Emergence of smooth distance and apparent magnitude in a lumpy Universe

Abstract

The standard interpretation of observations such as the peak apparent magnitude of Type Ia supernova made from one location in a lumpy Universe is based on the idealised Friedmann-Lemaître-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) spacetime. All possible corrections to this model due to inhomogeneities are usually neglected. Here, we use the result from the recent concise derivation of the area distance in an inhomogeneous Universe to study the monopole and Hubble residual of the apparent magnitude of Type Ia supernovae. We find that at low redshifts, the background FLRW spacetime model of the apparent magnitude receives corrections due to relative velocity perturbation in the observed redshift. We show how this velocity perturbation could contribute to a variance in the Hubble residual and how it could impact the calibration of the absolute magnitude of the Type Ia supernova in the Hubble flow. We also show that it could resolve the tension in the determination of the Hubble rate from the baryon acoustic oscillation and local measurements.