Constraining Tsallis Corrections to Photon Reheating from Electron-Positron Annihilation: A Phenomenological Approach

Abstract

In this work we generalize the entropy transfer from electron-positron annihilation to photons in the early Universe. The generalization is implemented within the Tsallis formalism by using generalized distribution functions derived from Curado-Tsallis constraints. Through this deformation, the entropy density of the electromagnetic sector is modified, while the photon component is kept extensive. Therefore, the nonextensive correction is introduced only in the $e^-e^+$ pairs. This affects the entropic degrees of freedom before electron-positron annihilation and consequently modifies the temperature ratio $T_ν/T_γ$. The resulting correction is then mapped into an effective value of \(N_{\rm eff}\) within the instantaneous decoupling approximation. Comparing this effective thermodynamic estimate with CMB$+$BAO data, and using BBN only as an illustrative Gaussian comparison, we obtain an order-of-magnitude phenomenological interval for the nonextensive parameter. The result should not be interpreted as a precision neutrino decoupling constraint, since a full treatment would require solving the kinetic evolution of the neutrino sector, including non-instantaneous decoupling, finite-temperature QED effects and possible spectral distortions.