Neutrino collective effects during their decoupling era in the early universe

TL;DR

This paper explores how collective neutrino effects during the early universe's decoupling era significantly alter predictions of neutrino flavor evolution and sterile neutrino production, using methods adapted from supernova physics.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of supernova neutrino flavor evolution techniques to the early universe, revealing radical changes in neutrino interaction predictions.

Findings

Altered predictions for neutrino flavor densities during decoupling

Revised expectations for sterile neutrino production

Implications for early universe cosmology

Abstract

There is an accepted approach to calculation of the neutrino flavor density-matrix in the halo of a supernova, in which neutrino amplitudes, not cross-sections, need to be followed carefully in the region above the region of frequent scatterings. The same reasoning and techniques, applied to the evolution of neutrino flavors and energy distributions in the early universe in the era of neutrino decoupling, leads to radical changes in the predictions of the effects of the neutrino-neutrino interaction. Predictions for the production of sterile neutrinos, should they exist, will also be changed.