It's All ${\tt Ok}$: Curvature in Light of BAO from DESI DR2

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Chen, Shi-Fan, Zaldarriaga, Matias
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Chen, Shi-Fan
Zaldarriaga, Matias
author_facet Chen, Shi-Fan
Zaldarriaga, Matias
contents Recent measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) show hints of tension with data from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) when interpreted within the standard model of cosmology. In this short note we discuss the consequences of one solution to this tension, a small but negative spatial curvature with $R_k = 21 H_0^{-1}$, which DESI measures at $2σ$ when combined with CMB data. We describe the physical role of curvature in cosmological distance measures tied to recombination, i.e. the CMB and BAO, and the relation to neutrino mass constraints which are relaxed to $\sum m_ν< 0.10$ eV at $95\%$ confidence when curvature is allowed to deviate from zero. A robust detection of negative curvature would have significant implications for inflationary models: improved BAO measurements, particularly from future high-redshift spectroscopic surveys, will be able to distinguish curvature from other solutions to the DESI-CMB tension like phantom dark energy at high significance.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_00659
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle It's All ${\tt Ok}$: Curvature in Light of BAO from DESI DR2
Chen, Shi-Fan
Zaldarriaga, Matias
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Recent measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) show hints of tension with data from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) when interpreted within the standard model of cosmology. In this short note we discuss the consequences of one solution to this tension, a small but negative spatial curvature with $R_k = 21 H_0^{-1}$, which DESI measures at $2σ$ when combined with CMB data. We describe the physical role of curvature in cosmological distance measures tied to recombination, i.e. the CMB and BAO, and the relation to neutrino mass constraints which are relaxed to $\sum m_ν< 0.10$ eV at $95\%$ confidence when curvature is allowed to deviate from zero. A robust detection of negative curvature would have significant implications for inflationary models: improved BAO measurements, particularly from future high-redshift spectroscopic surveys, will be able to distinguish curvature from other solutions to the DESI-CMB tension like phantom dark energy at high significance.
title It's All ${\tt Ok}$: Curvature in Light of BAO from DESI DR2
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.00659