arXiv subjects

Tanvi Karwal

Publications and source records attributed to Tanvi Karwal.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Disentangling cosmic distance tensions with early and late dark energy

Recent cosmological data reveal tension between parameters inferred from measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO), and supernovae (SN) under $\Lambda$CDM. Typical dynamical dark energy parameterizations (such as $w_0w_a$) that seek to jointly resolve these tensions have an equation of state parameter that crosses into the phantom regime, leading to potential instabilities for physical models. We show that the BAO (early-time) and SN (late-time) sides of the tension can instead be treated independently. Early dark energy (EDE) can reduce the tension between CMB-BAO data by changing the calibration of the sound horizon at the drag epoch $r_d$, with a $\Delta\chi^2 = -{9.4}$ relative to $\Lambda$CDM, raising $H_0$ to 70.87 $\rm km s^{-1}Mpc^{-1}$. EDE alone cannot bring consistency between CMB, BAO, and SN data, but combining with a thawing-quintessence component of dark energy reduces tensions between the three datasets, with $\Delta\chi^2=-12.6$ relative to $\Lambda$CDM without a phantom component, vs. $\Delta\chi^2=-15.8$ for $w_0 w_a$ with one. We consider different SN datasets, using the most recent DES Dovekie catalog as our default while assessing differences with the original DESY5 and Pantheon+ catalogs. While the significance of adding thawing quintessence changes, the EDE solution to the CMB-BAO tension remains nearly unaffected. Moreover, though we do not include direct Hubble constant measurements in these $\Delta\chi^2$ values, the EDE solution reduces the Hubble tension with the Local Distance Network value from $7\sigma$ in $\Lambda$CDM to $2-3\sigma$ depending on the SN dataset, nominally the equivalent of an extra $\Delta\chi^2 \sim -40$ or more.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2026

CMB constraints on dark matter-proton scattering: investigating prior-volume effects using profile likelihoods

We present profile-likelihood constraints on velocity-independent dark matter-proton scattering, including cases in which only a fraction of dark matter has such non-gravitational interactions. Frequentist profile-likelihood techniques provide prior-independent constraints, circumventing prior-volume effects that we show arise in Bayesian constraints on this model. In the limit where the scattering cross section or the fraction of interacting dark matter approaches zero, the other interacting dark matter model parameters become unconstrained, causing the posterior distribution to favor that region of parameter space. Using Planck 2018 cosmic microwave background anisotropy data, we find a clear impact of prior-volume effects on the posteriors used to place constraints on dark matter scattering. Compared to the frequentist analysis, the Bayesian method consistently overestimates the constraints on the cross section. Given the potentially biased upper limits on models subject to prior-volume effects, such as this one, we recommend supplementing Bayesian constraints with frequentist statistics to better assess the impact of priors.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Picture an Astronomer: Best Practices for Retaining Talent in Astrophysics

Women are consistently underrepresented in astrophysics yet are simultaneously subject to disproportionate attrition at every career stage. This disparity between demonstrated efficacy in job performance and ultimate career outcome was the primary motivation for the Picture an Astronomer series, which included both targeted public outreach to increase representation of women in astrophysics and high-level, solution-oriented discussions among professional astronomers. In March 2025, more than 200 astronomers came together in a hybrid-format symposium focused on the state of the field for female scientists, combining scientific exchange with discussions of policies and practices to strengthen retention of talent in the field. This white paper is the result of those discussions, offering a wide range of recommendations developed in the context of gendered attrition in astrophysics but which ultimately support a healthier climate for all scientists alike.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

Going beyond $S_8$: fast inference of the matter power spectrum from weak-lensing surveys

Weak lensing surveys are often summarized by constraints on the derived parameter ${S_8\equiv\sigma_8\sqrt{\Omega_{\rm m}/0.3}}$, obscuring the rich scale and redshift information encoded in the data, and limiting our ability to identify the origin of any tensions with $\Lambda$CDM predictions from the cosmic microwave background. In this work, we introduce a fast and flexible framework to extract the scale-dependent matter power spectrum $P(k, z)$ from cosmic shear and CMB lensing measurements, parameterizing deviations from the Planck $\Lambda$CDM prediction as a free function $\alpha(k)$. Using public data from DES Y3, KiDS-1000, HSC Y3, and ACT DR6, we constrain $\alpha(k)$ with fast Hamiltonian Monte Carlo inference, employing multipoles up to $\ell_{\rm max}\sim2000$ for the galaxy lensing surveys. Our results show a consistent 15-30% suppression in the matter power spectrum at intermediate scales ($k \sim 0.1-1{\rm Mpc}^{-1}$) in galaxy-lensing data relative to a Planck $\Lambda$CDM prediction with a CDM-only (no baryonic feedback) power spectrum, with combined tensions reaching up to $4\sigma$. This is under a fixed cosmology and with analytic marginalization over shear and redshift calibration uncertainties. In contrast, ACT CMB lensing is consistent with $\Lambda$CDM at ${k\lesssim 0.1 {\rm Mpc}^{-1}}$. We validate our method using mock data, quantify consistency between datasets, and demonstrate how the resulting $\alpha(k)$ likelihoods can be used to test specific models for the power spectrum. All code, data products, and derived likelihoods are publicly released. Our results highlight the importance of reporting lensing constraints on $P(k, z)$ and pave the way for model-agnostic test of growth of structure with upcoming surveys such as LSST, Euclid, and Roman.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Bayesian and frequentist perspectives agree on dynamical dark energy

