arXiv subjects

Fabio Finelli

Publications and source records attributed to Fabio Finelli.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

The $H_0$ World Cup. I. Summary of the baseline group stage results

The Hubble tension has reached a nominal significance above $7\sigma$, while new high-precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) sharpen the test of proposed solutions. Using a common framework, we compare fourteen representative alternatives to the standard $\Lambda$ Cold Dark Matter ($\Lambda$CDM) model in light of up-to-date CMB, BAO and supernovae data to gauge their ability to resolve the tension. The models span late-time modifications, modified recombination, and exotic pre-recombination expansion histories driven by additional radiation or a localized dark energy injection. We evaluate each proposal with complementary frequentist and Bayesian measures of the residual calibration tension and of the improvement in the joint fit. Both approaches identify the same broad hierarchy. Early dark energy and early modified gravity models perform best, shifting the $H_0$ inference without local measurement priors toward $70\,\mathrm{km\,s^{-1}\,Mpc^{-1}}$ and reducing the residual discrepancy with SH0ES to approximately $2.5-3.6\sigma$, depending on the model and statistic, while receiving strong support over $\Lambda$CDM in the combined fit. Varying the electron mass at recombination yields an intermediate improvement, whereas the enhanced-radiation and late-time scenarios do not improve over $\Lambda$CDM. This Letter summarizes the group stage of the competition; in a companion paper (Paper II) we present the results of an exhaustive set of analyses and assess their robustness to variations in modeling assumptions and datasets.

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arXiv2026

The $H_0$ world cup. II. A comprehensive competition between proposed Hubble tension solutions

Cosmology stands at a crossroads. The Hubble tension has reached a nominal significance above $7\sigma$, while analyses combining DESI BAO and Type Ia supernova data show emerging hints of departures from $\Lambda$CDM. Meanwhile, high-precision CMB measurements from ACT and SPT enable a timely and more stringent reassessment of proposed solutions to the tension. In this paper, we revisit the $H_0$ Olympics, a systematic contest comparing proposed alternatives to $\Lambda$CDM using common datasets, likelihoods, and statistical criteria. In this updated edition, the $H_0$ World Cup, we subject fourteen representative solutions to a common analysis of current CMB, BAO, and SN data. The contenders span four broad mechanisms: late-time modifications of the expansion history, modified recombination, additional pre-recombination radiation, and early non-radiative energy injection. Relative to the original analysis, the present competition includes models and mechanisms proposed in the intervening years and evaluates all contenders using both Bayesian and Frequentist tests of tension and model performance, letting the neutrino mass sum vary. We further test if late-time extensions through curvature or the Chevallier-Polarski-Linder (CPL) dark energy parametrization can aid the success of the models. Finally, we subject the leading contenders to dedicated robustness tests involving alternative CMB likelihoods and multipole cuts, supernova samples, large-scale-structure information, and big-bang nucleosynthesis constraints. This framework assesses both the ability of each mechanism to ease the Hubble tension and the robustness of our conclusions to datasets and analysis choices.

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arXiv2025

Scalar-Tensor Gravity and DESI 2024 BAO data

We discuss the implications of the DESI 2024 BAO data on scalar-tensor models of gravity. We consider four representative models: induced gravity (IG, equivalent to Jordan-Brans-Dicke), where we either fix today's value of the effective gravitational constant on cosmological scales to the Newton's constant or allow them to differ, Jordan-Brans-Dicke supplemented with a Galileon term (BDG), and early modified gravity (EMG) with a conformal coupling. In this way it is possible to investigate how different modified gravity models compare with each other when confronted with DESI 2024 BAO data. Compared to previous analyses, for all of these models, the combination of Planck and DESI data favors a larger value of the key parameter of the theory, such as the nonminimal coupling to gravity or the Galileon term, leading also to a larger value of $H_0$, due to the known degeneracy between these parameters. These new results are mainly driven by the first two redshift bins of DESI. In BDG, in which we find the largest value for $H_0$ among the models considered, the combination of Planck and DESI is consistent with CCHP results and reduces the $H_0$ tension with the SH0ES measurement to $1.2\sigma$ (compared to $4.5\sigma$ of $\Lambda$CDM in our Planck + DESI analysis).

