Are Exotic Leptons Crucial for Life's Existence?

[windy miller]

There seems to be many exotic species of lepton, like the muon neutrino and the tao neutrino. Is there any evidence that these species and other exotic particles are relevant to the existence of life. If they didn't exist would that have the terrible consequences that is implied by some for the things that are claimed to have anthropic selection like dark energy?

 

[Simon Bridge]

"Could life have arisen without neutrinos?"
That is unanswerable as written.

Where are you going with this?

 

[windy miller]

The question is not could life arise without neutrinos but without some of the more exotic particles such as the tau neutrino , muon neutrino or ( pick your favourite particle).
Where am I going with this ? Some people have said physics is fine tuned for life, this seems to me to be an example where this is not the case, there seems to be more species of particle than is needed for anthropic requirements. I would like to know if i am correct or not. I think i remember some cosmologists making this point (maybe Sean Carroll? ) but as i going off memory I may have it wrong.

 

[PeterDonis]

i going off memory I may have it wrong.

Then you should try to look up some actual sources. We can't base a PF discussion on a vague memory that might be wrong. AFAIK nobody really knows what constraints the existence of life puts on the laws of physics or the particle species that must be present; so there might not be any sources that have an answer to your question. But the way to find that out is for you to look.

Thread closed.