arXiv subjects

Adam G. Riess

Publications and source records attributed to Adam G. Riess.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

H-band light curves of Milky Way Cepheids via Difference Imaging

We present H-band light curves of Milky Way Classical Cepheids observed as part of the DEHVILS survey with the Wide-Field Infrared Camera on the United Kingdom InfraRed Telescope. Due to the crowded nature of these fields caused by defocusing the Camera, we performed difference-imaging photometry by modifying a pipeline originally developed to analyze images from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. We achieved a photometric precision in line with expectations from photon statistics, reaching 0.01 mag for 8 <= H <= 11 mag. We used the resulting Cepheid light curves to derive corrections to "mean light" for random-phase Hubble Space Telescope observations in F160W. We find good agreement with previous phase corrections based on VI light curves from the literature, with a mean difference of -1 +/- 6 millimag.

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arXiv2021

A sub-2% Distance to M31 from Photometrically Homogeneous Near-Infrared Cepheid Period-Luminosity Relations Measured with the Hubble Space Telescope

We present Period-Luminosity Relations (PLRs) for 55 Cepheids in M31 with periods ranging from 4 to 78 days observed with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) using the same three-band photometric system recently used to calibrate their luminosities. Images were taken with the Wide Field Camera 3 in two optical filters (F555W and F814W) and one near-infrared filter (F160W) using the Drift And SHift (DASH) mode of operation to significantly reduce overheads and observe widely-separated Cepheids in a single orbit. We include additional F160W epochs for each Cepheid from the Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury (PHAT) and use light curves from the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System of the Andromeda galaxy (PAndromeda) project to determine mean magnitudes. Combined with a 1.28$\%$ absolute calibration of Cepheid PLRs in the Large Magellanic Cloud from Riess et al. (2019a) in the same three filters, we find a distance modulus to M31 of $μ_0$ = 24.407 $\pm$ 0.032, corresponding to 761 $\pm$ 11 kpc and 1.49$\%$ uncertainty including all error sources, the most precise determination of its distance to date. We compare our results to past measurements using Cepheids and the Tip of the Red Giant Branch (TRGB). This study also provides the groundwork for turning M31 into a precision anchor galaxy in the cosmic distance ladder to measure the Hubble constant together with efforts to measure a fully geometric distance to M31.

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arXiv2021

The Pantheon+ Analysis: Dependence of Cosmological Constraints on Photometric-Zeropoint Uncertainties of Supernova Surveys

Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) measurements of the Hubble constant, H$_0$, the cosmological mass density, $Ω_M$, and the dark energy equation-of-state parameter, $w$, rely on numerous SNe surveys using distinct photometric systems across three decades of observation. Here, we determine the sensitivities of the upcoming SH0ES+Pantheon+ constraints on H$_0$, $Ω_M$, and $w$ to unknown systematics in the relative photometric zeropoint calibration between the 17 surveys that comprise the Pantheon+ supernovae data set. Varying the zeropoints of these surveys simultaneously with the cosmological parameters, we determine that the SH0ES+Pantheon+ measurement of H$_0$ is robust against inter-survey photometric miscalibration, but that the measurements of $Ω_M$ and $w$ are not. Specifically, we find that miscalibrated inter-survey systematics could represent a source of uncertainty in the measured value of H$_0$ that is no larger than $0.2$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$. This modest increase in H$_0$ uncertainty could not account for the $7$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$ "Hubble Tension" between the SH0ES measurement of H$_0$ and the Planck $Λ$CDM-based inference of H$_0$. However, we find that the SH0ES+Pantheon+ best-fit values of $Ω_M$ and $w$ respectively slip, to first order, by $0.04$ and $-0.17$ per $25$ mmag of inter-survey calibration uncertainty, underscoring the vital role that cross-calibration plays in accurately measuring these parameters. Because the Pantheon+ compendium contains many surveys that share low-$z$ Hubble Flow and Cepheid-paired SNe, the SH0ES+Pantheon+ joint constraint of H$_0$ is robust against inter-survey photometric calibration errors, and such errors do not represent an impediment to jointly using SH0ES+Pantheon+ to measure H$_0$ to 1% accuracy.