Baryon acoustic oscillation data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) show evidence of a deviation from a cosmological constant $\Lambda$ within a Bayesian analysis. In this work, we validate that frequentist constraints from profile likelihoods on the Chevallier-Polarski-Linder parameters $w_0$, $w_a$ are in excellent agreement with the Bayesian constraints when combining with Planck cosmic microwave background, Planck and Atacama Cosmology Telescope lensing, and either Pantheon+ or Dark Energy Survey Y5 supernova data. Further, we assess which datasets drive these constraints by considering the contributions to the $\chi^2$ from the individual datasets. For profile likelihoods of the matter fraction $\Omega_\mathrm{m}$, such an investigation shows internal inconsistencies when assuming $\Lambda$, which are resolved when assuming a $w_0w_a$ dark-energy model. We infer the equations of state $w(z)$ at the pivot redshifts, supporting previous interpretations that current data appears to be more sensitive to the derivative of $w(z)$ rather than a mean offset from $\Lambda$. Thus our frequentist analysis corroborates previous findings on dynamical DE.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2025

Turning a negative neutrino mass into a positive optical depth

Under $\Lambda$CDM, recent baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) distance measures from DESI, which favor a low matter density $\Omega_m$, are in moderate $2-3\sigma$ tension with cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations. This tension appears alternately as a preference for the sum of neutrino masses dropping below the $\sum m_\nu = 0.06$eV value required by neutrino oscillation measurements to formally negative values; a discrepant value of $\Omega_m$ at 0.06eV; or preference for dynamical dark energy beyond $\Lambda$CDM. We show that this tension largely arises from the CMB lensing constraints on the calibration of the sound horizon for geometric measurements and relies on the measurement of the reionization optical depth $\tau$ from large-angle CMB polarization to set the lensing amplitude. Dropping these constraints removes the neutrino tension at $\sum m_\nu=0.06$eV entirely, favoring $\tau = 0.091\pm 0.011$ in $\Lambda$CDM. Beyond $\Lambda$CDM, it brings the preference for $w_0-w_a$ dynamical dark energy to below $95\%$ CL. We explore the freedom in interpreting the low-$\ell$ EE polarization constraint due to analysis choices and reionization modeling beyond the standard step-function assumption and find that this drops the neutrino tension in $\Lambda$CDM to below $95\%$ CL. Alternately, this raising of $\tau$ can also be achieved by the same reduction in large-scale curvature fluctuations that also ameliorates the low-$\ell$ temperature anomaly.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Uniting the Observed Dynamical Dark Energy Preference with the Discrepancies in $\Omega_m$ and $H_0$ Across Cosmological Probes

Recent results from Type Ia Supernovae (SNe), baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO), and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) indicate 1) potentially discrepant measurements of the matter density $\Omega_m$ and Hubble constant $ H_0 $ in $\Lambda$CDM model when analyzed individually, and 2) hints of dynamical dark energy in a $w_0w_a$CDM model when data are combined in a joint analysis. We examine whether underlying dynamical dark energy cosmologies favored by data would result in biases in $\Omega_m$ and $ H_0 $ for each probe when analyzed individually under $\Lambda$CDM. We generate mock datasets in $w_0w_a$CDM cosmologies, fit the individual probes under the $\Lambda$CDM model, and find expected biases in $\Omega_m$ are $\sim 0.03$. Notably, the $\Omega_m$ differences between probes are consistent with values observed in real datasets. We also observe that mock DESI-BAO datasets generated in the $w_0w_a$CDM cosmologies will lead to a biased measurement of $H_0$ higher by ($\sim1.2$km/s/Mpc) when fitted under $\Lambda$CDM, appearing to mildly improve the Hubble tension, but as the true underlying $H_0$ is lower, the tension is in fact worsened. We find that the $\Omega_m$ discrepancies, the high BAO $ H_0 $ relative to CMB, and the joint dynamical dark energy signal are all related effects that could be explained \textit{simultaneously} with either new physics or new systematics. While it is possible to unite many of the discrepancies seen in recent analyses along a single axis, our results underscore the importance of understanding systematic differences in datasets, as they have unique impacts in different cosmological parameter spaces.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

