Thermal History

Cosmology · Part 2

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Table of Contents

  1. 1.1. Introduction: The Thermal Timeline
  2. 2.3. Grand Unification and Symmetry Breaking
  3. 3.4. The Electroweak Phase Transition
  4. 4.5. The QCD Phase Transition
  5. 5.6. Neutrino Decoupling
  6. 6.7. Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN)
  7. 7.8. Electron-Positron Annihilation and Photon Reheating
  8. 8.9. Recombination
  9. 9.10. Photon Decoupling and the Last Scattering Surface
  10. 10.11. The Dark Ages and Cosmic Dawn

Key Equations

$$H^2 = \frac{8\pi G}{3}\,\rho_{\text{rad}} = \frac{8\pi G}{3}\cdot\frac{\pi^2}{30}\,g_*(T)\,T^4$$
$$\frac{\Gamma_{\text{weak}}}{H} \sim G_F^2\,M_{\text{Pl}}\,T^3 \sim \left(\frac{T}{1\;\text{MeV}}\right)^3$$
$$D + D \to {}^3\text{He} + n \qquad D + D \to T + p$$
$$T_{\text{rec}} \approx 0.32\;\text{eV} \approx 3740\;\text{K}, \qquad z_{\text{rec}} \approx 1370$$

Equations are rendered with MathJax in the PDF with professional LaTeX typesetting.

Course Context

This PDF is part of the Cosmology course on CoursesHub.World. Study the origin, structure, and evolution of the universe. Covers the expanding universe, thermal history, cosmic inflation, CMB physics, structure formation, dark matter, dark energy, and observatio...

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