Abstract: Recent cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization anisotropy measurements from the Planck mission have significantly improved previous constraints on the neutrino masses as well as the bounds on extended models with massless or massive sterile neutrino states. However, due to parameter degeneracies, additional low redshift priors are mandatory in order to sharpen the CMB neutrino bounds. We explore here the role of different priors on low redshift quantities, such as the Hubble constant, the cluster mass bias, and the reionization optical depth tau. Concerning current priors on the Hubble constant and the cluster mass bias, the bounds on the neutrino parameters may differ appreciably depending on the choices adopted in the analyses. With regard to future improvements in the priors on the reionization optical depth, a value of tau = 0.05 +/- 0.01, motivated by astrophysical estimates of the reionization redshift, would lead to Sigma m(nu) < 0.0926 eV at 90% C.L., when combining the full Planck measurements, baryon acoustic oscillation, and Planck clusters data, thereby opening the window to unravel the neutrino mass hierarchy with existing cosmological probes.

Abstract: We explore whether nonstandard dark sector physics might be required to solve the existing cosmological tensions. The properties we consider in combination are (a) an interaction between the dark matter and dark energy components and (b) a dark energy equation of state w different from that of the canonical cosmological constant w = -1. In principle, these two parameters are independent. In practice, to avoid early-time, superhorizon instabilities, their allowed parameter spaces are correlated. Moreover, a clear degeneracy exists between these two parameters in the case of cosmic microwave background (CMB) data. We analyze three classes of extended interacting dark energy models in light of the 2019 Planck CMB results and Cepheid-calibrated local distance ladder H-0 measurements of Riess et al. (R19), as well as recent baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) and type Ia supernovae (SNeIa) distance data. We find that in quintessence coupled dark energy models, where w > -1, the evidence for a nonzero coupling between the two dark sectors can surpass the 5 sigma significance. Moreover, for both Planck + BAO or Planck + SNeIa, we find a preference for w > -1 at about three standard deviations. Quintessence models are, therefore, in excellent agreement with current data when an interaction is considered. On the other hand, in phantom coupled dark energy models, there is no such preference for a nonzero dark sector coupling. All the models we consider significantly raise the value of the Hubble constant, easing the H-0 tension. In the interacting scenario, the disagreement between Planck thorn BAO and R19 is considerably reduced from 4.3 sigma in the case of the Lambda cold dark matter (Lambda CDM) model to about 2.5 sigma. The addition of low-redshift BAO and SNeIa measurements leaves, therefore, some residual tension with R19 but at a level that could be justified by a statistical fluctuation. Bayesian evidence considerations mildly disfavor both the coupled quintessence and phantom models, while mildly favoring a coupled vacuum scenario, even when late-time datasets are considered. We conclude that nonminimal dark energy cosmologies, such as coupled quintessence, phantom, or vacuum models, are still an interesting route toward softening existing cosmological tensions, even when low-redshift datasets and Bayesian evidence considerations are taken into account.