Early dark energy, as a proposed solution to the Hubble tension, faces an additional “why now” problem. Why should dark energy emerge just prior to recombination, billions of years before the onset of cosmic acceleration? Assisted quintessence explains this connection by positing that multiple scaling fields build up over time to drive the present-day cosmic acceleration. In this framework, early dark energy is inevitable. Yet, we show that scaling also leads to the demise of the scenario: the same feature that solves the coincidence problem then spoils a concordance of the Hubble constant inferred from the cosmic microwave background with that from the local distance ladder. In conclusion, the failure of the model offers a novel lesson on the ability of new physics to resolve the Hubble tension.
The mirror twin Higgs model (MTH) is a solution to the Higgs hierarchy problem that provides well-predicted cosmological signatures with only three extra parameters: the temperature of the twin sector, the abundance of twin baryons, and the vacuum expectation value (VEV) of twin electroweak symmetry breaking. These parameters specify the behavior of twin radiation and the acoustic oscillations of twin baryons, which lead to testable effects on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and large-scale structure (LSS). While collider searches can only probe the twin VEV, through a fit to cosmological data we show that the existing CMB (Planck18 TTTEEE+lowE+lowT+lensing) and LSS (KV450) data already provide useful constraints on the remaining MTH parameters. Additionally, we show that the presence of twin radiation in this model can raise the Hubble constant H$_{0}$ while the scattering twin baryons can reduce the matter fluctuations S$_{8}$, which helps to relax the observed H$_{0}$ and S$_{8}$ tensions simultaneously. This scenario is different from the typical ΛCDM + ΔN$_{eff}$ model, in which extra radiation helps with the Hubble tension but worsens the S$_{8}$ tension. For instance, when including the SH0ES and 2013 Planck SZ data in the fit, we find that a universe with ≳ 20% of the dark matter comprised of twin baryons is preferred over ΛCDM by ~ 4σ. If the twin sector is indeed responsible for resolving the H$_{0}$ and S$_{8}$ tensions, future measurements from the Euclid satellite and CMB Stage 4 experiment will further measure the twin parameters to O(1 - 10%)-level precision. Our study demonstrates how models with hidden naturalness can potentially be probed using precision cosmological data.