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  • Open Access

Breaking the baryon density-Hubble constant degeneracy in fast radio burst applications with associated gravitational waves

Joscha N. Jahns-Schindler1,2,3,* and Laura G. Spitler1

  • *Contact author: jjahnsschindler@swin.edu.au
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Phys. Rev. D 112, 103541 – Published 24 November, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/wtv1-dmrw

Abstract

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are a unique probe of the cosmos, owing to dispersion caused by free electrons in the intergalactic medium. Two of the main quantities of interest are degenerate: the density of matter Ωbfd outside of galaxies and the Hubble constant H0. Here, we present a new possibility of breaking the degeneracy without invoking early-Universe priors on Ωb. Assuming some FRBs originate in compact object mergers, the combination of dispersion and luminosity distance from the gravitational wave (GW) can be used to measure Ωbh2fd (where h is the dimensionless Hubble constant). We show that this measurement can be combined with the abundant FRBs that have a redshift measurement. This combination breaks the degeneracy with the Hubble constant. We develop a Bayesian framework and forecast that third-generation GW detectors are required to obtain meaningful constraints. We forecast that 1 year of Einstein Telescope operations can constrain H0 to ±6  km s−1 Mpc−1 and Ωbh2fd to +0.0015−0.0016 (68% credible interval). The method can also be used with luminosity distances obtained through other means than GWs.

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Phys. Rev. D 112, 103541– Published 24 November, 2025
  • Received 18 July 2024
  • Accepted 13 September 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. Open access publication funded by the Max Planck Society.

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