CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE PLASMONS TO THE ENERGY DENSITY AND PRESSURE IN THE EARLY UNIVERSE .2. CORRELATION-EFFECTS

The contributions of correlation effects in the electron-positron plas ma in the early universe to the thermodynamic quantities are calculate d. These are found to be of the same order of magnitude as the plasmon contributions calculated in Paper I. Their contributions are of the o rder of 0.1% of the contributions of blackbody photons. Therefore, pla sma effects in the electron-positron plasma in the early universe will not drastically alter the standard model of the evolution of the earl y universe. For the sake of future applications, we give detailed nume rical results for the calculation of various thermodynamic quantities of the cosmic fluid in the early universe. The enhancement factor of t hermonuclear reaction rates due to Debye screening is also calculated. This factor is again of the order of 0.1%.