Cosmology Intertwined IV: The Age of the Universe and its Curvature
astro-ph.CO
/ Authors
Eleonora Di Valentino, Luis A. Anchordoqui, Ozgur Akarsu, Yacine Ali-Haimoud, Luca Amendola, Nikki Arendse, Marika Asgari, Mario Ballardini, Spyros Basilakos, Elia Battistelli
and 81 more authors
Micol Benetti, Simon Birrer, François R. Bouchet, Marco Bruni, Erminia Calabrese, David Camarena, Salvatore Capozziello, Angela Chen, Jens Chluba, Anton Chudaykin, Eoin Ó Colgáin, Francis-Yan Cyr-Racine, Paolo de Bernardis, Javier de Cruz Pérez, Jacques Delabrouille, Celia Escamilla-Rivera, Agnès Ferté, Fabio Finelli, Wendy Freedman, Noemi Frusciante, Elena Giusarma, Adrià Gómez-Valent
/ Abstract
A precise measurement of the curvature of the Universe is of primeval importance for cosmology since it could not only confirm the paradigm of primordial inflation but also help in discriminating between different early Universe scenarios. The recent observations, while broadly consistent with a spatially flat standard $Λ$ Cold Dark Matter ($Λ$CDM) model, are showing tensions that still allow (and, in some cases, even suggest) a few percent deviations from a flat universe. In particular, the Planck Cosmic Microwave Background power spectra, assuming the nominal likelihood, prefer a closed universe at more than 99\% confidence level. While new physics could be in action, this anomaly may be the result of an unresolved systematic error or just a statistical fluctuation. However, since a positive curvature allows a larger age of the Universe, an accurate determination of the age of the oldest objects provides a smoking gun in confirming or falsifying the current flat $Λ$CDM model.