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A neutrino model fit to the CMB power spectrum

Shanks, T.; Johnson, R.W.F.; Schewtschenko, J.A.; Whitbourn, J.R.

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Authors

R.W.F. Johnson

J.A. Schewtschenko

J.R. Whitbourn



Abstract

The standard cosmological model, Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM), provides an excellent fit to cosmic microwave background (CMB) data. However, the model has well-known problems. For example, the cosmological constant, Λ, is fine-tuned to 1 part in 10100 and the CDM particle is not yet detected in the laboratory. Shanks previously investigated a model which assumed neither exotic particles nor a cosmological constant but instead postulated a low Hubble constant (H0) to allow a baryon density compatible with inflation and zero spatial curvature. However, recent Planck results make it more difficult to reconcile such a model with CMB power spectra. Here, we relax the previous assumptions to assess the effects of assuming three active neutrinos of mass ≈5 eV. If we assume a low H0 ≈ 45 km s−1 Mpc−1 then, compared to the previous purely baryonic model, we find a significantly improved fit to the first three peaks of the Planck power spectrum. Nevertheless, the goodness of fit is still significantly worse than for ΛCDM and would require appeal to unknown systematic effects for the fit ever to be considered acceptable. A further serious problem is that the amplitude of fluctuations is low (σ8 ≈ 0.2), making it difficult to form galaxies by the present day. This might then require seeds, perhaps from a primordial magnetic field, to be invoked for galaxy formation. These and other problems demonstrate the difficulties faced by models other than ΛCDM in fitting ever more precise cosmological data.

Citation

Shanks, T., Johnson, R., Schewtschenko, J., & Whitbourn, J. (2014). A neutrino model fit to the CMB power spectrum. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 445(3), 2836-2841. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stu1956

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 18, 2014
Publication Date Dec 1, 2014
Deposit Date Jun 2, 2014
Publicly Available Date May 21, 2015
Journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Print ISSN 0035-8711
Electronic ISSN 1365-2966
Publisher Royal Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 445
Issue 3
Pages 2836-2841
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stu1956
Keywords Cosmology: observations, Large-scale structure of Universe.
Public URL https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1451923
Related Public URLs http://ukads.nottingham.ac.uk/abs/2014arXiv1402.5502S

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Copyright Statement
This article has been accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ©: 2014 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.






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