Early dark energy is not excluded by current large-scale structure data
  We revisit the impact of early dark energy (EDE) on galaxy clustering using
BOSS galaxy power spectra, analyzed using the effective field theory (EFT) of
large-scale structure (LSS), and anisotropies of the cosmic microwave
background (CMB) from Planck. Recent studies found that these data place
stringent constraints on the maximum abundance of EDE allowed in the Universe.
We argue here that their conclusions are a consequence of their choice of
priors on the EDE parameter space, rather than any disagreement between the
data and the model. For example, when considering EFT-LSS, CMB, and
high-redshift supernovae data we find the EDE and $\Lambda$CDM models can
provide statistically indistinguishable fits ($\Delta \chi^2 = 0.12$) with a
relatively large value for the maximum fraction of energy density in the EDE
($f_{\rm ede} = 0.09$) and Hubble constant ($H_0 = 71$ km/s/Mpc) in the EDE
model. Moreover, we demonstrate that the constraining power added from the
inclusion of EFT-LSS traces to the potential tension between the power-spectrum
amplitudes $A_s$ derived from BOSS and from Planck that arises even within the
context of $\Lambda$CDM. Until this is better understood, caution should be
used when interpreting EFT-BOSS+Planck constraints to models beyond
$\Lambda$CDM. These findings suggest that EDE still provides a potential
resolution to the Hubble tension and that it is worthwhile to test the
predictions of EDE with future data-sets and further study its theoretical
possibilities.