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arXiv2021

In the Realm of the Hubble tension $-$ a Review of Solutions

The $Λ$CDM model provides a good fit to a large span of cosmological data but harbors areas of phenomenology. With the improvement of the number and the accuracy of observations, discrepancies among key cosmological parameters of the model have emerged. The most statistically significant tension is the $4-6σ$ disagreement between predictions of the Hubble constant $H_0$ by early time probes with $Λ$CDM model, and a number of late time, model-independent determinations of $H_0$ from local measurements of distances and redshifts. The high precision and consistency of the data at both ends present strong challenges to the possible solution space and demand a hypothesis with enough rigor to explain multiple observations--whether these invoke new physics, unexpected large-scale structures or multiple, unrelated errors. We present a thorough review of the problem, including a discussion of recent Hubble constant estimates and a summary of the proposed theoretical solutions. Some of the models presented are formally successful, improving the fit to the data in light of their additional degrees of freedom, restoring agreement within $1-2σ$ between {\it Planck} 2018, using CMB power spectra data, BAO, Pantheon SN data, and R20, the latest SH0ES Team measurement of the Hubble constant ($H_0 = 73.2 \pm 1.3{\rm\,km\,s^{-1}\,Mpc^{-1}}$ at 68\% confidence level). Reduced tension might not simply come from a change in $H_0$ but also from an increase in its uncertainty due to degeneracy with additional physics, pointing to the need for additional probes. While no specific proposal makes a strong case for being highly likely or far better than all others, solutions involving early or dynamical dark energy, neutrino interactions, interacting cosmologies, primordial magnetic fields, and modified gravity provide the best options until a better alternative comes along.[Abridged]

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arXiv2021

The Cepheid Distance to the Narrow-Line Seyfert 1 Galaxy NGC 4051

We derive a distance of $D = 16.6 \pm 0.3$~Mpc ($μ=31.10\pm0.04$~mag) to the archetypal narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4051 based on Cepheid Period--Luminosity relations and new Hubble Space Telescope multiband imaging. We identify 419 Cepheid candidates and estimate the distance at both optical and near-infrared wavelengths using subsamples of precisely-photometered variables (123 and 47 in the optical and near-infrared subsamples, respectively). We compare our independent photometric procedures and distance-estimation methods to those used by the SH0ES team and find agreement to 0.01~mag. The distance we obtain suggests an Eddington ratio $\dot{m} \approx 0.2$ for NGC 4051, typical of narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies, unlike the seemingly-odd value implied by previous distance estimates. We derive a peculiar velocity of $-490\pm34$~km~s$^{-1}$ for NGC 4051, consistent with the overall motion of the Ursa Major Cluster in which it resides. We also revisit the energetics of the NGC 4051 nucleus, including its outflow and mass accretion rates.

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arXiv2021

On the Color-Metallicity Relation of the Red Clump and the Reddening Toward the Magellanic Clouds

