Early dark energy resolution to the Hubble tension in light of weak lensing surveys and lensing anomalies

TL;DR

This paper investigates whether Early Dark Energy can resolve the Hubble tension by analyzing various cosmological data sets, including weak lensing surveys and lensing anomalies, and finds moderate evidence supporting EDE's role in alleviating discrepancies.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive reassessment of EDE viability using combined high- and low-redshift data, including new simulations and analysis of lensing anomalies.

Findings

Weak lensing data do not rule out EDE.

Planck data shows ~2σ preference for non-zero EDE.

Including SH0ES H0 prior increases EDE preference to ~3.6σ.

Abstract

Early Dark Energy (EDE) contributing a fraction $f_{\rm EDE}(z_c)\sim 10 \%$ of the energy density of the universe around $z_c\simeq 3500$ and diluting as or faster than radiation afterwards, can provide a resolution to the Hubble tension, the $\sim 5\sigma$ discrepancy between the $H_0$ value derived from early- and late-universe observations within $\Lambda$CDM. However, it has been pointed out that Large-Scale Structure (LSS) data, which are in $\sim3\sigma$ tension with $\Lambda$CDM and EDE cosmologies, might alter these conclusions. We reassess the viability of the EDE against a host of high- and low-redshift measurements, by combining LSS observations from recent weak lensing (WL) surveys with CMB, Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO), growth function (FS) and Supernova Ia (SNIa) data. Introducing a model whose only parameter is $f_{\rm EDE}(z_c)$, we report a $\sim 2\sigma$ preference for non-zero $f_{\rm EDE}(z_c)$ from Planck data alone and the tension with SH0ES is reduced below $2\sigma$. Adding BAO, FS and SNIa does not affect this result, while the inclusion of a prior on $H_0$ from SH0ES increase the preference for non-zero EDE to $\sim3.6\sigma$. After checking the EDE non-linear matter power spectrum predicted by standard semi-analytical algorithms via a set of $N$-body simulations, we show that current WL data do not rule out EDE. We also caution against the interpretation of constraints obtained from combining statistically inconsistent data sets within the $\Lambda$CDM cosmology. In light of the CMB lensing anomalies, we show that the lensing-marginalized CMB data also favor non-zero $f_{\rm EDE}(z_c)$ at $\sim2\sigma$, predicts $H_0$ in $1.4\sigma$ agreement with SH0ES and $S_8$ in $1.5\sigma$ ($0.8\sigma$) agreement with KV (DES) data. Alternatively, we discuss promising extensions of the EDE cosmology that could allow to fully restore cosmological concordance.