Dark Energy at early times and ACT: a larger Hubble constant without late-time priors

In this paper we fit two models of Early Dark Energy (EDE) (an increase in the expansion rate before recombination) to the combination of Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) with data from either the WMAP or the Planck satellite, along with measurements of the baryon acoustic oscillations and uncalibrated supernovae luminosity distance. We study a phenomenological axion-like potential ('axEDE') and a scalar field experiencing a first-order phase-transition ('NEDE'). We find that for both models the 'Planck-free' analysis yields non-zero EDE at > 2 sigma and an increased value for $H_0 \sim 70-74$ km/s/Mpc, compatible with local measurements, without the inclusion of any prior on $H_0$. On the other hand, the inclusion of Planck data restricts the EDE contribution to an upper-limit only at 95% C.L. For axEDE, the combination of Planck and ACT leads to constraints 30% weaker than with Planck alone, and there is no residual Hubble tension. On the other hand, NEDE is more strongly constrained in a Planck+ACT analysis, and the Hubble tension remains at $\sim 3\sigma$, illustrating the ability for CMB data to distinguish between EDE models. We explore the apparent inconsistency between the Planck and ACT data and find that it comes (mostly) from a slight tension between the temperature power spectrum at multipoles around $\sim 1000$ and $\sim 1500$. Finally, through a mock analysis of ACT data, we demonstrate that the preference for EDE is not driven by a lack of information at high-$\ell$ when removing Planck data, and that a LCDM fit to the fiducial EDE cosmology results in a significant bias on $\{H_0,\omega_{\rm cdm}\}$. More accurate measurements of the TT power spectra above $\ell\sim 2500$ and EE between $\ell \sim 300-500$ will play a crucial role in differentiating EDE models.