Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2015/iii/paper-53/2/1/i/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 53 2 1 i Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Neutrino decoupling occurs when the interaction time ceases to be short compared with the expansion time, or . In natural units, this givesUsing the supplied high-temperature estimate ,Here is the unreduced Planck mass. The scaling explains the direction of the transition: interactions maintain thermal equilibrium at high temperature, but become ineffective as the universe cools. The extra species changes only by a small amount compared with the precision of the estimate.
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