Cosmological bounds on pseudo Nambu-Goldstone bosons

Journal Article · Wed Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 2012 · Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2012/02/032· OSTI ID:22279748

Cadamuro, Davide; Redondo, Javier ^[1]

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1. Max-Planck-Institut für Physik (Werner-Heisenberg-Institut), Föhringer Ring 6, D-80805 München (Germany)

We review the cosmological implications of a relic population of pseudo Nambu-Goldstone bosons (pNGB) with an anomalous coupling to two photons, often called axion-like particles (ALPs). We establish constraints on the pNGB mass and two-photon coupling by considering big bang nucleosynthesis, the physics of the cosmic microwave background, and the diffuse photon background. The bounds from WMAP7 and other large-scale-structure data on the effective number of neutrino species can be stronger than the traditional bounds from the primordial helium abundance. These bounds, together with those from primordial deuterium abundance, constitute the most stringent probes of early decays.

• OSTI ID: 22279748
• Journal Information: Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2012, Issue 02; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1475-7516
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
COSMIC PHOTONS
COSMOLOGY
COUPLING
DEUTERIUM
ELEMENT ABUNDANCE
GOLDSTONE BOSONS
HELIUM
NEUTRINOS
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
RELICT RADIATION
REVIEWS