Dynamics of metastable Standard Model particles from long-lived particle decays in the MeV primordial plasma

Fuente: arXiv
Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Akita, Kensuke, Baur, Gideon, Ovchynnikov, Maksym, Schwetz, Thomas, Syvolap, Vsevolod
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866916661438709760
author Akita, Kensuke
Baur, Gideon
Ovchynnikov, Maksym
Schwetz, Thomas
Syvolap, Vsevolod
author_facet Akita, Kensuke
Baur, Gideon
Ovchynnikov, Maksym
Schwetz, Thomas
Syvolap, Vsevolod
contents We investigate the cosmological impact of hypothetical unstable new physics particles that decay in the MeV-scale plasma of the Early Universe. Focusing on scenarios where the decays produce metastable species such as muons, pions, and kaons, we systematically analyze the dynamics of these particles using coupled Boltzmann equations governing their abundances. Our results demonstrate that the metastable species can efficiently annihilate or interact with nucleons, often leading to their disappearance before decay. The suppression of decay significantly alters the properties of cosmic neutrinos, impacting cosmological observables like Big Bang nucleosynthesis and the Cosmic Microwave Background. To support further studies, we provide two public codes: the Mathematica code that traces the evolution of these metastable particles, as well as the python-based unintegrated neutrino Boltzmann solver that uses this evolution as an input and may be applied to a broad range of scenarios. We then utilize them for studying a few particular new physics models.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_00931
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Dynamics of metastable Standard Model particles from long-lived particle decays in the MeV primordial plasma
Akita, Kensuke
Baur, Gideon
Ovchynnikov, Maksym
Schwetz, Thomas
Syvolap, Vsevolod
High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
We investigate the cosmological impact of hypothetical unstable new physics particles that decay in the MeV-scale plasma of the Early Universe. Focusing on scenarios where the decays produce metastable species such as muons, pions, and kaons, we systematically analyze the dynamics of these particles using coupled Boltzmann equations governing their abundances. Our results demonstrate that the metastable species can efficiently annihilate or interact with nucleons, often leading to their disappearance before decay. The suppression of decay significantly alters the properties of cosmic neutrinos, impacting cosmological observables like Big Bang nucleosynthesis and the Cosmic Microwave Background. To support further studies, we provide two public codes: the Mathematica code that traces the evolution of these metastable particles, as well as the python-based unintegrated neutrino Boltzmann solver that uses this evolution as an input and may be applied to a broad range of scenarios. We then utilize them for studying a few particular new physics models.
title Dynamics of metastable Standard Model particles from long-lived particle decays in the MeV primordial plasma
topic High Energy Physics - Phenomenology
Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.00931