Related papers: Are cosmological neutrinos free-streaming?
In the standard cosmological framework, neutrinos begin to free-stream after the weak interaction phase ends in the early universe, at a temperature of approximately $T \sim 1 \, {\rm MeV}$. However, the onset of neutrino free-streaming can…
If active neutrinos undergo non-standard (`secret') interactions (NS$\nu$I) the cosmological evolution of the neutrino fluid might be altered, leaving an imprint in cosmological observables. We use the latest publicly available CMB data…
Neutrinos are expected to freestream (i.e. not interact with anything) since they decouple in the early Universe at a temperature $T\sim 2~{\rm MeV}$. However, there are many relevant particle physics scenarios that can make neutrinos…
Precision measurements of the acoustic peaks of the cosmic microwave background indicate that neutrinos must be freely streaming at the photon decoupling epoch when T ~ 0.3 eV. This requirement implies restrictive limits on ``secret…
We present updated constraints on the free-streaming nature of cosmological neutrinos from cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectra, baryonic acoustic oscillation data, and local measurements of the Hubble constant. Specifically, we…
In the standard model neutrinos are assumed to have streamed across the Universe since they last scattered at the weak decoupling epoch when the temperature of the standard-model plasma was ~MeV. The shear stress of free-streaming neutrinos…
Cosmological observations are becoming increasingly sensitive to the effects of light particles in the form of dark radiation (DR) at the time of recombination. The conventional observable of effective neutrino number, $N_{\rm eff}$, is…
Context: The widespread view that cosmological neutrinos, even if massive, are well described since the decoupling redshift z~10^10 down to the present epoch by an almost perfectly collisionless fluid of classical point particles is…
We employ state-of-the art cosmological observables including supernova surveys and BAO information to provide constraints on the mass and mixing angle of a non-resonantly produced sterile neutrino species, showing that cosmology can…
We study how present data probe standard and non-standard properties of neutrinos and the possible existence of new light particles, freely-streaming or interacting, among themselves or with neutrinos. Our results include: sum m_nu < 0.40…
We investigate signatures of neutrino scattering in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and matter power spectra, and the extent to which present cosmological data can distinguish between a free streaming or tightly coupled fluid of…
(Abridged) Neutrino interactions beyond the standard model may affect the cosmological evolution and can be constrained through observations. We consider the possibility that neutrinos possess secret scalar or pseudoscalar interactions…
The cosmic neutrino background and other light relics leave distinct imprints in the cosmic microwave background anisotropies through their gravitational influence. Since neutrinos decoupled from the primordial plasma about one second after…
The best upper bounds on the masses of stable and unstable light neutrinos derive from the upper bound on the total mass density, as inferred from the lower limit $t_0> 13$ Gyr on the dynamical age of the Universe: If the Universe is…
The present experimental results on neutrino flavour oscillations provide evidence for non-zero neutrino masses, but give no hint on their absolute mass scale, which is the target of beta decay and neutrinoless double-beta decay…
We study possible contributions of heavy sterile neutrinos $\nu_h$ to the decays $\tau^-\to e^{\pm}(\mu^{\pm})\pi^{\mp}\pi^-$. From the experimental upper bounds on their rates we derive new constraints on the $\nu_h-\nu_{\tau}$ mixing in…
The connection between cosmological observations and neutrino physics is discussed in detail. Neutrinos decouple from thermal contact in the early Universe at a temperature of order 1 MeV which coincides with the temperature where light…
We study models in which neutrino masses are generated dynamically at cosmologically late times. Our study is purely phenomenological and parameterized in terms of three effective parameters characterizing the redshift of mass generation,…
Since neutrinos have mass differences, they could decay into one another. But their lifetimes are likely long, even when shortened by new physics, so decay likely impacts neutrinos only during long trips. This makes high-energy…
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) has proven to be an invaluable tool for studying the properties and interactions of neutrinos, providing insight not only into the sum of neutrino masses but also the free streaming nature of neutrinos…