Thermal relic ($Y=n/s$)

A thermal relic is a surviving particle population whose earlier abundance was set by chemical thermal equilibrium with the cosmic plasma. After number-changing reactions cease and cosmic entropy is conserved, its comoving abundance is described by the yield $Y=n/s$. A relativistically decoupled species can retain an appreciable yield, whereas a species remaining in thermal equilibrium after becoming nonrelativistic is subject to Boltzmann suppression. Its later mass density, lifetime and momentum distribution determine its cosmological effects.