Abstract
The cosmic energy density in the form of radiation before
and during Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) is typically parameterized
in terms of the effective number of neutrinos Neff. This
quantity, in case of no extra degrees of freedom, depends upon the
chemical potential and the temperature characterizing the three
active neutrino distributions, as well as by their possible
non-thermal features. In the present analysis we determine the upper
bounds that BBN places on Neff from primordial
neutrino-antineutrino asymmetries, with a careful treatment of the
dynamics of neutrino oscillations. We consider quite a wide range
for the total lepton number in the neutrino sector, ην = ηνe+ηνμ+ηντ and the initial
electron neutrino asymmetry ηνein, solving the
corresponding kinetic equations which rule the dynamics of neutrino
(antineutrino) distributions in phase space due to collisions, pair
processes and flavor oscillations. New bounds on both the total
lepton number in the neutrino sector and the νe−
easymmetry at the onset of BBN are obtained fully exploiting the time
evolution of neutrino distributions, as well as the most recent
determinations of primordial 2H/H density ratio and 4He mass
fraction. Note that taking the baryon fraction as measured by WMAP,
the 2H/H abundance plays a relevant role in constraining the
allowed regions in the ην−ηνein plane.
These bounds fix the maximum contribution of neutrinos with
primordial asymmetries to Neff as a function of the mixing
parameter θ13, and point out the upper bound Neff≲3.4. Comparing these results with the forthcoming
measurement of Neff by the Planck satellite will likely
provide insight on the nature of the radiation content of the
universe.
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