Neutrino at Different Epochs of the Friedmann Universe

Abstract

At least two relics of the Big Bang have survived: the cosmological microwave background (CMB) and the cosmological neutrino background (CνB). Being the second most abundant particle in the universe, the neutrino has a significant impact on its evolution from the Big Bang to the present day. Neutrinos affect the following cosmological processes: the expansion rate of the universe, its chemical and isotopic composition, the CMB anisotropy and the formation of the large-scale structure of the universe. Another relic neutrino background is theoretically predicted, it consists of non-equilibrium antineutrinos of Primordial Nucleosynthesis arising as a result of the decay of neutrons and tritium nuclei. Such antineutrinos are an indicator of the baryon asymmetry of the universe. In addition to experimentally detectable active neutrinos, the existence of sterile neutrinos is theoretically predicted to generate neutrino masses and explain their oscillations. Sterile neutrinos can also solve such cosmological problems as the baryonic asymmetry of the universe and the nature of dark matter. The recent results of several independent experiments point to the possibility of the existence of a light sterile neutrino. However, the existence of such a neutrino is inconsistent with the predictions of the Standard Cosmological Model. The inclusion of a non-zero lepton asymmetry of the universe and/or increasing the energy density of active neutrinos can eliminate these contradictions and reconcile the possible existence of sterile neutrinos with Primordial Nucleosynthesis, the CMB anisotropy, and also reduce the H0-tension. In this brief review, we discuss the influence of the physical properties of active and sterile neutrinos on the evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to the present day.

Keywords

• cosmology
• neutrino
• sterile neutrino
• lepton asymmetry
• baryon asymmetry
• primordial nucleosynthesis