The local and distant Universe: stellar ages and $H_0$

Abstract

The ages of the oldest stellar objects in our galaxy provide an independent test of the current cosmological model as they give a lower limit to the age of the Universe. Recent accurate parallaxes by the Gaia space mission, accurate measurements of the metallicity of stars, via individual elemental abundances, and advances in the modelling of stellar evolution, provide new, higher-precision age estimates of the oldest stellar populations in the galaxy: globular clusters and very-low-metallicity stars. The constraints on the age of the Universe, $t_U$, so obtained are determined from the local Universe and at late time. It is well known that local and early-Universe determinations of another cosmological parameter closely related to the age of the Universe, the Hubble constant $H_0$, show a $\gtrsim 3 \sigma$ tension. In the standard cosmological model, $\Lambda$CDM, $t_U$ and $H_0$ are related by the matter density parameter $\Omega_{m,0}$. We propose to combine local $t_U$ constraints with late-time $\Omega_{m,0}$ estimates in a $\Lambda$CDM framework, to obtain a low-redshift $H_0$ determination that does not rely on early Universe physics. A proof-of-principle of this approach with current data gives $H_0=71\pm2.8$ ($H_0= 69.3 \pm 2.7$) km s$^{-1}$ Mpc$^{-1}$ from globular clusters (very-low-metallicity stars) with excellent prospects for improved constraints in the near future.