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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Neff in the Standard Model at NLO is 3.043

Mattia Cielo1,*, Miguel Escudero2,†, Gianpiero Mangano1,‡, and Ofelia Pisanti1,§

  • 1Dipartimento di Fisica E. Pancini, Naples, and INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Monte S. Angelo I-80126 Naples, Italy
  • 2Theoretical Physics Department, CERN, 1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland

  • *mattia.cielo@unina.it
  • †miguel.escudero@cern.ch
  • ‡gmangano@na.infn.it
  • §pisanti@na.infn.it
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Phys. Rev. D 108, L121301 – Published 13 December, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.108.L121301

Abstract

The effective number of relativistic neutrino species is a fundamental probe of the early Universe, and its measurement represents a key constraint on many scenarios beyond the Standard Model of Particle Physics. In light of this, an accurate prediction of Neff in the Standard Model is of pivotal importance. In this work, we consider the last ingredient needed to accurately calculate NeffSM: standard zero and finite-temperature QED corrections to e+e−↔νν¯ interaction rates during neutrino decoupling at temperatures around T∼MeV. We find that this effect leads to a reduction of −0.0007 in NeffSM. This next-to-leading-order QED correction to the interaction rates, together with finite-temperature QED corrections to the electromagnetic density of the plasma, and the effect of neutrino oscillations, implies that NeffSM=3.043 with a theoretical uncertainty that is much smaller than any projected observational sensitivity.

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Phys. Rev. D 108, L121301– Published 13 December, 2023
  • Received 20 June 2023
  • Accepted 9 November 2023
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