Diffusion coefficients and constraints on hadronic inhomogeneities in the early universe

Abstract

After the quark hadron phase transition hadronic inhomogeneities are formed. In some regions of the plasma the number of the strange quarks are more than the up and down quarks. Besides the protons and the neutrons, the hadronization of these quarks will also produce a large number hyperons which will decay into pions, muons and their respective neutrinos. Hence in the plasma beside neutrons, protons, and electrons, there will be muons and neutrinos. Due to the decay of the hyperons muon abundance in the plasma will be very high. We study the diffusion of neutrons and protons in presence of a large number of muons immediately after the quark hadron phase transition. We find that inhomogeneities decay faster in a muon rich plasma as compared to an electron rich plasma. Thus in a muon rich plasma the size of the inhomogeneities has to be much larger to have any effect on the nucleosynthesis calculation.