Tension between the power spectrum of density perturbations measured on large and small scales

Richard A. Battye, Tom Charnock, and Adam Moss
Phys. Rev. D 91, 103508 – Published 12 May 2015

Abstract

There is a tension between measurements of the amplitude of the power spectrum of density perturbations inferred using the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and directly measured by large-scale structure (LSS) on smaller scales. We show that this tension exists, and is robust, for a range of LSS indicators including clusters, lensing and redshift space distortions and using CMB data from either Planck or WMAP+SPT/ACT. One obvious way to try to reconcile this is the inclusion of a massive neutrino which could be either active or sterile. Using Planck and a combination of all the LSS data we find that (i) for an active neutrino mν=(0.357±0.099)eV and (ii) for a sterile neutrino msterileeff=(0.67±0.18)eV and ΔNeff=0.32±0.20. This is, however, at the expense of a degraded fit to Planck temperature data, and we quantify the residual tension at 2.5σ and 1.6σ for massive and sterile neutrinos, respectively. We also consider alternative explanations including a lower redshift for reionization that would be in conflict with polarization measurements made by WMAP and ad hoc modifications to the primordial power spectrum.

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  • Received 10 September 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.91.103508

© 2015 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Richard A. Battye*

  • Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom

Tom Charnock and Adam Moss

  • Centre for Astronomy & Particle Theory, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom

  • *Richard.Battye@manchester.ac.uk
  • Tom.Charnock@nottingham.ac.uk
  • Adam.Moss@nottingham.ac.uk

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Vol. 91, Iss. 10 — 15 May 2015

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