Related papers: A Limit on the Total Lepton Number in the Universe…
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,…
We discuss the bounds on the cosmological lepton number from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), in light of recent evidences for a large value of the neutrino mixing angle theta13. The largest asymmetries for electron and muon or tau neutrinos…
Using a new sample of extremely metal poor systems, the EMPRESS survey has recently reported a primordial helium abundance that is $3\sigma$ smaller than the prediction from the standard big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) scenario. This…
Recent observations of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) at smallest angular scales and updated abundances of primordial elements, indicate an increase of the energy density and the helium-4 abundance with respect to standard big bang…
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…
By using most of the present CMB and LSS measurements and the BBN constraints on the primordial helium abundance, Y_p, we set bounds on the radiation content of the Universe and neutrino properties. We consider lepton asymmetric…
We show that the non-integer effective number of neutrinos $N^{\mathrm{eff}}_\nu$ can be understood as an effect of lepton $L$ asymmetry in the early Universe carried by the Dirac neutrino cosmic background. We show that…
We consider Big Bang nucleosynthesis and the cosmic microwave background when both the neutrino temperature and neutrino number are allowed to vary from their standard values. The neutrino temperature is assumed to differ from its standard…
We present new Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) limits on the cosmic expansion rate or relativistic energy density, quantified via the number $N_\nu$ of equivalent neutrino species. We use the latest light element observations, neutron mean…
Primordial neutrino-antineutrino asymmetries can be constrained through big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) relic abundances and cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies, both observables being sensitive to neutrino properties. The latter…
We consider the cosmological effects of sterile neutrinos with the masses of $150- 450$ MeV. The decay of sterile neutrinos changes the thermal history of the Universe and affects the energy density of radiation at the recombination and the…
While the baryon asymmetry of the Universe is nowadays well measured by cosmological observations, the bounds on the lepton asymmetry in the form of neutrinos are still significantly weaker. We place limits on the relic neutrino asymmetries…
We examine Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) in the case of inhomogenous neutrino degeneracy, in the limit where the fluctuations are sufficiently small on large length scales that the present-day element abundances are homogeneous. We…
We study the primordial nucleosynthesis and cosmic age in the presence of a net lepton asymmetry as well as baryon asymmetry. We explore a previously unnoted region of the parameter space in which very large baryon densities $0.1 \le…
Cosmic microwave background (CMB) determinations of the baryon-to-photon ratio $\eta \propto \Omega_{\rm baryon} h^2$ will remove the last free parameter from (standard) big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) calculations. This will make BBN a much…
We study primordial nucleosynthesis abundance yields for assumed ranges of cosmological lepton numbers, sterile neutrino mass-squared differences and active-sterile vacuum mixing angles. We fix the baryon-to-photon ratio at the value…
The relic cosmic background neutrinos accompanying the cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons may hide a universal lepton asymmetry orders of magnitude larger than the universal baryon asymmetry. At present, the only direct way to probe…
Ordinary-sterile neutrino oscillations can generate a significant lepton number asymmetry in the early Universe. We study this phenomenon in detail. We show that the dynamics of ordinary-sterile neutrino oscillations in the early Universe…
Big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) probes the cosmic mass-energy density at temperatures $\sim 10$ MeV to $\sim 100$ keV. Here, we consider the effect of a cosmic matter-like species that is non-relativistic and pressureless during BBN. Such a…
The primordial neutrino asymmetry leaves profound imprints on the evolution history of the universe, which can be constrained by cosmological observations, including Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), and…