The zero point of the reddening toward the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) has been the subject of some dispute. Its uncertainty propagates as a systematic error for methods which measure the extragalactic distance scale through knowledge of the absolute extinction of LMC stars. In an effort to resolve this issue, we used three different methods to calibrate the most widely-used metric to predict LMC extinction, the intrinsic color of the red clump, $(V-I)_{RC,0}$, for the inner $\sim$3 degrees of that galaxy. The first approach was to empirically calibrate the color zeropoints of the BaSTI isochrones over a wide metallicity range of $Δ\rm{[Fe/H]} \approx 1.10$ using measurements of red clump stars in 47 Tuc, the Solar Neighborhood, and NGC 6791. From these efforts we also measure these properties of the Solar Neighborhood red clump, ($V-I$, $G_{BP}-K_{s}$, $G-K_{s}$, $G_{RP}-K_{s}$, $J-K_{s}$, $H-K_{s}$, $M_{I}$, $M_{Ks}$)$_{RC,0} =$ (1.02, 2.75, 2.18, 1.52, 0.64, 0.15, $-$0.23, $-$1.63). The second and third methods were to compare the observed colors of the red clump to those of Cepheids and RR Lyrae in the LMC. With these three methods, we estimated the intrinsic color of the red clump of the LMC to be $(V-I)_{RC,0,\rm{LMC}} = \{ \approx 0.93,0.91 \pm 0.02,0.89 \pm 0.02\}$ respectively, and similarly using the first and third method we estimated $ (V-I)_{RC,0,\rm{SMC}} = \{\approx 0.85,0.84 \pm 0.02 \}$ respectively for the Small Magellanic Cloud. We estimate the luminosities to be $M_{I,RC,\rm{LMC}}=-0.26$ and $M_{I,RC,\rm{SMC}}=-0.37$. We show that this has important implications for recent calibrations of the tip of the red giant branch in the Magellanic Clouds used to measure $H_0$.

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arXiv2021

The Parallax of Omega Centauri Measured from Gaia EDR3 and a Direct, Geometric Calibration of the Tip of the Red Giant Branch and the Hubble Constant

We use data from the ESA Gaia mission Early Data Release 3 (EDR3) to measure the trigonometric parallax of $ω$ Cen, the first high precision parallax measurement for the most massive globular cluster in the Milky Way. We use a combination of positional and high quality proper motion data from EDR3 to identify over 100,000 cluster members, of which 67,000 are in the magnitude and color range where EDR3 parallaxes are best calibrated. We find the estimated parallax to be robust, demonstrating good control of systematics within the color-magnitude diagram of the cluster. We find a parallax for the cluster of $0.191\pm0.001$ (statistical) $\pm0.004$ (systematic) mas (2.2\% total uncertainty) corresponding to a distance of $5.24\pm0.11$ kpc. The parallax of $ω$ Cen provides a unique opportunity to directly and geometrically calibrate the luminosity of the Tip of the Red Giant Branch (TRGB) because it is the only cluster with sufficient mass to provide enough red giant stars, more than 100 one magnitude below the tip, for a precise, model-free measurement of the tip. Combined with the pre-existing and most widely-used measurements of the tip and foreground Milky Way extinction, we find $M_{I,TRGB}=-3.97\pm0.06$ mag for the $I$-band luminosity of the blue edge. Using the TRGB luminosity calibrated from the Gaia EDR3 parallax of $ω$ Cen to calibrate the luminosity of SNIa results in a value for the Hubble constant of $H_0=72.1\pm2.0$ km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$. We make the data for the stars in $ω$ Cen available electronically and encourage independent analyses of the results presented here.

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arXiv2021

Cosmic Distances Calibrated to 1% Precision with Gaia EDR3 Parallaxes and Hubble Space Telescope Photometry of 75 Milky Way Cepheids Confirm Tension with LambdaCDM

We present an expanded sample of 75 Milky Way Cepheids with Hubble Space Telescope (HST) photometry and Gaia EDR3 parallaxes which we use to recalibrate the extragalactic distance ladder and refine the determination of the Hubble constant. All HST observations were obtained with the same instrument (WFC3) and filters (F555W, F814W, F160W) used for imaging of extragalactic Cepheids in Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) hosts. The HST observations used the WFC3 spatial scanning mode to mitigate saturation and reduce pixel-to-pixel calibration errors, reaching a mean photometric error of 5 millimags per observation. We use new Gaia EDR3 parallaxes, vastly improved since DR2, and the Period-Luminosity (PL) relation of these Cepheids to simultaneously calibrate the extragalactic distance ladder and to refine the determination of the Gaia EDR3 parallax offset. The resulting geometric calibration of Cepheid luminosities has 1.0% precision, better than any alternative geometric anchor. Applied to the calibration of SNe~Ia, it results in a measurement of the Hubble constant of 73.0 +/- 1.4 km/sec/Mpc, in good agreement with conclusions based on earlier Gaia data releases. We also find the slope of the Cepheid PL relation in the Milky Way, and the metallicity dependence of its zeropoint, to be in good agreement with the mean values derived from other galaxies. In combination with the best complementary sources of Cepheid calibration, we reach 1.8% precision and find H_0=73.2 +/- 1.3 km/sec/Mpc, a 4.2 sigma difference with the prediction from Planck CMB observations under LambdaCDM. We expect to reach ~1.3% precision in the near term from an expanded sample of ~40 SNe Ia in Cepheid hosts.

