Relieving the Hubble tension with primordial magnetic fields
Abstract
The standard cosmological model determined from the accurate cosmic microwave background measurements made by the Planck satellite implies a value of the Hubble constant that is standard deviations lower than the one determined from Type Ia supernovae. The Planck best fit model also predicts higher values of the matter density fraction and clustering amplitude compared to those obtained from the Dark Energy Survey Year 1 data. Here we show that accounting for the enhanced recombination rate due to additional small-scale inhomogeneities in the baryon density may solve both the and the tensions. The additional baryon inhomogeneities can be induced by primordial magnetic fields present in the plasma prior to recombination. The required field strength to solve the Hubble tension is just what is needed to explain the existence of galactic, cluster, and extragalactic magnetic fields without relying on dynamo amplification. Our results show clear evidence for this effect and motivate further detailed studies of primordial magnetic fields, setting several well-defined targets for future observations.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2004.09487,
title = {Relieving the Hubble tension with primordial magnetic fields},
author = {Karsten Jedamzik and Levon Pogosian},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2004.09487},
year = {2020}
}
Comments
8 pages (including supplemental material in the appendix), 3 figures, 2 tables; v2: minor corrections and references added; v3: minor updates and improvements in the main text, additional datasets considered and discussion expanded in the supplemental section, matches the version accepted to Phys Rev Lett