Effect of neutrino rest mass on ionization equilibrium freeze-out
Journal Article
·
· Physical Review. D, Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology
- Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Dept. of Physics
- Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Dept. of Physics; Univ. of San Diego, San Diego, CA (United States)
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Theoretical Division
We show how small neutrino rest masses can increase the expansion rate near the photon decoupling epoch in the early Universe, causing an earlier, higher temperature freeze-out for ionization equilibrium compared to the massless neutrino case. This yields a larger free-electron fraction, thereby affecting the photon diffusion length differently than the sound horizon at photon decoupling. This neutrino-mass and recombination effect depends strongly on the neutrino rest masses. Ultimately, though below current sensitivity, this effect could be probed by next-generation cosmic microwave background experiments, giving another observational handle on neutrino rest mass.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- PHY-1307372; 257842; AC52-06NA25396
- OSTI ID:
- 1248609
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1233889
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-14-29625; PRVDAQ
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. D, Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology, Vol. 92, Issue 12; ISSN 1550-7998
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Cited by: 3 works
Citation information provided by
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