The Cosmology of Dark Energy Radiation

In this work, we quantify the cosmological signatures of dark energy radiation -- a novel description of dark energy, which proposes that the dynamical component of dark energy is comprised of a thermal bath of relativistic particles sourced by thermal friction from a slowly rolling scalar field. For a minimal model with particle production emerging from first principles, we find that the abundance of radiation sourced by dark energy can be as large as $Ω_{\text{DER}} = 0.03$, exceeding the bounds on relic dark radiation by three orders of magnitude. Although the background and perturbative evolution of dark energy radiation is distinct from Quintessence, we find that current and near-future cosmic microwave background and supernova data will not distinguish these models of dark energy. We also find that our constraints on all models are dominated by their impact on the expansion rate of the Universe. Considering extensions that allow the dark radiation to populate neutrinos, axions, and dark photons, we evaluate the direct detection prospects of a thermal background comprised of these candidates consistent with cosmological constraints on dark energy radiation. Our study indicates that a resolution of $\sim 6 \, \text{meV}$ is required to achieve sensitivity to relativistic neutrinos compatible with dark energy radiation in a neutrino capture experiment on tritium. We also find that dark matter axion experiments lack sensitivity to a relativistic thermal axion background, even if enhanced by dark energy radiation, and dedicated search strategies are required to probe new parameter space. We derive constraints arising from a dark photon background from oscillations into visible photons, and find that viable parameter space can be explored with the LAte Dark Energy RAdiation (LADERA) experiment.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

An Attractive Proposal for Resolving the Hubble Tension: Dynamical Attractors that Unify Early and Late Dark Energy

Early dark energy is a promising potential resolution of the Hubble tension. Unfortunately, many models suffer from the need to fine-tune their initial conditions to ensure that the epoch of early dark energy coincides with matter-radiation equality. We propose a class of attractive early dark energy models where this coincidence arises naturally as a saddle point of a dynamical system that attracts a large volume of phase-space trajectories regardless of the initial conditions. The system approaches a global dark energy attractor at late-times. Our framework therefore unifies early and late dark energy using a single scalar degree of freedom. We analyze a fiducial attractive early dark energy model and find that it is disfavored by cosmological data due to the presence of a long-lived saddle point in the matter era where the scalar plays the role of an additional component of (non-clustering) dark matter. Our investigations provide lessons for future model-building efforts aimed at constructing viable attractive early dark energy models.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2024

Procoli: Profiles of cosmological likelihoods

Frequentist profile likelihoods have seen a resurgence in cosmology, offering an alternative to Bayesian methods as they can circumvent the impact of prior-volume effects. This paper presents Procoli, a fast and accessible package to obtain profile likelihoods in cosmology, available on GitHub and PyPI. Procoli seamlessly integrates with MontePython, incorporating all its available data likelihoods, as well as any modified versions of CLASS. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the Procoli code, detailing the simulated-annealing optimizer at its core and the sequential computation of the profile. An an example, we use the early dark energy model which is afflicted by prior-volume effects to illustrate the code's features. We validate its optimizer with mock data, and compare optimization techniques for both the global minimum and the profile. Procoli further enables splitting profiles into their component contributions from individual experiments, offering nuanced insights into the data and model. As a valuable addition to the cosmologist's toolkit, Procoli supplements existing Bayesian codes, contributing to more robust parameter constraints in cosmological studies.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Role of the Hubble Scale in the Weak Lensing vs. CMB Tension

We explore a re-parameterization of the lensing amplitude tension between weak lensing (WL) and cosmic microwave background (CMB) data and its implications for a joint resolution with the Hubble tension. Specifically, we focus on the lensing amplitude over a scale of 12 Mpc in absolute distance units using a derived parameter $S_{12}$ and show its constraints from recent surveys in comparison with Planck 2018. In WL alone, we find that the absolute distance convention correlates $S_{12}$ with $H_0$. Accounting for this correlation in the 3D space $S_{12}\times ω_m \times h$ reproduces the usual levels of $2\sim 3σ$ tension inferred from $S_8\timesΩ_m$. Additionally, we derive scaling relations in the $S_8\times h$ and $S_{12}\times h$ planes that are allowed by $Λ$CDM and extrapolate target scalings needed to solve the $H_0$ and lensing-amplitude tensions jointly in a hypothetical beyond-$Λ$CDM model. As a test example, we quantify how the early dark energy scenario compares with these target scalings. Useful fitting formulae for $S_8$ and $S_{12}$ as a function of other cosmological parameters in $Λ$CDM are provided, with 1% precision.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

