Related papers: Dark Sector Equilibration During Nucleosynthesis
We reanalyze the cosmological constraints on the existence of a net universal lepton asymmetry and neutrino degeneracy. We show that neutrinos can begin to decouple at higher temperatures than previous estimates due to several corrections…
We investigate generalized interacting dark matter-dark energy scenarios with a time-dependent coupling parameter, allowing also for freedom in the neutrino sector. The models are tested in the phantom and quintessence regimes,…
The effective number of neutrino species, $N_{\rm eff}$, serves as a key fitting parameter extensively employed in cosmological studies. In this work, we point out a fundamental inconsistency in the conventional treatment of $N_{\rm eff}$…
Abundances of light nuclei formed during primordial nucleosynthesis are predicted by Standard Big Bang Model. The latest data from WMAP, with precision's higher than ever before, provides a motivation to determine theoretical higher order…
We study the effect of neutrino degeneracy on primordial nucleosynthesis in a universe in which the cosmological scale factor evolves linearly with time. The degeneracy parameter of electron type neutrinos ($\xi_e$) determines the $n/p$…
Neutrino physics in the early Universe is key to our understanding of later cosmological stages, such as primordial nucleosynthesis (BBN) or the formation of large-scale structures. The coming decade promises new experimental results to…
If dark energy is dynamical due to the evolution of a scalar field, then in general it is expected that the scalar is coupled to matter. While couplings to the standard model particles are highly constrained by local experiments, bounds on…
If dark matter resides in a hidden sector minimally coupled to the Standard Model, another particle within the hidden sector might dominate the energy density of the early universe temporarily, causing an early matter-dominated era (EMDE).…
We perform a study of the flavour evolution in the early universe of a multi-flavour active-sterile neutrino system with parameters inspired by the short-baseline neutrino anomalies. In a neutrino-symmetric bath a "thermal" population of…
The presence of a dynamical scalar field in the early universe could significantly affect the `freeze-out' time of particle species. In particular, it was recently shown that an enhancement of the relic abundance of neutralinos can be…
The cosmic energy density in the form of radiation before and during Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) is typically parameterized in terms of the effective number of neutrinos N_eff. This quantity, in case of no extra degrees of freedom,…
Following a brief introduction to early Universe cosmology, the current of status of big bang nucleosynthesis is reviewed and the concordance between theory and observation is examined in detail. The abundances of He4 and Li7 determine the…
We present a model for big bang nucleosynthesis which combines baryon inhomogeneities with the effects of the decays of massive particles (masses higher than a few GeV). Those particles, with half-lives longer than the standard…
As electromagnetic showers may alter the abundance of Helium, Lithium, and Deuterium, we can place severe constraints on the lifetime and amount of electromagnetic energy injected by long-lived particles. Considering up-to-date measurements…
Deviations from unitarity in the three-neutrino mixing canonical picture are expected in many physics scenarios beyond the Standard Model. The mixing of new heavy neutral leptons with the three light neutrinos would in principle modify the…
We consider the decoupling of neutrinos in the early Universe in presence of non-standard neutral current neutrino-electron interactions (NSI). We first discuss a semi-analytical approach to solve the relevant kinetic equations and then…
It is possible that the strongest interactions between dark matter and the Standard Model occur via the neutrino sector. Unlike gamma rays and charged particles, neutrinos provide a unique avenue to probe for astrophysical sources of dark…
Dark sectors provide a compelling theoretical framework for thermally producing sub-GeV dark matter, and motivate an expansive new accelerator and direct-detection experimental program. We demonstrate the power of constraining such dark…
We investigate the impact of new light particles, carrying significant energy in the early universe after neutrino decoupling, on the cosmological effective relativistic neutrino species, $N_{{\rm eff}}$. If the light particles are produced…
We highlight the general scenario of dark matter freeze-out whilst the energy density of the universe is dominated by a decoupled non-relativistic species. Decoupling during matter domination changes the freeze-out dynamics, since the…