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Can non-standard recombination resolve the Hubble tension?

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Abstract

The inconsistent Hubble constant values derived from cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations and from local distance-ladder measurements may suggest new physics beyond the standard ACDM paradigm. It has been found in earlier studies that, at least phenomenologically, non-standard recombination histories can reduce the ≳ 4δ Hubble tension to ∼ 2δ. Following this path, we vary physical and phenomenological parameters in RECFAST, the standard code to compute ionization history of the universe, to explore possible physics beyond standard recombination. We find that the CMB constraint on the Hubble constant is sensitive to the hydrogen ionization energy and 2s → 1s two-photon decay rate, both of which are atomic constants, and is insensitive to other details of recombination. Thus, the Hubble tension is very robust against perturbations of recombination history, unless exotic physics modifies the atomic constants during the recombination epoch.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Physics and Astronomy, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, 519082, China

    MiaoXin Liu, ZhiQi Huang, XiaoLin Luo, HaiTao Miao, Naveen K. Singh & Lu Huang

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  1. MiaoXin Liu
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  2. ZhiQi Huang
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Correspondence to ZhiQi Huang.

Additional information

This work was supported by the Sun Yat-sen University Starting Grant for Research (Grant No. 71000-18841232).

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Liu, M., Huang, Z., Luo, X. et al. Can non-standard recombination resolve the Hubble tension?. Sci. China Phys. Mech. Astron. 63, 290405 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-019-1509-5

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