Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Sanjana Khanolkar

Publications and source records attributed to Sanjana Khanolkar.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

TDCOSMO 2026: A 3% measurement of the Hubble constant from strong lensing and stellar kinematics

We present cosmological constraints from 11 strongly lensed quasars with measured time delays (hereafter, the TDCOSMO-2026 sample). In addition to expanding the sample, we improve many aspects of our blind analysis with respect to our 2025 analysis. Among other improvements, spatially resolved kinematics are available for nine systems, including six with JWST-NIRSpec, compared to one in 2025; for three lens models, JWST-NIRCam images now replace HST; axisymmetric dynamical modeling is applied directly to the spatially resolved data, instead of an axisymmetric correction factor applied to spherical models; and the line-of-sight convergence is now based on the Euclid Flagship simulations instead of the Millennium Simulation. Our baseline and primary result is based on the TDCOSMO-2026 sample, in combination with a prior on $Ω_{\rm m}$ from the DES-Dovekie supernova sample. In the flat $Λ$ cold dark matter ($Λ$CDM) cosmology, we find $H_0=71.1^{+2.4}_{-2.3}$ km.s$^{-1}$.Mpc$^{-1}$, a 3.3% uncertainty that accounts for the mass-sheet degeneracy. The SLACS and SL2S samples are in excellent agreement with the TDCOSMO-2026 sample, improving the precision on $H_0$ in flat $Λ$CDM to 3.0%. Using the DESI-DR2 baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) likelihood instead of DES-Dovekie yields fully consistent results. We also present constraints in the open $Λ$CDM, $w$CDM, $w_0w_a$CDM, and $w_ϕ$CDM cosmologies; the TDCOSMO $H_0$ inference is robust and consistent across all of them. The combination of the TDCOSMO+SLACS+SL2S likelihood with those from DESI-DR2 and DES-Dovekie disfavors $w=-1$ at the $2.3$-$2.5σ$ level in all three dark energy extensions that we tested. We find, e.g., $w_0=-0.88^{+0.04}_{-0.05}$ in $w_ϕ$CDM and $w_0 = -0.85^{+0.07}_{-0.06}$ in $w_0w_a$CDM, while $w_a = -0.48^{+0.46}_{-0.44}$ remains consistent with zero.

astro-ph.CO↗

TDCOSMO 2026: new insights on the Hubble tension from strong lensing time delays

We discuss the measurement of the Hubble constant ($H_0$) in flat $Λ$ cold dark matter cosmology based on the blind hierarchical analysis of 11 multiply-imaged quasars (hereafter the TDCOSMO-2026 sample) and described in greater detail in a companion paper. In addition to the time delays, we use lens models based on high-resolution imaging from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) and from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), analyzed jointly with axisymmetric dynamical models based on JWST-NIRSpec, VLT-MUSE, and Keck-KCWI spectroscopy. Our primary result $H_0=71.1^{+2.4}_{-2.3}$ km.s$^{-1}$.Mpc$^{-1}$ is based on the TDCOSMO-2026 sample, in combination with $Ω_{\rm m}$ constraints from the DES-Dovekie supernova (SN) dataset. Our 3% precision accounts for the mass-sheet degeneracy. Importantly, our measurement is independent of the local distance ladder (LDL). Among individual late-universe probes, only the traditional LDL is more precise. We discuss our result in the context of the Hubble tension, the difference between $H_0$ measured in the late universe and the prediction based on early-universe probes such as the cosmic microwave background (CMB). We construct combinations of independent late-universe probes and show that the tension with the Planck CMB prediction is robust to excluding any one of the methods based on Type-Ia Supernovae, Cepheids, or the Tip of the Red Giant Branch. For example, we construct a 'no-SN' $H_0$ measurement, by replacing the DES-Dovekie constraint on $Ω_{\rm m}$ with that from DESI baryon acoustic oscillations, and then combining TDCOSMO-2026 with independent non-SN late-universe probes. This 'no-SN' late-universe probe is in 3.7$σ$ tension with Planck. Even after completely excluding the LDL, the tension with Planck persists at the 2.7$σ$ level.

astro-ph.CO↗