Evidence for evolving Dark Energy from a new cosmic probe

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Main Authors: Dutra, Isaque, Burke, Colin J., Natarajan, Priyamvada, Yu, Weixiang
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Dutra, Isaque
Burke, Colin J.
Natarajan, Priyamvada
Yu, Weixiang
author_facet Dutra, Isaque
Burke, Colin J.
Natarajan, Priyamvada
Yu, Weixiang
contents The $Λ$CDM concordance cosmological model provides a remarkably successful description of the formation and evolution of structure in the Universe. However, a growing discrepancy between measurements of the expansion rate $H_0$ from the near and distant Universe now appears to be significant at the ~4-7 $σ$ level. This inconsistency, known as the ``Hubble tension'', has arisen either due to unrecognized systematics in these measurements or new physics beyond the standard model, such as an evolving dark energy equation of state. Modeling ~20-year, multi-band optical light curves for 6992 active galactic nuclei (AGN), we find a tight relation linking the variability amplitude and characteristic timescale to their intrinsic luminosity. This empirical law enables us to construct an AGN-based Hubble diagram to z ~3.5. Joint inference with supernova distances reveals evidence for an evolving dark energy equation of state at the 3.8-3.9 $σ$ level over constant w models and 4.4-4.8 $σ$ over $Λ$CDM. Our results establish AGN light curves as a powerful tool for cosmography that could offer a novel pathway to test deviations from the standard $Λ$CDM expansion history.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_07931
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Evidence for evolving Dark Energy from a new cosmic probe
Dutra, Isaque
Burke, Colin J.
Natarajan, Priyamvada
Yu, Weixiang
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
The $Λ$CDM concordance cosmological model provides a remarkably successful description of the formation and evolution of structure in the Universe. However, a growing discrepancy between measurements of the expansion rate $H_0$ from the near and distant Universe now appears to be significant at the ~4-7 $σ$ level. This inconsistency, known as the ``Hubble tension'', has arisen either due to unrecognized systematics in these measurements or new physics beyond the standard model, such as an evolving dark energy equation of state. Modeling ~20-year, multi-band optical light curves for 6992 active galactic nuclei (AGN), we find a tight relation linking the variability amplitude and characteristic timescale to their intrinsic luminosity. This empirical law enables us to construct an AGN-based Hubble diagram to z ~3.5. Joint inference with supernova distances reveals evidence for an evolving dark energy equation of state at the 3.8-3.9 $σ$ level over constant w models and 4.4-4.8 $σ$ over $Λ$CDM. Our results establish AGN light curves as a powerful tool for cosmography that could offer a novel pathway to test deviations from the standard $Λ$CDM expansion history.
title Evidence for evolving Dark Energy from a new cosmic probe
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.07931