Limits on the global Hubble constant and the age of the universe

Abstract

While the recent discovery of the Cepheid variables in the Virgo cluster galaxies puts additional support for the Hubble constant $H_0 \sim 80$km/sec/Mpc, a relatively lower value $H_0 \sim 50$km/sec/Mpc is suggested by other distance indicators based on the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect and the gravitational lens which probe the universe at higher redshifts $z=(0.1\sim 1)$. In order to reconcile the possible discrepancy between the estimates of the Hubble constants from nearby galaxy samples and high-redshift clusters, we consider a model of locally open universe embedded in the spatially flat universe. We find analytic expressions for the lower limit on the global Hubble constant $\hg$, and the upper limit on the age of the universe with a given value for the Hubble constant $\hl$ in the local universe. We conclude that it is quite unlikely that the above difference in the estimates of the Hubble constant is explained within the framework of the gravitational instability picture.