Some astrophysical consequences of the existence of a heavy stable neutral lepton
Recently, high-energy particle theorists have constructed new extended gauge theories which may fit experiment somewhat better than previous already very successful theories. One of the predictions which is often discussed is the possible existence of a stable neutral lepton, probably with a mass of a few GeV/c/sup 2/. Following this motivation we here investigate some cosmological consequences of the existence of any stable, massive, neutral lepton, and show that it could well dominate the present mass density in the universe. The contribution to the mass density depends on the mass of the lepton, which should eventually be determined with high-energy accelerators. It is interesting that the more massive the lepton, the smaller its contribution to the present mass density. It is unlikely that these leptons affect big bang nucleosynthesis or condense into stellar size objects. However, such a lepton is an excellent candidate for the material in galactic halos and for the mass required to bind the great clusters of galaxies. Annihilation radiation from these structures should be detectable. At the end of the paper a brief mention is made of the astrophysical constraints on the mass-lifetime relationship if the neutral lepton is unstable.
- Research Organization:
- California Institute of Technology (CalTech), Pasadena, CA (United States); and Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, England
- OSTI ID:
- 6650459
- Journal Information:
- Astrophys. J.; (United States), Vol. 223:3
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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GENERAL PHYSICS
COSMOLOGICAL MODELS
HEAVY LEPTONS
ANNIHILATION
COSMIC RADIATION
GALAXIES
GALAXY CLUSTERS
GAMMA RADIATION
NEUTRINOS
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
PLASMA DENSITY
RELATIVITY THEORY
UNIFIED GAUGE MODELS
UNIVERSE
VARIATIONS
BASIC INTERACTIONS
ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERACTIONS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
FIELD THEORIES
GENERAL RELATIVITY THEORY
INTERACTIONS
IONIZING RADIATIONS
LEPTONS
MASSLESS PARTICLES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
PARTICLE MODELS
POSTULATED PARTICLES
RADIATIONS
640106* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Cosmology