Constraints on coupled dark energy using CMB data from WMAP and SPT

TL;DR

This paper constrains the coupling between dark energy and dark matter using current CMB data, finding it to be very small and stable against various cosmological parameters, with future data promising even tighter constraints.

Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive constraints on dark sector coupling using combined WMAP7 and SPT data, including effects of neutrinos and other cosmological variables.

Findings

Coupling strength {eta} constrained to less than 0.063 at 68% CL.

Adding neutrino mass weakens the bound slightly to {eta} < 0.084.

Forecasts suggest Planck+SPT can measure the coupling with better than 1% precision.

Abstract

We consider the case of a coupling in the dark cosmological sector, where a dark energy scalar field modifies the gravitational attraction between dark matter particles. We find that the strength of the coupling {\beta} is constrained using current Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) data, including WMAP7 and SPT, to be less than 0.063 (0.11) at 68% (95%) confidence level. Further, we consider the additional effect of the CMB-lensing amplitude, curvature, effective number of relativistic species and massive neutrinos and show that the bound from current data on {\beta} is already strong enough to be rather stable with respect to any of these variables. The strongest effect is obtained when we allow for massive neutrinos, in which case the bound becomes slightly weaker, {\beta} < 0.084(0.14). A larger value of the effective number of relativistic degrees of freedom favors larger couplings between dark matter and dark energy as well as values of the spectral index closer to 1. Adding the present constraints on the Hubble constant, as well as from baryon acoustic oscillations and supernovae Ia, we find {\beta} < 0.050(0.074). In this case we also find an interesting likelihood peak for {\beta} = 0.041 (still compatible with 0 at 1{\sigma}). This peak comes mostly from a slight difference between the Hubble parameter HST result and the WMAP7+SPT best fit. Finally, we show that forecasts of Planck+SPT mock data can pin down the coupling to a precision of better than 1% and detect whether the marginal peak we find at small non zero coupling is a real effect.