Relaxing cosmological tensions with a sign switching cosmological constant: Improved results with Planck, BAO, and Pantheon data

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the $ m ext{s}$CDM model, which proposes a sign change in the cosmological constant at redshift around 2, demonstrating it better fits observational data and alleviates multiple cosmological tensions compared to standard $ m ext{Lambda}$CDM.

Contribution

The study extends previous work by constraining the $ m ext{s}$CDM model with new data sets, showing it improves fit and reduces tensions in cosmological parameters.

Findings

$ m ext{s}$CDM fits data better than $ m ext{Lambda}$CDM.

It relaxes six key cosmological tensions simultaneously.

The model's effectiveness depends on data sets and priors used.

Abstract

We present a further observational analysis of the $\Lambda_{\rm s}$CDM model proposed in Akarsu et al. [Phys. Rev. D 104, 123512 (2021)]. This model is based on the recent conjecture suggesting the Universe has transitioned from anti-de Sitter vacua to de Sitter vacua (viz., the cosmological constant switches sign from negative to positive), at redshift ${z_\dagger\sim2}$, inspired by the graduated dark energy model proposed in Akarsu et al. [Phys. Rev. D 101, 063528 (2020)]. $\Lambda_{\rm s}$CDM was previously claimed to simultaneously relax five cosmological discrepancies, namely, the $H_0$, $S_8$, and $M_B$ tensions along with the Ly-$\alpha$ and $\omega_{\rm b}$ anomalies, which prevail within the standard $\Lambda$CDM model as well as its canonical/simple extensions. In the present work, we extend the previous analysis by constraining the model using the Pantheon data (with and without the SH0ES $M_B$ prior) and/or the completed BAO data along with the full Planck CMB data. We find that $\Lambda_{\rm s}$CDM exhibits a better fit to the data compared to $\Lambda$CDM, and simultaneously relaxes the six discrepancies of $\Lambda$CDM, viz., the $H_0$, $M_B$, $S_8$, Ly-$\alpha$, $t_0$, and $\omega_{\rm b}$ discrepancies, all of which are discussed in detail. When the $M_B$ prior is included in the analyses, $\Lambda_{\rm s}$CDM performs significantly better in relaxing the $H_0$, $M_B$, and $S_8$ tensions with the constraint ${z_\dagger\sim1.8}$ even when the Ly-$\alpha$ data (which imposed the $z_\dagger\sim2$ constraint in the previous studies) are excluded. In contrast, the presence of the $M_B$ prior causes only negligible improvements for $\Lambda$CDM. Thus, the $\Lambda_{\rm s}$CDM model provides remedy to various cosmological tensions simultaneously, only that the galaxy BAO data hinder its success to some extent.