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arXiv2020

Cosmology Intertwined III: $f σ_8$ and $S_8$

The standard $Λ$ Cold Dark Matter cosmological model provides a wonderful fit to current cosmological data, but a few tensions and anomalies became statistically significant with the latest data analyses. While these anomalies could be due to the presence of systematic errors in the experiments, they could also indicate the need for new physics beyond the standard model. In this Letter of Interest we focus on the tension of the Planck data with weak lensing measurements and redshift surveys, about the value of the matter energy density $Ω_m$, and the amplitude or rate of the growth of structure ($σ_8,fσ_8$). We list a few interesting models for solving this tension, and we discuss the importance of trying to fit with a single model a full array of data and not just one parameter at a time.

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arXiv2020

Cosmology Intertwined II: The Hubble Constant Tension

The current cosmological probes have provided a fantastic confirmation of the standard $Λ$ Cold Dark Matter cosmological model, that has been constrained with unprecedented accuracy. However, with the increase of the experimental sensitivity a few statistically significant tensions between different independent cosmological datasets emerged. While these tensions can be in portion the result of systematic errors, the persistence after several years of accurate analysis strongly hints at cracks in the standard cosmological scenario and the need for new physics. In this Letter of Interest we will focus on the $4.4σ$ tension between the Planck estimate of the Hubble constant $H_0$ and the SH0ES collaboration measurements. After showing the $H_0$ evaluations made from different teams using different methods and geometric calibrations, we will list a few interesting new physics models that could solve this tension and discuss how the next decade experiments will be crucial.

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arXiv2020

Cosmology Intertwined I: Perspectives for the Next Decade

The standard $Λ$ Cold Dark Matter cosmological model provides an amazing description of a wide range of astrophysical and astronomical data. However, there are a few big open questions, that make the standard model look like a first-order approximation to a more realistic scenario that still needs to be fully understood. In this Letter of Interest we will list a few important goals that need to be addressed in the next decade, also taking into account the current discordances present between the different cosmological probes, as the Hubble constant $H_0$ value, the $σ_8 - S_8$ tension, and the anomalies present in the Planck results. Finally, we will give an overview of upgraded experiments and next-generation space-missions and facilities on Earth, that will be of crucial importance to address all these questions.

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arXiv2020

Cosmology Intertwined IV: The Age of the Universe and its Curvature

A precise measurement of the curvature of the Universe is of primeval importance for cosmology since it could not only confirm the paradigm of primordial inflation but also help in discriminating between different early Universe scenarios. The recent observations, while broadly consistent with a spatially flat standard $Λ$ Cold Dark Matter ($Λ$CDM) model, are showing tensions that still allow (and, in some cases, even suggest) a few percent deviations from a flat universe. In particular, the Planck Cosmic Microwave Background power spectra, assuming the nominal likelihood, prefer a closed universe at more than 99\% confidence level. While new physics could be in action, this anomaly may be the result of an unresolved systematic error or just a statistical fluctuation. However, since a positive curvature allows a larger age of the Universe, an accurate determination of the age of the oldest objects provides a smoking gun in confirming or falsifying the current flat $Λ$CDM model.

