English

Constraining Cosmological and Astrophysical Parameters with the Cosmic Star Formation History

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics 2026-04-21 v1 Astrophysics of Galaxies

Abstract

Identifying new observational probes to constrain cosmological parameters has become an important goal in modern cosmology. In this work, we explore the potential of the cosmic star formation rate density (SFRD), compiled over the redshift range z[0,15]z \in [0, 15], as a complementary probe of fundamental parameters, including Ωm\Omega_{\rm m}, H0H_0, and the dark energy equation-of-state parameter, ww. Within the Λ\LambdaCDM framework, SFRD combined with BBN data alone yields H0=65±11H_0 = 65\pm11 km\,s1^{-1}\,Mpc1^{-1}, reflecting significant degeneracies with astrophysical parameters. By jointly analyzing SFRD with recent BAO and Type Ia supernova (SNIa) data, these degeneracies are effectively broken, resulting in much tighter constraints, e.g., \texttt{SFRD + BBN} + \texttt{DESI-DR2} gives H0=68.28±0.18H_0 = 68.28 \pm 0.18 km\,s1^{-1}\,Mpc1^{-1}. We perform a statistical reconstruction of the SFRD as a function of redshift, finding a peak at zpeak=2.6000.087+0.114z_{\rm peak} = 2.600^{+0.114}_{-0.087} within Λ\LambdaCDM. Our results demonstrate that combining SFRD with established cosmological probes not only improves constraints on cosmological parameters but also reduces uncertainties in astrophysical parameters governing star formation. We further extend the analysis to the wwCDM model, highlighting the promise of SFRD as a robust complementary cosmological probe across different dark energy scenarios.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2604.17660,
  title  = {Constraining Cosmological and Astrophysical Parameters with the Cosmic Star Formation History},
  author = {Miguel Moyses and Rafael C. Nunes},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.17660},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

14 pages, 5 figures, 4 tables