Cosmological implications of the KATRIN experiment

Abstract

The upcoming Karlsruhe Tritium Neutrino (KATRIN) experiment will put unprecedented constraints on the absolute mass of the electron neutrino, $\mnue$. In this paper we investigate how this information on $\mnue$ will affect our constraints on cosmological parameters. We consider two scenarios; one where $\mnue=0$ (i.e., no detection by KATRIN), and one where $\mnue=0.3$eV. We find that the constraints on $\mnue$ from KATRIN will affect estimates of some important cosmological parameters significantly. For example, the significance of $n_s<1$ and the inferred value of $\Omega_\Lambda$ depend on the results from the KATRIN experiment.