Vendredi 11 avril 2014 à 14h15
Auditoire Stueckelberg, Ecole de Physique

Towards first principles in particle cosmology

Mikko Laine, Bern

Some of the important issues in particle cosmology (such as the existence of a matter-antimatter asymmetry) can be faithfully addressed in terms of interactions probed at terrestrial experiments, only if we know how to compute reliably with relativistc thermal quntum field theories. After outlining a few of the conceptual and technical challenges involved, I illustrate the status of the field with the example of the right-handed neutrino production rate in a very early universe. The role that this quantity plays in practical mater-antimatter asmmetry computations is also briefly sketched.