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arXiv2024

The asymmetry of dawn: evidence for asymmetric reionization histories from a joint analysis of cosmic microwave background and astrophysical data

We show that by jointly fitting cosmic microwave background (CMB) and astrophysical data - a compilation of UV luminosity data from the Hubble Frontier Field and neutral hydrogen data from distant sources-, we can infer on the shape of the evolution of the ionized hydrogen fraction with redshift in addition to constraining the average optical depth $\tau$.For this purpose, we introduce here a novel extended model that includes hydrogen ionization histories which are monotonic with redshift, but allow for an asymmetry as indicated from our previous works on a free reconstruction of reionization. By using our baseline data combination, we obtain $\tau=0.0542^{+0.0017}_{-0.0028}$, consistent with our previous works and tighter than the one inferred by Planck 2018 data because of the combination of CMB with astrophysical data. We find that the symmetric hypothesis within our parametrization is disfavoured at 4 $\sigma$.We test our findings by using alternative likelihoods for CMB polarization at low multipoles, i.e. based on the 2020 reprocessing of Planck HFI data or on the joint analysis of WMAP and Planck LFI data, obtaining consistent results that disfavour the symmetric hypothesis of the reionization history at high statistical significant level.These results will be further tested by more precise astrophysical data such as from JWST and Euclid deep fields.

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arXiv2024

A search for super-imposed oscillations to the primordial power spectrum in Planck and SPT-3G 2018 data

We search for super-imposed oscillations linearly or logarithmically spaced in Fourier wavenumbers $k$ in Planck and South Pole Telescope (SPT-3G) 2018 temperature and polarization data. The SPT-3G temperature and polarization data provide a new window to test these oscillations at high multipoles beyond the Planck angular resolution and sensitivity. We consider linear and logarithmic oscillations with a constant amplitude, or with a power-law dependence or a Gaussian modulation, always in $k$. These models correspond to three, four and five additional parameters beyond power-law primordial power spectrum for the templates considered, respectively. We find that each of the five models considered can provide an improved fit to Planck data, consistently with previous findings, and to SPT-3G data, always compared to power-law power spectrum. We find tighter constraints on the amplitude of the super-imposed oscillations from the combined Planck/SPT-3G data set than in each individual data sets. For linear oscillations, with the amplitude allowed to vary as a power-law in $k$, as in the case of EFT, we find that the addition of SPT-3G data sets tighter constraints on the possibility that the amplitude increase at small scales. When the ranges of parameters which provide a better fit to Planck and SPT-3G data overlap, as in the case of Gaussian modulated oscillations, we find a larger $\Delta \chi^2 \sim - 17.5 \, (-14.7)$ for logarithmic (linear) oscillations - in a combined Planck/SPT-3G data set than in each individual data sets. These findings will be further tested with upcoming CMB temperature and polarization measurements at high multipoles provided by ongoing ground experiments.

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arXiv2023

Quest for CMB spectral distortions to probe the scalar-induced gravitational wave background interpretation of pulsar timing array data

Gravitational Waves (GW) sourced by second-order primordial curvature fluctuations are among the favored models fitting the recent pulsar timing array (PTA) measurement of a stochastic GW background (SGWB). We study how spectral distortions (SDs) and anisotropies of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) can constrain such scalar fluctuations. Whereas COBE FIRAS data have no sufficient sensitivity to probe the PTA log-normal hypothesis, we show how future PIXIE-like experiments can detect the CMB SDs from the scalar-induced interpretation of the SGWB in PTA data. We finally show how the transformative synergy between PTA data and future CMB SD measurements is important for reconstructing primordial fluctuations at these small scales.

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arXiv2023

Probing Early Modification of Gravity with Planck, ACT and SPT

We consider a model of early modified gravity (EMG) that was recently proposed as a candidate to resolve the Hubble tension. The model consists in a scalar field $\sigma$ with a non-minimal coupling (NMC) to the Ricci curvature of the form $F(\sigma) = M_{\mathrm{pl}}^2+\xi\sigma^2$ and an effective mass induced by a quartic potential $V(\sigma) = \lambda \sigma^4/4$. We present the first analyses of the EMG model in light of the latest ACT DR4 and SPT-3G data in combination with full Planck data, and find a $\gtrsim 2\sigma$ preference for a non-zero EMG contribution from a combination of primary CMB data alone, mostly driven by ACT DR4 data. This is different from popular 'Early Dark Energy' models, which are detected only when the high-$\ell$ information from Planck temperature is removed. We find that the NMC plays a key role in controlling the evolution of density perturbations that is favored by the data over the minimally coupled case. Including measurements of supernovae luminosity distance from Pantheon+, baryonic acoustic oscillations and growth factor from BOSS, and CMB lensing of Planck leaves the preference unaffected. In the EMG model, the tension with S$H_0$ES is alleviated from $\sim 6\sigma$ to $\sim 3\sigma$. Further adding S$H_0$ES data rise the detection of the EMG model above $5\sigma$.

