Hannestad S
NORDITA, Blegdamsvej 17, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Phys Rev Lett. 2000 Nov 13;85(20):4203-6. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.4203.
We have performed a likelihood analysis of the recent data on the cosmic microwave background radiation anisotropy from the BOOMERANG experiment. These data place a strong upper bound on the radiation density present at recombination. Expressed in terms of the equivalent number of neutrino species the 2sigma bound is N(nu)</=13. This bound is not flavor sensitive. It also applies to the Universe at a much later epoch, and as such places severe limits on scenarios with decaying neutrinos. The bound also yields a firm upper limit on the lepton asymmetry in the Universe.