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Cosmic neutrino decoupling and its observable imprints: insights from entropic-dual transport

Bond, J. Richard; Fuller, George M.; Grohs, Evan; Meyers, Joel; Wilson, Matthew James 1
1 Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT)

Abstract:

Very different processes characterize the decoupling of neutrinos to form the cosmic neutrino background (CνB) and the much later decoupling of photons from thermal equilibrium to form the cosmic microwave background (CMB). The CνB emerges from the fuzzy, energy-dependent neutrinosphere and encodes the physics operating in the early universe in the temperature rangeT ∼ 10 MeV to T ∼ 10 keV. This is the epoch where beyond Standard Model (BSM) physics, especially in the neutrino sector, may be influential in setting the light element abundances, the necessarily distorted fossil neutrino energy spectra, and other light particle energy density contributions. Here we use techniques honed in extensive CMB studies to analyze the CνB as calculated in detailed neutrino energy transport and nuclear reaction simulations of the protracted weak decoupling and primordial nucleosynthesis epochs. Our moment method, relative entropy, and differential visibility approach can leverage future high precision CMB and light element primordial abundance measurements to provide new insights into the CνB and any BSM physics it encodes. We demonstrate that the evolution of the energy spectrum of the CνB throughout the weak decoupling epoch is accurately captured in the Standard Model by only three parameters per species, a non-trivial conclusion given the deviation from thermal equilibrium and the impact of the decrease of electron-positron pairs. ... mehr


Verlagsausgabe §
DOI: 10.5445/IR/1000175790
Veröffentlicht am 31.10.2024
Cover der Publikation
Zugehörige Institution(en) am KIT Institut für Astroteilchenphysik (IAP)
Publikationstyp Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Publikationsdatum 05.09.2024
Sprache Englisch
Identifikator ISSN: 1475-7516
KITopen-ID: 1000175790
Erschienen in Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Verlag Institute of Physics Publishing Ltd (IOP Publishing Ltd)
Band 2024
Heft 09
Seiten Art.-Nr.: 014
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