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arXiv2020

The Milky Way Cepheid Leavitt law based on Gaia DR2 parallaxes of companion stars and host open cluster populations

Classical Cepheids provide the foundation for the empirical extragalactic distance ladder. Milky Way Cepheids are the only stars in this class accessible to trigonometric parallax measurements. However, the parallaxes of Cepheids from the second Gaia data release (GDR2) are affected by systematics because of the absence of chromaticity correction, and occasionally by saturation. As a proxy for the parallaxes of 36 Galactic Cepheids, we adopt either the GDR2 parallaxes of their spatially resolved companions or the GDR2 parallax of their host open cluster. This novel approach allows us to bypass the systematics on the GDR2 Cepheids parallaxes that is induced by saturation and variability. We adopt a GDR2 parallax zero-point (ZP) of -0.046 mas with an uncertainty of 0.015 mas that covers most of the recent estimates. We present new Galactic calibrations of the Leavitt law in the V, J, H, K_S , and Wesenheit W_H bands. We compare our results with previous calibrations based on non-Gaia measurements and compute a revised value for the Hubble constant anchored to Milky Way Cepheids. From an initial Hubble constant of 76.18 +/- 2.37 km/s/Mpc based on parallax measurements without Gaia, we derive a revised value by adopting companion and average cluster parallaxes in place of direct Cepheid parallaxes, and we find H_0 = 72.8 +/- 1.9 (statistical + systematics) +/- 1.9 (ZP) km/s/Mpc when all Cepheids are considered and H0 = 73.0 +/- 1.9 (statistical + systematics) +/- 1.9 (ZP) km/s/Mpc for fundamental mode pulsators only.

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arXiv2020

The Cepheid Distance to the Seyfert 1 Galaxy NGC 4151

We derive a distance of $15.8\pm0.4$ Mpc to the archetypical Seyfert 1 galaxy NGC 4151 based on the near-infrared Cepheid Period-Luminosity relation and new Hubble Space Telescope multiband imaging. This distance determination, based on measurements of 35 long-period ($P > 25$d) Cepheids, will support the absolute calibration of the supermassive black hole mass in this system, as well as studies of the dynamics of the feedback or feeding of its active galactic nucleus.

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arXiv2020

The Accuracy of the Hubble Constant Measurement Verified through Cepheid Amplitudes

The accuracy of the Hubble constant measured with extragalactic Cepheids depends on robust photometry and background estimation in the presence of stellar crowding. The conventional approach accounts for crowding by sampling backgrounds near Cepheids and assuming they match those at their positions. We show a direct consequence of crowding by unresolved sources at Cepheid sites is a reduction in the fractional amplitudes of their light curves. We use a simple analytical expression to infer crowding directly from the light curve amplitudes of >200 Cepheids in 3 SNe~Ia hosts and NGC 4258 as observed by HST -- the first near-infrared amplitudes measured beyond the Magellanic Clouds. Where local crowding is minimal, we find near-infrared amplitudes match Milky Way Cepheids at the same periods. At greater stellar densities we find that the empirically measured amplitudes match the values predicted (with no free parameters) from crowding assessed in the conventional way from local regions, confirming their accuracy for estimating the background at the Cepheid locations. Extragalactic Cepheid amplitudes would need to be ~20% smaller than measured to indicate additional, unrecognized crowding as a primary source of the present discrepancy in H_0. Rather we find the amplitude data constrains a systematic mis-estimate of Cepheid backgrounds to be 0.029 +/- 0.037 mag, more than 5x smaller than the size of the present ~0.2 mag tension in H_0. We conclude that systematic errors in Cepheid backgrounds do not provide a plausible resolution to the Hubble tension.

