Abstract
We present joint constraints on the number of effective neutrino species $N_{eff}$ and the sum of neutrino masses ${\Sigma}m_{\nu}$, based on a technique which exploits the full information contained in the one-dimensional Lyman-${\alpha}$ forest flux power spectrum, complemented by additional cosmological probes. In particular, we obtain $N_{eff}=2.91{\pm}0.22$ (95% CL) and ${\Sigma}m_{\nu}$ < 0.15 eV (95% CL) when we combine BOSS Lyman-${\alpha}$ forest data with CMB (Planck+ACT+SPT+WMAP polarization) measurements, and $N_{eff}=2.88{\pm}0.20$ (95% CL) and ${Sigma}m_{\nu}$ < 0.14 eV (95% CL) when we further add baryon acoustic oscillations. Our results tend to favor the normal hierarchy scenario for the masses of the active neutrino species, provide strong evidence for the Cosmic Neutrino Background from $N_{eff}{\approx}3$($N_{eff}=0$ is rejected at more than $14{\sigma}$), and rule out the possibility of a sterile neutrino thermalized with active neutrinos (i.e., $N_{eff}=4$) - or more generally any decoupled relativistic relic with $${\Delta}N_{eff}{\sim_=}1$$ - at a significance of over $5{\sigma}$, the strongest bound to date, implying that there is no need for exotic neutrino physics in the concordance ${\Lambda}CDM$ model.