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arXiv2023

Redshift evolution of cosmic birefringence in CMB anisotropies

We study the imprints of a cosmological redshift-dependent pseudoscalar field $\phi$ on the rotation of cosmic microwave background (CMB) linear polarization generated by a coupling $ \phi F^{\mu\nu} \tilde F_{\mu \nu}$. We show how either phenomenological or theoretically motivated redshift dependence of the pseudoscalar field, such as those in models of Early Dark Energy, Quintessence or axion-like dark matter, lead to CMB polarization and temperature-polarization power spectra which exhibit a multipole dependence which goes beyond the widely adopted approximation in which the redshift dependence of the linear polarization angle is neglected. Because of this multipole dependence, the isotropic birefringence effect due to a general coupling $\phi F^{\mu\nu} \tilde F_{\mu \nu}$ is not degenerate with a systematic calibration angle uncertainty. By taking this multipole dependence into account, we calculate the parameters of these phenomenological and theoretical redshift dependence of the pseudoscalar field which can be detected by future CMB polarization experiments on the basis of a $\chi^2$ analysis for a Wishart likelihood. As a final example of our approach, we compute by Markov Chain MonteCarlo (MCMC) the minimal coupling $g_\phi$ in Early Dark Energy which could be detected by future experiments, with or without marginalizing on a systematic rotation angle uncertainty.

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arXiv2022

Hybrid $\alpha$-attractors, primordial black holes and gravitational wave backgrounds

We investigate the two-stage inflation regime in the theory of hybrid cosmological $\alpha$-attractors. The spectrum of inflationary perturbations is compatible with the latest Planck/BICEP/Keck results, thanks to the attractor properties of the model. However, at smaller scales, it may have a very high peak of controllable width and position, leading to a copious production of primordial black holes (PBH) and generation of a stochastic background of gravitational waves (SGWB).

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arXiv2022

Planck and BICEP/Keck Array 2018 constraints on primordial gravitational waves and perspectives for future B-mode polarization measurements

Current and future B-mode polarization data are the most powerful observables to constrain gravitational waves from the early Universe. We set conservative constraints on tensor modes when relaxing the inflationary consistency condition $n_t=-r/8$ between the tensor tilt $n_t$ and the tensor-to-scalar ratio r. By adding a power-law spectrum of tensor perturbations to $\Lambda$CDM, and parameterizing this tensor contribution by two independent primordial tensor-to-scalar ratios $(r_1,r_2)$ at $k_1 = 0.005$ Mpc$^{-1}$ and $k_2 = 0.02$ Mpc$^{-1}$, Planck and BICEP/Keck Array 2018 data (BK18) lead to constraints $r_{0.005} < 0.030$ and $r_{0.02} < 0.098$ at 95% CL. The corresponding upper bound $r_{0.01} < 0.039$ is by a factor of 2 tighter than the one obtained with Planck 2018 and the older BK15 data. We then study the perspectives for future CMB experiments that will measure both the reionization bump and recombination peak of the B-mode polarization angular power spectrum, such as LiteBIRD. We test the robustness of the results to the choice of the scales for $(r_1,r_2)$ in these future perspectives. Whereas distinguishing $n_t=-r/8$ from exact scale invariance is impossible as expected, we show how radical, theoretically motivated departures from $n_t=-r/8$, which are consistent with the current data, could be distinguished with LiteBIRD. Moreover, LiteBIRD will be able to shrink the allowed parameter space area in the $(r_{0.005},r_{0.02})$ plane to less than one hundredth of the currently allowed area by Planck 2018 and BK18.

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arXiv2022

On the primordial origin of the smoothing excess in the $Planck$ temperature power spectrum in light of LSS data

The {\em Planck} DR3 measurements of the temperature and polarization anisotropies power spectra of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) show an excess of smoothing of the acoustic peaks with respect to $\Lambda$CDM, often quantified by a phenomenological parameter $A_{\rm L}$. A specific feature superimposed to the primordial power spectrum has been suggested as a physical solution for this smoothing excess. Here, we investigate the impact of this specific localized oscillation with a frequency linear in the wavenumber, designed to mimic the smoothing of CMB temperature spectrum corresponding to $A_{\rm L} \simeq 1.1-1.2$ on the matter power spectrum. We verify the goodness of the predictions in perturbation theory at next-to-leading order with a set of N-body simulations, a necessary step to study the non-linear damping of these primordial oscillations. We show that for a large portion of the parameter space, the amplitude of this primordial oscillation can be strongly damped on the observed nonlinear matter power spectrum at $z=0$, but a larger signal is still persistent at $z \lesssim 2$ and is therefore a target for future galaxy surveys at high redshifts. From an analysis of the BOSS DR12 two-point correlation function, we find ${\cal A}_{\rm lin} < 0.26$ at 95\% CL by keeping the frequency fixed to the best-fit of {\em Planck} data.