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arXiv2020

The Expansion of the Universe is Faster than Expected

The present rate of the expansion of our Universe, the Hubble constant, can be predicted from the cosmological model using measurements of the early Universe, or more directly measured from the late Universe. But as these measurements improved, a surprising disagreement between the two appeared. In 2019, a number of independent measurements of the late Universe using different methods and data provided consistent results making the discrepancy with the early Universe predictions increasingly hard to ignore. We review key advances realized by 2019: -- The local or late Universe measurement of the Hubble constant improved from 10% uncertainty twenty years ago to under 2% by the end of 2019. -- In 2019, multiple independent teams presented measurements with different methods and different calibrations to produce consistent results. -- These late Universe estimations disagree at 4$σ$ to 6$σ$ with predictions made from the Cosmic Microwave Background in conjunction with the standard cosmological model, a disagreement that is hard to explain or ignore.

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arXiv2019

Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Mira Variables in the Type Ia Supernova Host NGC 1559: An Alternative Candle to Measure the Hubble Constant

We present year-long, near-infrared Hubble Space Telescope WFC3 observations used to search for Mira variables in NGC 1559, the host galaxy of the Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) 2005df. This is the first dedicated search for Miras, highly-evolved low-mass stars, in a SN Ia host and subsequently the first calibration of the SN Ia luminosity using Miras in a role historically played by Cepheids. We identify a sample of 115 O-rich Miras with P < 400 days based on their light curve properties. We find that the scatter in the Mira Period-Luminosity Relation (PLR) is comparable to Cepheid PLRs seen in SN Ia supernova host galaxies. Using a sample of O-rich Miras discovered in NGC 4258 with HST F160W and its maser distance, we measure a distance modulus for NGC 1559 of mu1559 = 31.41 +/- 0.050 (statistical) +/- 0.060 (systematic) mag. Based on the light curve of the normal, well-observed, low-reddening SN 2005df, we obtain a measurement of the fiducial SN Ia absolute magnitude of MB0 = -19.27 +/- 0.13 mag. With the Hubble diagram of SNe Ia we find H0 = 72.7 +/- 4.6 kms-1 Mpc-1. Combining the calibration from the NGC 4258 megamaser and the Large Magellanic Cloud detached eclipsing binaries gives a best value of H0 = 73.3 +/- 4.0 km s-1 Mpc-1. This result is within 1-sigma of the Hubble constant derived using Cepheids and multiple calibrating SNe Ia. This is the first of four expected calibrations of the SN Ia luminosity from Miras which should reduce the error in H0 via Miras to ~3%. In light of the present Hubble tension and JWST, Miras have utility in the extragalactic distance scale to check Cepheid distances or calibrate nearby SNe in early-type host galaxies that would be unlikely targets for Cepheid searches.

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arXiv2019

Consistent Calibration of the Tip of the Red Giant Branch in the Large Magellanic Cloud on the Hubble Space Telescope Photometric System and a Re-determination of the Hubble Constant

We present a calibration of the Tip of the Red Giant Branch (TRGB) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) on the HST/ACS F814W system. We use archival HST observations to derive blending corrections and photometric transformations for two ground-based wide-area imaging surveys of the Magellanic Clouds. We show that these surveys are biased bright by up to ~0.1 mag in the optical due to blending, and that the bias is a function of local stellar density. We correct the LMC TRGB magnitudes from Jang & Lee (2017) and use the geometric distance from Pietrzynski et al. (2019) to obtain an absolute TRGB magnitude of M_F814W=-3.97+/-0.046 mag. Applying this calibration to the TRGB magnitudes from Freedman et al. (2019) in SN Ia hosts yields a value for the Hubble constant of H_0=72.4+/-2.0 km/s/Mpc for their TRGB+SNe Ia distance ladder. The difference in the TRGB calibration and the value of H_0 derived here and by Freedman et al. (2019) primarily results from their overestimate of the LMC extinction, caused by inconsistencies in their different sources of TRGB photometry for the Magellanic Clouds. Using the same source of photometry (OGLE) for both Clouds and applying the aforementioned corrections yields a value for the LMC I-band TRGB extinction that is lower by 0.06 mag, consistent with independent OGLE reddening maps used by us and by Jang & Lee (2017) to calibrate TRGB and determine H_0.

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