Related papers: Universes without the Weak Force: Astrophysical Pr…
Primordial nucleosynthesis is inevitable during the early evolution of an expanding universe filled with radiation and matter (baryons). However, the precise abundance yields depend sensitively on the baryon density, the radiation content…
We calculate the properties and investigate the stability of stars that burn via strong (and electromagnetic) interactions, and compare their properties with those that, as in our Universe, include a rate-limiting weak interaction. It has…
We consider the implications of the modified dispersion relations, due to the noncommutativity of the spacetime, for a photon gas filling the early Universe in the framework of the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) processes, during the period…
The expansion history and thermal physical process that happened in the early Universe before big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) remains relatively unconstrained by observations. Low reheating temperature universes with normalcy temperatures of…
Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), as one of the earliest processes in the universe accessible to direct observation, offers a powerful and independent probe of the cosmic expansion history. With recent advances in both theory and observation,…
The production of light nuclei and hypernuclei together with heavy baryons, both hyperons and $\Delta$-baryons, in low density matter as found in stellar environments such as supernova or binary mergers is studied within relativistic…
It may well happen that the two main components of the dark sector of the Universe, dark matter and dark energy, do not evolve separately but interact nongravitationally with one another. However, given our current lack of knowledge on the…
We discuss selected topics in the field of particle- and astrophysics with neutrons. They have a direct link with our understanding of the history of the Universe and are related to recent, ongoing or future measurements. They deal with the…
Primordial nucleosynthesis is a success story of the standard big bang (SBB) cosmology. We explore nucleosynthesis in possible models very different from SBB in which the cosmological scale factor increases linearly with time right through…
We discuss how a laboratory detection of a sterile neutrino not only would constitute a fundamental discovery of a new particle, but could also provide an indication of the evolution of the Universe before Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), a…
The hypothesis that neutrons might decay into dark matter is explored using neutron stars as a testing ground. It is found that in order to obtain stars with masses at the upper end of those observed, the dark matter must experience a…
Big Bang Nucleosynthesis imposes stringent bounds on light sterile neutrinos mixing with the active flavors. Here we discuss how altered dispersion relations can weaken such bounds and allow compatibility of new sterile neutrino degrees of…
According to the standard models of particle physics and cosmology, there should be a background of cosmic neutrinos in the present Universe, similar to the cosmic microwave photon background. The weakness of the weak interactions renders…
Neutrino fluxes from proto-neutron stars with and without quarks are studied. Observable differences become apparent after 10--20 s of evolution. Sufficiently massive stars containing negatively-charged, strongly interacting, particles…
Repulsive interactions between neutrons in compact stellar cores cause luminosity and a steady outflow of hydrogen from stellar surfaces. Neutron repulsion in more massive compact objects made by gravitational collapse produces violent,…
Positronium (the bound state of electron and positron) has been thought to be formed after proton decay ($>10^{34}$yr) through collisional recombination and then decays by pair annihilation, thereby changing the matter content of the…
The interiors of neutron stars enjoy ideal conditions for the conversion of hadrons to a strange quark phase, theorized to be the stablest form of matter. Though numerous astrophysical means to prompt such a deconfinement phase transition…
Heavy neutral leptons (HNLs) are well-motivated new physics candidates. The mixing of sub-GeV HNLs with active neutrinos is severely constrained by cosmology. In particular, the success of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) requires the HNL…
The hot and dense early Universe combined with the promise of high-precision cosmological observations provide an intriguing laboratory for Beyond Standard Model (BSM) physics. We simulate the early Universe to examine the effects of the…
Scalar dark matter can interact with Standard Model (SM) particles, altering the fundamental constants of Nature in the process. Changes in the fundamental constants during and prior to Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) produce changes in the…