Testing the cosmological principle with the Pantheon+ sample and the region-fitting method

Abstract

The cosmological principle is fundamental to the standard cosmological model. It assumes that the Universe is homogeneous and isotropic on very large scales. As the basic assumption, it must stand the test of various observations. In this work, we investigated the properties of the Pantheon+ sample, including redshift distribution and position distribution, and we give its constraint on the flat ΛCDM model: Ωm = 0.36 ± 0.02 and H0 = 72.83 ± 0.23 km s−1 Mpc−1. Then, using the region fitting (RF) method, we mapped the all-sky distribution of cosmological parameters (Ωm and H0) and find that the distribution significantly deviates from isotropy. A local matter underdensity region exists toward (308.4°−48.7+47.6, −18.2°−28.8+21.1) as well as a preferred direction of the cosmic anisotropy (313.4°−18.2+19.6, −16.8°−10.7+11.1) in galactic coordinates. Similar directions may imply that local matter density might be responsible for the anisotropy of the accelerated expansion of the Universe. Results of statistical isotropy analyses including Isotropy and Isotropy with real-data positions (RP) show high confidence levels. For the local matter underdensity, the statistical significances are 2.78σ (isotropy) and 2.34σ (isotropy RP). For the cosmic anisotropy, the statistical significances are 3.96σ (isotropy) and 3.15σ (isotropy RP). The comparison of these two kinds of statistical isotropy analyses suggests that inhomogeneous spatial distribution of real sample can increase the deviation from isotropy. The similar results and findings are also found from reanalyses of the low-redshift sample (lp+) and the lower screening angle (θmax = 60°), but with a slight decrease in statistical significance. Overall, our results provide clear indications for a possible cosmic anisotropy. This possibility must be taken seriously. Further testing is needed to better understand this signal.