No Arabic abstract
We present a measurement of the Hubble constant $H_0$ from surface brightness fluctuation (SBF) distances for 63 bright, mainly early-type galaxies out to 100 Mpc observed with the Wide Field Camera 3 Infrared Channel (WFC3/IR) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The sample is drawn from several independent HST imaging programs using the F110W bandpass of WFC3/IR. The majority of galaxies are in the 50 to 80 Mpc range and come from the MASSIVE galaxy survey. The median statistical uncertainty on individual distance measurements is 4%. We construct the Hubble diagram with these IR SBF distances and constrain $H_0$ using {four} different treatments of the galaxy velocities. For the SBF zero point calibration, we use both the existing tie to Cepheid variables, updated for consistency with the latest determination of the distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud from detached eclipsing binaries, and a new tie to the tip of the red giant branch (TRGB) calibrated from the maser distance to NGC4258. These two SBF calibrations are consistent with each other and with theoretical predictions from stellar population models. From a weighted average of the Cepheid and TRGB calibrations, we derive $H_0=73.3{,pm,}0.7{,pm,}2.4$ km/s/Mpc, where the error bars reflect the statistical and systematic uncertainties. This result accords well with recent measurements of $H_0$ from Type~Ia supernovae, time delays in multiply lensed quasars, and water masers. The systematic uncertainty could be reduced to below 2% by calibrating the SBF method with precision TRGB distances for a statistical sample of massive early-type galaxies out to the Virgo cluster measured with the James Webb Space Telescope.
We measured infrared surface brightness fluctuation (SBF) distances to an isotropically-distributed sample of 16 distant galaxies with redshifts reaching 10,000 km/s using the near-IR camera and multi-object spectrometer (NICMOS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The excellent spatial resolution, very low background, and brightness of the IR fluctuations yielded the most distant SBF measurements to date. Twelve nearby galaxies were also observed and used to calibrate the F160W (1.6 micron) SBF distance scale. Of these, three have Cepheid variable star distances measured with HST and eleven have optical I-band SBF distance measurements. A distance modulus of 18.5 mag to the Large Magellanic Cloud was adopted for this calibration. We present the F160W SBF Hubble diagram and find a Hubble constant Ho=76 +/- 1.3 (1-sigma statistical) +/- 6 (systematic) km/s/Mpc. This result is insensitive to the velocity model used to correct for local bulk motions. Restricting the fit to the six most distant galaxies yields the smallest value of Ho=72 +/- 2.3 km/s/Mpc consistent with the data. This 6% decrease in the Hubble constant is consistent with the hypothesis that the Local Group inhabits an under-dense region of the universe, but is also consistent with the best-fit value of Ho=76 km/s/Mpc at the 1.5-sigma level.
We measured high-quality surface brightness fluctuation (SBF) distances for a sample of 63 massive early-type galaxies using the WFC3/IR camera on the Hubble Space Telescope. The median uncertainty on the SBF distance measurements is 0.085 mag, or 3.9% in distance. Achieving this precision at distances of 50 to 100 Mpc required significant improvements to the SBF calibration and data analysis procedures for WFC3/IR data. Forty-two of the galaxies are from the MASSIVE Galaxy Survey, a complete sample of massive galaxies within ~100 Mpc; the SBF distances for these will be used to improve the estimates of the stellar and central supermassive black hole masses in these galaxies. Twenty-four of the galaxies are Type Ia supernova hosts, useful for calibrating SN Ia distances for early-type galaxies and exploring possible systematic trends in the peak luminosities. Our results demonstrate that the SBF method is a powerful and versatile technique for measuring distances to galaxies with evolved stellar populations out to 100 Mpc and constraining the local value of the Hubble constant.
We present new calibrations of the near-infrared surface brightness fluctuation (SBF) distance method for the F110W (J) and F160W (H) bandpasses of the Wide Field Camera 3 Infrared Channel (WFC3/IR) on the Hubble Space Telescope. The calibrations are based on data for 16 early-type galaxies in the Virgo and Fornax clusters observed with WFC3/IR and are provided as functions of both the optical (g-z) and near-infrared (J-H) colors. The scatter about the linear calibration relations for the luminous red galaxies in the sample is approximately 0.10 mag, corresponding to a statistical error of 5% in distance. Our results imply that the distance to any suitably bright elliptical galaxy can be measured with this precision out to about 80 Mpc in a single-orbit observation with WFC3/IR, making this a remarkably powerful instrument for extragalactic distances. The calibration sample also includes much bluer and lower-luminosity galaxies than previously used for IR SBF studies, revealing interesting population differences that cause the calibration scatter to increase for dwarf galaxies.
Holographic dark energy (HDE) describes the vacuum energy in a cosmic IR region whose total energy saturates the limit of avoiding the collapse into a black hole. HDE predicts that the dark energy equation of the state transiting from greater than the $-1$ regime to less than $-1$, accelerating the Universe slower at the early stage and faster at the late stage. We propose the HDE as a new {it physical} resolution to the Hubble constant discrepancy between the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and local measurements. With Planck CMB and galaxy baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) data, we fit the HDE prediction of the Hubble constant as $H_0^{}!=, 71.54pm1.78,mathrm{km,s^{-1} Mpc^{-1}}$, consistent with local $H_0^{}$ measurements by LMC Cepheid Standards (R19) at $1.4sigma$ level. Combining Planck+BAO+R19, we find the HDE parameter $c=0.51pm0.02$ and $H_0^{}! = 73.12pm 1.14,mathrm{km ,s^{-1} Mpc^{-1}}$, which fits cosmological data at all redshifts. Future CMB and large-scale structure surveys will further test the holographic scenario.
Bayesian statistical calculations and linear-bisector calculations for obtaining Cepheid distances and radii by the infrared surface brightness method have been compared for a set of 38 Cepheids. The distances obtained by the two techniques agree to 1.5%+/-0.6% and the radii agree to 1.1%+/-0.7%. Thus the two methods yield the same distances and radii at the 2 sigma level. This implies that the short distance to the LMC found in recent linearbisector studies of Cepheids is not a result of simplifications in the mathematical approach. The computed uncertainties in distance and radius are larger in the Bayesian calculation typically by a factor of three.