No Arabic abstract
The Phenomenologically Emergent Dark Energy model, a dark energy model with the same number of free parameters as the flat $Lambda$CDM, has been proposed as a working example of a minimal model which can avoid the current cosmological tensions. A straightforward question is whether or not the inclusion of massive neutrinos and extra relativistic species may spoil such an appealing phenomenological alternative. We present the bounds on $M_{ u}$ and $N_{rm eff}$ and comment on the long standing $H_0$ and $sigma_8$ tensions within this cosmological framework with a wealth of cosmological observations. Interestingly, we find, at $95%$ confidence level, and with the most complete set of cosmological observations, $M_{ u}sim 0.21^{+0.15}_{-0.14}$ eV and $N_{rm eff}= 3.03pm 0.32$ i.e. an indication for a non-zero neutrino mass with a significance above $2sigma$. The well known Hubble constant tension is considerably easened, with a significance always below the $2sigma$ level.
The late-time modifications of the standard $Lambda$ Cold Dark Matter ($Lambda$CDM) cosmological model can be parameterized by three time-dependent functions describing the expansion history of the Universe and gravitational effects on light and matter in the Large Scale Structure. In this Letter, we present the first joint reconstruction of these three functions performed in a non-parametric way from a combination of recent cosmological observations. The reconstruction is performed with a theory-informed prior, built on the general Horndeski class of scalar-tensor theories. We find that current data can constrain 15 combined modes of these three functions with respect to the prior. Our methodology enables us to identify the phenomenological features that alternative theories would need to have in order to ease some of the tensions between datasets within $Lambda$CDM, and deduce important constraints on broad classes of modified gravity models.
We investigate a generalized form of the phenomenologically emergent dark energy model, known as generalized emergent dark energy (GEDE), introduced by Li and Shafieloo [Astrophys. J. {bf 902}, 58 (2020)] in light of a series of cosmological probes and considering the evolution of the model at the level of linear perturbations. This model introduces a free parameter $Delta$ that can discriminate between the $Lambda$CDM (corresponds to $Delta=0$) or the phenomenologically emergent dark energy (PEDE) (corresponds to $Delta=1$) models, allowing us to determine which model is preferred most by the fit of the observational datasets. We find evidence in favor of the GEDE model for Planck alone and in combination with R19, while the Bayesian model comparison is inconclusive when Supernovae Type Ia or BAO data are included. In particular, we find that $Lambda$CDM model is disfavored at more than $2sigma$ CL for most of the observational datasets considered in this work and PEDE is in agreement with Planck 2018+BAO+R19 combination within $1sigma$ CL.
Since physics of the dark sector components of the Universe is not yet well-understood, the phenomenological studies of non-minimal interaction in the dark sector could possibly pave the way to theoretical and experimental progress in this direction. Therefore, in this work, we intend to explore some features and consequences of a phenomenological interaction in the dark sector. We use the Planck 2018, BAO, JLA, KiDS and HST data to investigate two extensions of the base $Lambda$CDM model, viz., (i) we allow the interaction among vacuum energy and dark matter, namely the I$Lambda$CDM model, wherein the interaction strength is proportional to the vacuum energy density and expansion rate of the Universe, and (ii) the I$Lambda$CDM scenario with free effective neutrino mass and number, namely the $ u$I$Lambda$CDM model. We also present comparative analyses of the interaction models with the companion models, namely, $Lambda$CDM, $ uLambda$CDM, $w$CDM and $ u w$CDM. In both the interaction models, we find non-zero coupling in the dark sector up to 99% CL with energy transfer from dark matter to vacuum energy, and observe a phantom-like behavior of the effective dark energy without actual ``phantom crossing. The well-known tensions on the cosmological parameters $H_0$ and $sigma_8$, prevailing within the $Lambda$CDM cosmology, are relaxed significantly in these models wherein the $ u$I$Lambda$CDM model shows consistency with the standard effective neutrino mass and number. Both the interaction models find a better fit to the combined data compared to the companion models under consideration.
We investigate constraints on some key cosmological parameters by confronting metastable dark energy models with different combinations of the most recent cosmological observations. Along with the standard $Lambda$CDM model, two phenomenological metastable dark energy models are considered: (romannumeral1) DE decays exponentially, (romannumeral2) DE decays into dark matter. We find that: (1) when considering the most recent supernovae and BAO data, and assuming a fiducial $Lambda$CDM model, the inconsistency in the estimated value of the $Omega_{rm{m,0}}h^2$ parameter obtained by either including or excluding Planck CMB data becomes very much substantial and points to a clear tension~citep{sahni2014model,zhao2017dynamical}; (2) although the two metastable dark energy models that we study provide greater flexibility in fitting the data, and they indeed fit the SNe Ia+BAO data substantially better than $Lambda$CDM, they are not able to alleviate this tension significantly when CMB data are included; (3) while local measurements of the Hubble constant are significantly higher relative to the estimated value of $H_0$ in our models (obtained by fitting to SNe Ia and BAO data), the situation seems to be rather complicated with hints of inconsistency among different observational data sets (CMB, SNe Ia+BAO and local $H_0$ measurements). Our results indicate that we might not be able to remove the current tensions among different cosmological observations by considering simple modifications of the standard model or by introducing minimal dark energy models. A complicated form of expansion history, different systematics in different data and/or a non-conventional model of the early Universe might be responsible for these tensions.
Phantom dark energy can produce amplified cosmic acceleration at late times, thus increasing the value of $H_0$ favored by CMB data and releasing the tension with local measurements of $H_0$. We show that the best fit value of $H_0$ in the context of the CMB power spectrum is degenerate with a constant equation of state parameter $w$, in accordance with the approximate effective linear equation $H_0 + 30.93; w - 36.47 = 0$ ($H_0$ in $km ; sec^{-1} ; Mpc^{-1}$). This equation is derived by assuming that both $Omega_{0 rm m}h^2$ and $d_A=int_0^{z_{rec}}frac{dz}{H(z)}$ remain constant (for invariant CMB spectrum) and equal to their best fit Planck/$Lambda$CDM values as $H_0$, $Omega_{0 rm m}$ and $w$ vary. For $w=-1$, this linear degeneracy equation leads to the best fit $H_0=67.4 ; km ; sec^{-1} ; Mpc^{-1}$ as expected. For $w=-1.22$ the corresponding predicted CMB best fit Hubble constant is $H_0=74 ; km ; sec^{-1} ; Mpc^{-1}$ which is identical with the value obtained by local distance ladder measurements while the best fit matter density parameter is predicted to decrease since $Omega_{0 rm m}h^2$ is fixed. We verify the above $H_0-w$ degeneracy equation by fitting a $w$CDM model with fixed values of $w$ to the Planck TT spectrum showing also that the quality of fit ($chi^2$) is similar to that of $Lambda$CDM. However, when including SnIa, BAO or growth data the quality of fit becomes worse than $Lambda$CDM when $w< -1$. Finally, we generalize the $H_0-w(z)$ degeneracy equation for $w(z)=w_0+w_1; z/(1+z)$ and identify analytically the full $w_0-w_1$ parameter region that leads to a best fit $H_0=74; km ; sec^{-1} ; Mpc^{-1}$ in the context of the Planck CMB spectrum. This exploitation of $H_0-w(z)$ degeneracy can lead to immediate identification of all parameter values of a given $w(z)$ parametrization that can potentially resolve the $H_0$ tension.