Modified Teleparallel f(T) Gravity, DESI BAO and the H0 Tension

We investigate whether late-time modifications of gravity in the teleparallel framework can impact the current tension in the Hubble constant H0, focusing on f(T) cosmology as a minimal and well-controlled extension of General Relativity. We consider three representative f(T) parametrisations that recover the teleparallel equivalent of General Relativity at early times and deviate from it only in late epochs. The models are confronted with unanchored Pantheon+ Type Ia supernovae, DESI DR2 baryon acoustic oscillations, compressed Planck cosmic microwave background distance priors, and redshift-space distortion data, allowing us to jointly probe the background expansion and the growth of cosmic structures. Two of the three models partially shift the inferred value of H0 towards local measurements, while the third worsens the discrepancy. This behaviour is directly linked to the effective torsional dynamics, with phantom-like regimes favouring higher H0 values and quintessence-like regimes producing the opposite effect. A global statistical comparison shows that the minimal f(T) extensions considered here are not favoured over ΛCDM by the combined data. Nevertheless, our results demonstrate that late-time torsional modifications can non-trivially redistribute current cosmological tensions among the background and growth sectors.