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arXiv2022

Cosmology Intertwined: A Review of the Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology Associated with the Cosmological Tensions and Anomalies

In this paper we will list a few important goals that need to be addressed in the next decade, also taking into account the current discordances between the different cosmological probes, such as the disagreement in the value of the Hubble constant $H_0$, the $\sigma_8$--$S_8$ tension, and other less statistically significant anomalies. While these discordances can still be in part the result of systematic errors, their persistence after several years of accurate analysis strongly hints at cracks in the standard cosmological scenario and the necessity for new physics or generalisations beyond the standard model. In this paper, we focus on the $5.0\,\sigma$ tension between the {\it Planck} CMB 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 list a few interesting new physics models that could alleviate this tension and discuss how the next decade's experiments will be crucial. Moreover, we focus on the tension of the {\it Planck} CMB data with weak lensing measurements and redshift surveys, about the value of the matter energy density $\Omega_m$, and the amplitude or rate of the growth of structure ($\sigma_8,f\sigma_8$). We list a few interesting models proposed for alleviating this tension, and we discuss the importance of trying to fit a full array of data with a single model and not just one parameter at a time. Additionally, we present a wide range of other less discussed anomalies at a statistical significance level lower than the $H_0$--$S_8$ tensions which may also constitute hints towards new physics, and we discuss possible generic theoretical approaches that can collectively explain the non-standard nature of these signals.[Abridged]

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arXiv2022

Discordances in cosmology and the violation of slow-roll inflationary dynamics

We identify examples of single field inflationary trajectories beyond the slow-roll regime which improve the fit to Planck 2018 data compared to baseline $\Lambda$CDM model with power law form of primordial spectrum and at the same time alleviate existing tensions between different data sets in the estimate of cosmological parameters such as $H_0$ and $S_8$. A damped oscillation in the first Hubble flow function - or equivalently a feature in the potential - and the corresponding localized oscillations in the primordial power spectrum partially mimic the improvement in the fit of Planck data due to $A_L$ or $\Omega_K$. Compared to the baseline model, this model can lead simultaneously to larger value of $H_0$ and a smaller value of $S_8$, a trend which can be enhanced when the most recent SH0ES measurement for $H_0$ is combined with Planck and BK18 data. Large scale structure data and more precise CMB polarization measurements will further provide critical tests of this intermediate fast roll phase.

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arXiv2022

New constraints on primordial features from the galaxy two-point correlation function

Features in the primordial power spectrum represent the imprinted signal in the density perturbations of the physics and evolution of the early Universe. A measurement of such signals will represents the need to go beyond the minimal assumption made for the initial conditions of the cosmological perturbations. For the first time, we study different templates with undamped oscillations or a bump from the two-point correlation function measured from BOSS DR12 galaxies constraining the amplitude of the features to be at most a few percent. Constraints are competitive to the ones obtained with {\em Planck} DR3.

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arXiv2021

Type Ia supernovae data with scalar-tensor gravity

We study the use of type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) in the context of scalar-tensor theories of gravity, taking as a working example induced gravity, equivalent to Jordan-Brans-Dicke theory. Winking at accurate and precision cosmology, we test the correction introduced by a time variation of the Newton's constant, predicted by scalar-tensor theories, on the SNe distance modulus relation. We find that for induced gravity the coupling parameter is constrained from $\xi < 0.0095$ (95\% CL) using Pantheon SNe data alone down to $\xi < 0.00063$ (95\% CL) in combination with {\em Planck} data release DR3 and a compilation of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) measurements from BOSS DR12. In this minimal case the improvements in terms of constraints on the cosmological parameters coming from the addition of SNe data to cosmic microwave background (CMB) and BAO measurements is limited, $\sim7\%$ on the 95\% CL upper bound on $\xi$. Allowing for the value of the gravitational constant today to depart from the Newton constant, we find that the addition of SNe further tightens the constraints obtained by CMB and BAO data on the standard cosmological parameters and by 22\% on the coupling parameter, i.e., $\xi < 0.00064$ at 95\% CL. We finally show that in this class of modified gravity models the use a prior on the absolute magnitude $M_B$ in combination with the Pantheon SNe sample leads to results which are very consistent with those obtained by imposing a prior on $H_0$, as happens for other {\em early-type} models which accommodate a larger value of $H_0$ compared to the $\Lambda$CDM results.

