Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wojtak, Radosław, Hjorth, Jens
Format: Preprint
Published: 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2206.08160
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1866910565183520768
author Wojtak, Radosław
Hjorth, Jens
author_facet Wojtak, Radosław
Hjorth, Jens
contents We reanalyse observations of type Ia supernovae (SNe) and Cepheids used in the local determination of the Hubble constant and find strong evidence that SN standardisation in the calibration sample (galaxies with observed Cepheids) require a steeper slope of the colour correction than in the cosmological sample (galaxies in the Hubble flow). The colour correction in the calibration sample is consistent with being entirely due to an extinction correction due to dust with properties similar to that of the Milky Way (R_B~4.6+/-0.4) and there is no evidence for intrinsic scatter in the SN peak magnitudes. An immediate consequence of this finding is that the local measurement of the Hubble constant becomes dependent on the choice of SN reference colour, i.e., the colour of an unreddened SN. Specifically, the Hubble constant inferred from the same observations decreases gradually with the reference colour assumed in the SN standardisation. We recover the Hubble constant measured by SH0ES for the standard choice of reference colour (SALT2 colour parameter c=0) while for a reference colour which coincides with the blue end of the observed SN colour distribution (c~-0.13), the Hubble constant from Planck observations of the CMB (assuming a flat LCDM cosmological model) is recovered. These results are intriguing in that they may provide an avenue for resolving the Hubble tension. However, since there is no obvious physical basis for the differences in colour corrections in the two SN samples, the origin of these require further investigations.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2206_08160
institution arXiv
publishDate 2022
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Intrinsic tension in the supernova sector of the local Hubble constant measurement and its implications
Wojtak, Radosław
Hjorth, Jens
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
We reanalyse observations of type Ia supernovae (SNe) and Cepheids used in the local determination of the Hubble constant and find strong evidence that SN standardisation in the calibration sample (galaxies with observed Cepheids) require a steeper slope of the colour correction than in the cosmological sample (galaxies in the Hubble flow). The colour correction in the calibration sample is consistent with being entirely due to an extinction correction due to dust with properties similar to that of the Milky Way (R_B~4.6+/-0.4) and there is no evidence for intrinsic scatter in the SN peak magnitudes. An immediate consequence of this finding is that the local measurement of the Hubble constant becomes dependent on the choice of SN reference colour, i.e., the colour of an unreddened SN. Specifically, the Hubble constant inferred from the same observations decreases gradually with the reference colour assumed in the SN standardisation. We recover the Hubble constant measured by SH0ES for the standard choice of reference colour (SALT2 colour parameter c=0) while for a reference colour which coincides with the blue end of the observed SN colour distribution (c~-0.13), the Hubble constant from Planck observations of the CMB (assuming a flat LCDM cosmological model) is recovered. These results are intriguing in that they may provide an avenue for resolving the Hubble tension. However, since there is no obvious physical basis for the differences in colour corrections in the two SN samples, the origin of these require further investigations.
title Intrinsic tension in the supernova sector of the local Hubble constant measurement and its implications
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2206.08160