Measurements of the Hubble Constant with a Two-rung Distance Ladder: Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad
Abstract
Abstract The three-rung distance ladder, which calibrates Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) through stellar distances linked to geometric measurements, provides the highest precision direct measurement of the Hubble constant. In light of the Hubble tension, it is important to test the individual components of the distance ladder. For this purpose, we report a measurement of the Hubble constant from 35 extragalactic Cepheid hosts measured by the SH0ES team, using their distances and redshifts at cz ≤ 3300 km s −1 , instead of any more distant SNe Ia, to measure the Hubble flow. The Cepheid distances are calibrated geometrically in the Milky Way, NGC 4258, and the Large Magellanic Cloud. Peculiar velocities are a significant source of systematic uncertainty at z ∼ 0.01, and we present a formalism for both mitigating and quantifying their effects, making use of external reconstructions of the density and velocity fields in the nearby universe. We identify a significant source of uncertainty originating from different assumptions about the selection criteria of this sample, whether distance or redshift limited, as it was assembled over three decades. Modeling these assumptions yields central values ranging from H 0 = 71.7 to 76.4 km s −1 Mpc −1 . Combining the four best-fitting selection models yields as a fiducial result, at 2.4 σ tension with Planck. While SNe Ia are essential for a precise measurement of H 0 , unknown systematics in these supernovae are unlikely to be the source of the Hubble tension.
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Duke Univ., Durham, NC (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); David and Lucile Packard Foundation; John Templeton Foundation; Allan C. and Dorothy H. Davis Fellowship
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1882252
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1981264
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0010007; HF2-51462.001; NAS5-26555; 16269; 62314
- Resource Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: The Astrophysical Journal Journal Volume: 935 Journal Issue: 2; Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
- Publisher:
- American Astronomical Society
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; Hubble constant; observational cosmology; large-scale structure of the universe; cosmology
Citation Formats
Kenworthy, W. D’Arcy, Riess, Adam G., Scolnic, Daniel, Yuan, Wenlong, Luis Bernal, José, Brout, Dillon, Casertano, Stefano, Jones, David O., Macri, Lucas, and Peterson, Erik R. Measurements of the Hubble Constant with a Two-rung Distance Ladder: Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad. United States: N. p., 2022.
Web. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ac80bd.
Kenworthy, W. D’Arcy, Riess, Adam G., Scolnic, Daniel, Yuan, Wenlong, Luis Bernal, José, Brout, Dillon, Casertano, Stefano, Jones, David O., Macri, Lucas, & Peterson, Erik R. Measurements of the Hubble Constant with a Two-rung Distance Ladder: Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad. United States. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac80bd
Kenworthy, W. D’Arcy, Riess, Adam G., Scolnic, Daniel, Yuan, Wenlong, Luis Bernal, José, Brout, Dillon, Casertano, Stefano, Jones, David O., Macri, Lucas, and Peterson, Erik R. Thu .
"Measurements of the Hubble Constant with a Two-rung Distance Ladder: Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad". United States. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac80bd.
@article{osti_1882252,
title = {Measurements of the Hubble Constant with a Two-rung Distance Ladder: Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad},
author = {Kenworthy, W. D’Arcy and Riess, Adam G. and Scolnic, Daniel and Yuan, Wenlong and Luis Bernal, José and Brout, Dillon and Casertano, Stefano and Jones, David O. and Macri, Lucas and Peterson, Erik R.},
abstractNote = {Abstract The three-rung distance ladder, which calibrates Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) through stellar distances linked to geometric measurements, provides the highest precision direct measurement of the Hubble constant. In light of the Hubble tension, it is important to test the individual components of the distance ladder. For this purpose, we report a measurement of the Hubble constant from 35 extragalactic Cepheid hosts measured by the SH0ES team, using their distances and redshifts at cz ≤ 3300 km s −1 , instead of any more distant SNe Ia, to measure the Hubble flow. The Cepheid distances are calibrated geometrically in the Milky Way, NGC 4258, and the Large Magellanic Cloud. Peculiar velocities are a significant source of systematic uncertainty at z ∼ 0.01, and we present a formalism for both mitigating and quantifying their effects, making use of external reconstructions of the density and velocity fields in the nearby universe. We identify a significant source of uncertainty originating from different assumptions about the selection criteria of this sample, whether distance or redshift limited, as it was assembled over three decades. Modeling these assumptions yields central values ranging from H 0 = 71.7 to 76.4 km s −1 Mpc −1 . Combining the four best-fitting selection models yields H 0 = 72.9 − 2.2 + 2.4 as a fiducial result, at 2.4 σ tension with Planck. While SNe Ia are essential for a precise measurement of H 0 , unknown systematics in these supernovae are unlikely to be the source of the Hubble tension.},
doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/ac80bd},
journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
number = 2,
volume = 935,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Aug 18 00:00:00 EDT 2022},
month = {Thu Aug 18 00:00:00 EDT 2022}
}
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