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arXiv2021

In-flight polarization angle calibration for LiteBIRD: blind challenge and cosmological implications

We present a demonstration of the in-flight polarization angle calibration for the JAXA/ISAS second strategic large class mission, LiteBIRD, and estimate its impact on the measurement of the tensor-to-scalar ratio parameter, r, using simulated data. We generate a set of simulated sky maps with CMB and polarized foreground emission, and inject instrumental noise and polarization angle offsets to the 22 (partially overlapping) LiteBIRD frequency channels. Our in-flight angle calibration relies on nulling the EB cross correlation of the polarized signal in each channel. This calibration step has been carried out by two independent groups with a blind analysis, allowing an accuracy of the order of a few arc-minutes to be reached on the estimate of the angle offsets. Both the corrected and uncorrected multi-frequency maps are propagated through the foreground cleaning step, with the goal of computing clean CMB maps. We employ two component separation algorithms, the Bayesian-Separation of Components and Residuals Estimate Tool (B-SeCRET), and the Needlet Internal Linear Combination (NILC). We find that the recovered CMB maps obtained with algorithms that do not make any assumptions about the foreground properties, such as NILC, are only mildly affected by the angle miscalibration. However, polarization angle offsets strongly bias results obtained with the parametric fitting method. Once the miscalibration angles are corrected by EB nulling prior to the component separation, both component separation algorithms result in an unbiased estimation of the r parameter. While this work is motivated by the conceptual design study for LiteBIRD, its framework can be broadly applied to any CMB polarization experiment. In particular, the combination of simulation plus blind analysis provides a robust forecast by taking into account not only detector sensitivity but also systematic effects.

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arXiv2021

Cosmological constraints on the gravitational constant

We study the variation of the gravitational Newton's constant on cosmological scales in scalar-tensor theories of gravity. We focus on the simplest models of scalar-tensor theories with a coupling to the Ricci scalar of the form $F(\sigma) = N_{pl}^2 + \xi\sigma^2$, such as extended Jordan-Brans-Dicke ($N_{pl}=0$), or a non-minimally coupled scalar field with $N_{pl}=M_{pl}$, which permits the gravitational constant to vary self-consistently in time and space. In addition, we allow the gravitational constant to differ from the Newton's constant $G$, i.e. $G_{\rm eff}(z=0) = G(1+\Delta)^2$. Combining the information from {\em Planck} 2018 CMB temperature, polarization and lensing, together with a compilation of BAO measurements from BOSS, we constrain the imbalance to $\Delta = -0.022 \pm 0.023$ (68% CL) and the coupling to $10^3\, \xi < 0.82$ (95% CL) for JBD and for a non-minimally coupled scalar field we constrain the imbalance to $\Delta > -0.018$ ($< 0.021$) and the coupling parameter to $\xi < 0.089$ ($\xi > - 0.041$) both at 95% CL. These constraints correspond to a variation of the gravitational constant now respect to the one in the radiation era to be smaller than 3% (95% CL) and to the ratio of the gravitational Newton's constant measured from cosmological scales and the one measured in a Cavendish-like experiment to be smaller than 4-15% (95% CL). With current data, we observe that the degeneracy between $\Delta$, the coupling $\xi$, and $H_0$ allows for a larger value of the Hubble constant increasing the agreement between the measurement of the Hubble constant by the SH0ES team and its value inferred by CMB data. Future data such as the combination of CMB anisotropies from LiteBIRD and CMB-S4, and large-scale structures galaxy clustering from DESI and galaxy shear from LSST will reduce the uncertainty to $\sigma(\Delta) = 0.004$.

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arXiv2021

Magnetogenesis and the Cosmic Web: a joint challenge for radio observations and numerical simulations

The detection of the radio signal from filaments in the cosmic web is crucial to distinguish possible magnetogenesis scenarios. We review the status of the different attempts to detect the cosmic web at radio wavelengths. This is put into the context of the advanced simulations of cosmic magnetism carried out in the last few years by our {\magcow} project. While first attempts of imaging the cosmic web with the MWA and LOFAR have been encouraging and could discard some magnetogenesis models, the complexity behind such observations makes a definitive answer still uncertain. A combination of total intensity and polarimetric data at low radio frequencies that the SKA and LOFAR2.0 will achieve is key to removing the existing uncertainties related to the contribution of many possible sources of signal along deep lines of sight. This will make it possible to isolate the contribution from filaments, and expose its deep physical connection with the origin of extragalactic magnetism.

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