Electromagnetic Cascade in the Early Universe and Its Application to the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis
Year: 1995
Type: article
Abstract: We investigate the electromagnetic cascade initiated by injection of very high energy photons in the early universe and calculate the cascade spectrum by solving a set of Boltzmann equations numerically. In the calculation we take account of Compton scattering off the background electrons and pair creation off the background nuclei as well as photon-photon processes and inverse-Compton scattering. We also apply our cascade spectrum to the big bang nucleosynthesis with photodissociation processes due to heavy unstable particles and obtain the constraint on their lifetime and abundance.
Source: The Astrophysical Journal
DOI: 10.1086/176324
Authors: M. Kawasaki, T. Moroi
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1989057639