2000/06/30 by Lowell S. Brown, R. F. Sawyer
Chemistry · Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics #Big Bang nucleosynthesis #Chemistry #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Neutron #Nuclear physics #Nuclear reaction #Nucleosynthesis #Order (exchange) #Physics #Quantum, superfluid, helium dynamics #Thermal #Thermodynamics #Transformation (genetics) #Universe #astro-ph #hep-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.63.083503
published as Phys.Rev.D63:083503,2001 · 38 pages, 3 figures Two typos corrected
arxiv created 2000/11/14 · openalex publication_date 2001/02/27 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We have reexamined the electromagnetic corrections to the weak interaction rates for the transformation of neutrons to protons, and protons to neutrons, in the early universe, before freeze-out. We derive compact expressions for these rates in terms of thermal expectation values of products of fields, and we give explicit constructions of the terms to order e2. We disagree in several respects with results in the literature.