The Ups and Downs of Early Dark Energy solutions to the Hubble tension: a review of models, hints and constraints circa 2023

We review the current status of Early Dark Energy (EDE) models proposed to resolve the "Hubble tension", the discrepancy between "direct" measurements of the current expansion rate of the Universe and "indirect measurements" for which the values inferred rely on the $Λ$CDM cosmological model calibrated on early-universe data. EDE refers to a new form of dark energy active at early times (typically a scalar-field), that quickly dilutes away at a redshift close to matter-radiation equality. The role of EDE is to decrease the sound horizon by briefly contributing to the Hubble rate in the pre-recombination era. We summarize the results of several analyses of EDE models suggested thus far in light of recent cosmological data, including constraints from the canonical {\it Planck} data, baryonic acoustic oscillations and Type Ia supernovae, and the more recent hints driven by cosmic microwave background observations using the Atacama Cosmology Telescope. We also discuss potential challenges to EDE models, from theoretical ones (a second "cosmic coincidence" problem in particular) to observational ones, related to the amplitude of clustering on scales of $8h$/Mpc as measured by weak-lensing observables (the so-called $S_8$ tension) and the galaxy power spectrum from BOSS analyzed through the effective field theory of large-scale structure. We end by reviewing recent attempts at addressing these shortcomings of the EDE proposal. While current data remain inconclusive on the existence of an EDE phase, we stress that given the signatures of EDE models imprinted in the CMB and matter power spectra, next-generation experiments can firmly establish whether EDE is the mechanism responsible for the Hubble tension and distinguish between the various models suggested in the literature.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2023

Thermal Friction as a Solution to the Hubble and Large-Scale Structure Tensions

Thermal friction offers a promising solution to the Hubble and the large-scale structure (LSS) tensions. This additional friction acts on a scalar field in the early universe and extracts its energy density into dark radiation, the cumulative effect being similar to that of an early dark energy (EDE) scenario. The dark radiation automatically redshifts at the minimal necessary rate to improve the Hubble tension. On the other hand, the addition of extra radiation to the Universe can improve the LSS tension. We explore this model in light of cosmic microwave background (CMB), baryon acoustic oscillation and supernova data, including the SH0ES $H_0$ measurement and the Dark Energy Survey Y1 data release in our analysis. Our results indicate a preference for the regime where the scalar field converts to dark radiation at very high redshifts, asymptoting effectively to an extra self-interacting radiation species rather than an EDE-like injection. In this limit, thermal friction can ease both the Hubble and the LSS tensions, but not resolve them. We find the source of this preference to be the incompatibility of the CMB data with the linear density perturbations of the dark radiation when injected at redshifts close to matter-radiation equality.

astro-ph.CO↗

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 $σ_8$--$S_8$ 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 $5.0\,σ$ 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 $Ω_m$, and the amplitude or rate of the growth of structure ($σ_8,fσ_8$). 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]

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2021

Chameleon Early Dark Energy and the Hubble Tension

Early dark energy (EDE) offers a particularly interesting theoretical approach to the Hubble tension, albeit one that introduces its own set of challenges, including a new `why then' problem related to the EDE injection time at matter-radiation equality, and a mild worsening of the large-scale structure (LSS) tension. Both these challenges center on the properties of dark matter, which becomes the dominant component of the Universe at EDE injection and is also responsible for seeding LSS. Motivated by this, we present the potential of couplings between EDE and dark matter to address these challenges, focusing on a mechanism similar to chameleon dark energy theories, deeming this chameleon early dark energy (CEDE). We present relevant background and perturbation equations and study the dynamics of the case of a quartic scalar potential and an exponential coupling.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2021

The First Three Seconds: a Review of Possible Expansion Histories of the Early Universe

It is commonly assumed that the energy density of the Universe was dominated by radiation between reheating after inflation and the onset of matter domination 54,000 years later. While the abundance of light elements indicates that the Universe was radiation dominated during Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), there is scant evidence that the Universe was radiation dominated prior to BBN. It is therefore possible that the cosmological history was more complicated, with deviations from the standard radiation domination during the earliest epochs. Indeed, several interesting proposals regarding various topics such as the generation of dark matter, matter-antimatter asymmetry, gravitational waves, primordial black holes, or microhalos during a nonstandard expansion phase have been recently made. In this paper, we review various possible causes and consequences of deviations from radiation domination in the early Universe - taking place either before or after BBN - and the constraints on them, as they have been discussed in the literature during the recent years.

astro-ph.CO↗

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.

astro-ph.CO↗

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.

astro-ph.CO↗