The Hubble tension and fifth forces: a cosmic screenplay

Fifth forces are ubiquitous in modified theories of gravity. In this paper, we analyze their effect on the Cepheid-calibrated cosmic distance ladder, specifically with respect to the inferred value of the Hubble constant ($H_0$). We consider a variety of effective models where the strength, or amount of screening, of the fifth force is estimated using proxy fields related to the large-scale structure of the Universe. For all models considered, the local distance ladder and the Planck value for $H_0$ agrees with a probability $\gtrsim 20 \, \%$, relieving the tension compared to the concordance model with data being excluded at $99 \, \%$ confidence. The alleviated discrepancy comes partially at the cost of an increased tension between distance estimates from Cepheids and the tip of the red-giant branch (TRGB). Demanding also that the consistency between Cepheid and TRGB distance estimates is not impaired, some fifth force models can still accommodate the data with a probability $\gtrsim 20 \, \%$. This provides incentive for more detailed investigations of fundamental theories on which the effective models are based, and their effect on the Hubble tension.