On the Accelerated Expansion of the Universe
Abstract
Description
The Universe is filled with relic neutrinos, remnants from the Leptonic Era. Since the formation of galaxies started, gravitation has modified the Fermi-Dirac momentum distribution of these otherwise decoupled particles. Decelerated neutrinos moving toward the field-free regions between galaxies could violate the Pauli principle. The fermion degeneracy pressure resulting from this leads to an accelerated motion of galaxies away from one another. We show that this model not only offers a natural explanation for the accelerated expansion of the Universe, but also allows a straightforward calculation of the Hubble constant and the time-evolution of this constant. Moreover, it sets a lower limit for the (average) neutrino mass. For the latter, we find $m_ν> 0.25$ eV/$c^2$ (95% C.L).
Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. on Sep. 1, 2004, 4 pages, 5 figures
Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett. on Sep. 1, 2004, 4 pages, 5 figures