Constraining UV freeze-in of light relics with current and next-generation CMB observations

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Hauptverfasser: Caloni, Luca, Stengel, Patrick, Lattanzi, Massimiliano, Gerbino, Martina
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Caloni, Luca
Stengel, Patrick
Lattanzi, Massimiliano
Gerbino, Martina
author_facet Caloni, Luca
Stengel, Patrick
Lattanzi, Massimiliano
Gerbino, Martina
contents Cosmological observations allow to measure the abundance of light relics produced in the early Universe. Most studies focus on the thermal freeze-out scenario, yet light relics produced by freeze-in are generic for models in which new light degrees of freedom do not couple strongly enough to the Standard Model (SM) plasma to allow for full thermalization in the early Universe. In ultraviolet (UV) freeze-in scenarios, rates for light relic production associated with non-renormalizable interactions typical of beyond the SM (BSM) models grow with temperature more quickly than the Hubble rate. Thus, relatively small couplings to the SM can be probed by current and next-generation cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments. We investigate several representative benchmark BSM models, such as axion-like particles from Primakoff production, massless dark photons and light right-handed neutrinos. We calculate contributions to the effective number of neutrino species, $ΔN_{\rm eff}$, in corners of parameter space not previously considered and discuss the sensitivity of CMB experiments compared to other probes. In contrast to freeze-out scenarios, $ΔN_{\rm eff}$ from UV freeze-in is more dependent on both the specific BSM physics model and the reheating temperature. Depending on the details of the BSM scenario, we find that the sensitivity of next-generation CMB experiments can complement or surpass the current astrophysical, laboratory or collider constraints on the couplings of the SM to the light relic.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_09449
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Constraining UV freeze-in of light relics with current and next-generation CMB observations
Caloni, Luca
Stengel, Patrick
Lattanzi, Massimiliano
Gerbino, Martina
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Cosmological observations allow to measure the abundance of light relics produced in the early Universe. Most studies focus on the thermal freeze-out scenario, yet light relics produced by freeze-in are generic for models in which new light degrees of freedom do not couple strongly enough to the Standard Model (SM) plasma to allow for full thermalization in the early Universe. In ultraviolet (UV) freeze-in scenarios, rates for light relic production associated with non-renormalizable interactions typical of beyond the SM (BSM) models grow with temperature more quickly than the Hubble rate. Thus, relatively small couplings to the SM can be probed by current and next-generation cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments. We investigate several representative benchmark BSM models, such as axion-like particles from Primakoff production, massless dark photons and light right-handed neutrinos. We calculate contributions to the effective number of neutrino species, $ΔN_{\rm eff}$, in corners of parameter space not previously considered and discuss the sensitivity of CMB experiments compared to other probes. In contrast to freeze-out scenarios, $ΔN_{\rm eff}$ from UV freeze-in is more dependent on both the specific BSM physics model and the reheating temperature. Depending on the details of the BSM scenario, we find that the sensitivity of next-generation CMB experiments can complement or surpass the current astrophysical, laboratory or collider constraints on the couplings of the SM to the light relic.
title Constraining UV freeze-in of light relics with current and next-generation CMB observations
topic Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.09449