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Everyone wants something better than $Λ$CDM

Michael S. Turner

Abstract

The current cosmological paradigm, $Λ$CDM, is characterized its expansive description of the history of the Universe, its deep connections to particle physics and the large amounts of data that support it. Nonetheless, $Λ$CDM's critics argue that it has been falsified or must be discarded for various reasons. Critics and boosters alike do agree on one thing: it is the not the final cosmological theory and they are anxious to see it replaced by something better! I review the status of $Λ$CDM, provide my views of the path forward, and discuss the role that the ``Hubble tension'' might play.

Everyone wants something better than $Λ$CDM

Abstract

The current cosmological paradigm, CDM, is characterized its expansive description of the history of the Universe, its deep connections to particle physics and the large amounts of data that support it. Nonetheless, CDM's critics argue that it has been falsified or must be discarded for various reasons. Critics and boosters alike do agree on one thing: it is the not the final cosmological theory and they are anxious to see it replaced by something better! I review the status of CDM, provide my views of the path forward, and discuss the role that the ``Hubble tension'' might play.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 10 sections.

Table of Contents

  1. Origins
  2. From quantum fluctuations to accelerated expansion
  3. Data rich, precision cosmology
  4. The critics and their critiques
  5. Cracks in the foundations?
  6. MOND and dark matter
  7. Cold, warm, fuzzy or self-interacting
  8. No cosmic acceleration?
  9. What does better look like?
  10. The Hubble tension