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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Thermonuclear diversity and the Hubble tension

Richard S. Miller*

  • *Contact author: Richard.S.Miller@jhuapl.edu
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Phys. Rev. D 111, L081305 – Published 23 April, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.111.L081305

Abstract

Homogeneity is the hallmark of standard candle-based cosmology investigations. Thermonuclear supernovae (Type-Ia, SNeIa) violate this essential requirement if they develop along multiple evolutionary pathways. In this work, the impact of thermonuclear diversity on cosmological parameter constraints is quantified using Pantheon+, one of the largest ensembles of SNeIa compiled to probe cosmology to date. Evidence of diversity is encoded in supernova light curves. Pantheon+ is shown to be diverse, with features indicative of multiple thermonuclear subclasses. Diversity driven systematic effects have been quantified on a supernova-by-supernova basis; event selections based on light curve derived metrics were subsequently used to characterize diversity dependent trends and limit their impact. A diversity mitigated estimate of the Hubble-Lemaître parameter, H0=67.9±0.8  km s−1 Mpc−1 (68% C.L.), was obtained by reanalyzing Pantheon+. The Hubble tension, an apparent disparity between early and late Universe determinations of H0, is eased from ∼5σ to <1σ after accounting for the diverse thermonuclear scenarios that govern SNeIa. Diversity mitigated subsets of Pantheon+ also show a ∼3.4σ preference for a flat w0waCDM cosmology with dark energy equation of state parameters (w0,wa)=(−1.084±0.180,−2.066±0.675). A strategy for precise SNeIa-derived cosmological inferences, dominated by statistical rather than systematic uncertainties, is also presented.

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Phys. Rev. D 111, L081305– Published 23 April, 2025
  • Received 12 November 2024
  • Accepted 26 March 2025
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

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