Hubble Tension: The Evidence of New Physics

The $\Lambda$CDM model provides a good fit to most astronomical observations but harbors large areas of phenomenology and ignorance. With the improvements in the precision and number of observations, discrepancies between key cosmological parameters of this model have emerged. Among them, the most notable tension is the 4$\sigma$ to 6$\sigma$ deviation between the Hubble constant ($H_{0}$) estimations measured by the local distance ladder and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) measurement. In this review, we revisit the $H_{0}$ tension based on the latest research and sort out evidence from solutions to this tension that might imply new physics beyond the $\Lambda$CDM model. The evidence leans more towards modifying the late-time universe.Comment: 39 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in Universe (invited review for Special Issue: Advances in Astrophysics and Cosmology - in Memory of Prof. Tan Lu

The Age-Redshift Relationship of Old Passive Galaxies

We use 32 age measurements of passively evolving galaxies as a function of redshift to test and compare the standard model ($\Lambda$CDM) with the $R_{\rm h}=ct$ Universe. We show that the latter fits the data with a reduced $\chi^2_{\rm dof}=0.435$ for a Hubble constant $H_{0}= 67.2_{-4.0}^{+4.5}$ km $\rm s^{-1}$ $\rm Mpc^{-1}$. By comparison, the optimal flat $\Lambda$CDM model, with two free parameters (including $\Omega_{\rm m}=0.12_{-0.11}^{+0.54}$ and $H_{0}=94.3_{-35.8}^{+32.7}$ km $\rm s^{-1}$ $\rm Mpc^{-1}$), fits the age-\emph{z} data with a reduced $\chi^2_{\rm dof}=0.428$. Based solely on their $\chi^2_{\rm dof}$ values, both models appear to account for the data very well, though the optimized $\Lambda$CDM parameters are only marginally consistent with those of the concordance model ($\Omega_{\rm m}=0.27$ and $H_{0}= 70$ km $\rm s^{-1}$ $\rm Mpc^{-1}$). Fitting the age-$z$ data with the latter results in a reduced $\chi^2_{\rm dof}=0.523$. However, because of the different number of free parameters in these models, selection tools, such as the Akaike, Kullback and Bayes Information Criteria, favour $R_{\rm h}=ct$ over $\Lambda$CDM with a likelihood of $\sim 66.5\%-80.5\%$ versus $\sim 19.5\%-33.5\%$. These results are suggestive, though not yet compelling, given the current limited galaxy age-$z$ sample. We carry out Monte Carlo simulations based on these current age measurements to estimate how large the sample would have to be in order to rule out either model at a $\sim 99.7\%$ confidence level. We find that if the real cosmology is $\Lambda$CDM, a sample of $\sim 45$ galaxy ages would be sufficient to rule out $R_{\rm h}=ct$ at this level of accuracy, while $\sim 350$ galaxy ages would be required to rule out $\Lambda$CDM if the real Universe were instead $R_{\rm h}=ct$.Comment: 36 pages, 13 figures, 1 table; accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1405.238

Gamma-Ray Bursts

Gamma-ray bursts (GRB) are short and intense bursts of $\sim$100 keV$-$1MeV photons, usually followed by long-lasting decaying afterglow emission in a wide range of electromagnetic wavelengths from radio to X-ray and, sometimes, even to GeV gamma-rays. These emissions are believed to originate from a relativistic jet, which is driven due to the collapse of special massive stars and the mergers of compact binaries (i.e., double neutron stars or a neutron star and a black hole). This chapter first briefly introduces the basic observational facts of the GRB phenomena, including the prompt emission, afterglow emission, and host galaxies. Secondly, a general theoretical understanding of the GRB phenomena is described based on a relativistic jet's overall dynamical evolution, including the acceleration, propagation, internal dissipation, and deceleration phases. Here a long-lasting central engine of the GRBs can substantially influence the dynamical evolution of the jet. In addition, a supernova/kilonova emission can appear in the optical afterglow of some nearby GRBs, which can provide an important probe to the nature of the GRB progenitors. Finally, as luminous cosmological phenomena, it is expected to use GRBs to probe the early universe and to constrain the cosmological parameters.Comment: 35 pages, 10 figures; Invited chapter for Handbook of X-ray and Gamma-ray Astrophysics (Eds. C. Bambi and A. Santangelo, Springer Singapore, expected in 2022