English

How robust are the parameter constraints extending the $\Lambda$CDM model?

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics 2025-01-29 v2

Abstract

We present model-marginalized limits on the six standard Λ\LambdaCDM cosmological parameters (Ωch2\Omega_{\rm c} h^2, Ωbh2\Omega_{\rm b} h^2, θMC\theta_{\rm MC}, τreio\tau_{\rm reio}, nsn_s and AsA_s), as well as on selected derived quantities (H0H_0, Ωm\Omega_{\rm m}, σ8\sigma_8, S8S_8 and rdragr_{\rm drag}), obtained by considering several extensions of the Λ\LambdaCDM model and three independent Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiments: the Planck satellite, the Atacama Cosmology Telescope, and South Pole Telescope. We also consider low redshift observations in the form of Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) data from the SDSS-IV eBOSS survey and Supernovae (SN) distance moduli measurements from the \textit{Pantheon-Plus} catalog. The marginalized errors are stable against the different minimal extensions of the Λ\LambdaCDM model explored in this study. The largest impact on the parameter accuracy is produced by varying the effective number of relativistic degrees of freedom (NeffN_{\rm eff}) or the lensing amplitude (AlensA_{\rm lens}). Nevertheless, the marginalized errors on some \textit{derived} parameters such as H0H_0 or Ωm\Omega_{\rm m} can be up to two orders of magnitude larger than in the canonical Λ\LambdaCDM scenario when considering only CMB data. In these cases, low redshift measurements are crucial for restoring the stability of the marginalized cosmological errors computed here. Overall, our results underscore remarkable stability in the mean values and precision of the main cosmological parameters once both high and low redshift probes are fully accounted for. The marginalized values can be used in numerical analyses due to their robustness and slightly larger errors, providing a more realistic and conservative approach.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2404.11182,
  title  = {How robust are the parameter constraints extending the $\Lambda$CDM model?},
  author = {Stefano Gariazzo and William Giarè and Olga Mena and Eleonora Di Valentino},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2404.11182},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

24 pages, 11 figures, 11 tables. Version accepted for publication in PRD

R2 v1 2026-06-28T15:56:55.325Z