In the standard hot big bang model, the expansion of the early universe is
given by the Friedmann equation with an energy density dominated by
relativistic particles. Since in a variety of models this equation is altered,
we introduce modifications in the Friedmann equation and show that we can
constrain them using big bang nucleosynthesis data. When there is no
neutrino/antineutrino asymmetry these modifications are tightly bounded but in
presence of an asymmetry the bounds become much looser. As an illustration, we
apply our results to a model where the second and third families couple to
gravity differently than the first family (non-universal gravity).Comment: 6 figures. Revised version. Matches with the accepted one for
publication in PR