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ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2008/iii/paper-62/3/iv/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 62 3 iv Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The nucleons are nonrelativistic, so the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution givesBoth spin degeneracies are two. Taking the ratio and using the specified negligible chemical potentials yields the neutron-to-proton ratioThe mass prefactor differs from unity only at the per-mille level. The dependence on is much stronger: . Thus earlier, hotter weak freeze-out leaves more neutrons relative to protons. For illustration, gives ; gives . Free-neutron decay after freeze-out lowers the ratio further before most Big Bang nucleosynthesis takes place.
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