Precision calculation of neutrino energy density in the early universe honored -- Collaboration with UNSW Sydney and UC Louvain

The Institute of Physics celebrates the 20 most cited publications from Germany in 2024 with a special edition. Among them is a publication from the University of Münster in the Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics. “Our findings on the energy density of neutrinos in the early universe are of great importance for precision tests of the standard cosmological model and for obtaining clues about dark energy and dark matter,” says Prof. Michael Klasen from the Institute of Theoretical Physics. “The fact that they have now been recognized again by the Institute of Physics, after our doctoral student Luca Wiggering received the Infineon Dissertation Prize 2025 for them, shows that they are attracting worldwide attention.”

Among the greatest mysteries of modern cosmology are dark energy and dark matter. Measurements of the cosmic microwave background have shown very precisely that they contribute far more to the current energy density in the universe than photons or neutrinos, which are also invisible. The contribution of neutrinos in the early universe was calculated even more precisely in 2024 by a team led by Prof. Yvonne Wong from USNW Sydney and Prof. Michael Klasen from the University of Münster. A group led by Prof. Marco Drewes from the Université Catholique de Louvain was also involved. “We started the project at UNSW Sydney,” says Prof. Klasen, who was a Gordon Godfrey Fellow there in 2022 and will soon again take up a visiting professorship there. “One of our doctoral students will travel with us again to continue our research collaboration.”

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