scholarly journals Big Bang Nucleosynthesis

2002 ◽  
Vol 187 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
D.N. Schramm

Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) is on the verge of undergoing a transformation now that extragalactic deuterium is being measured. Previously, the emphasis was on demonstrating the concordance of the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis model with the abundances of the light isotopes extrapolated back to their primordial values using stellar and Galactic evolution theories. Once the primordial deuterium abundance is converged upon, the nature of the field will shift to using the much more precise primordial D/H to constrain the more flexible stellar and Galactic evolution models (although the question of potential systematic error in 4He abundance determinations remains open). The remarkable success of the theory to date in establishing the concordance has led to the very robust conclusion of BBN regarding the baryon density. The BBN constraints on the cosmological baryon density are reviewed and demonstrate that the bulk of the baryons are dark and also that the bulk of the matter in the universe is non-baryonic. Comparison of baryonic density arguments from Lyman-α clouds, x-ray gas in clusters, the Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect, and the microwave anisotropy are made and shown to be consistent with the BBN value.

1977 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 100-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. D. Brown

There have been a number of attempts made in the last decade or two to observe deuterium in parts of the universe other than here in Earth. It is of interest merely to detect deuterium elsewhere just as it is to detect the occurrence of any nuclide. However in the case of deuterium there is a special interest because in big-bang cosmologies the great majority of deuterium in the universe is considered to have been formed in the initial fireball (Wagoner, 1973). Any observation of the present abundance of deuterium thus might give information about the very early stages of the creation of the universe. Detailed studies of nucleosynthesis during the early expansion of hot big-bang universes have however indicated a particular feature of deuterium production. (Fig. 1) The mass fraction produced X(D) is a very sensitive function of the size of the universe, as measured say by the present baryon density ϱb. Other nuclides that are mainly produced in the early expansion, such as 4He, have mass fractions less dependent on ϱb. Thus if we adopt the big-bang model for our universe we can determine ϱb from observations of X(D). Apart from any intrinsic interest in the present density of the’universe, there is considerable interest in whether the value is great enough for the present expansion to halt and go over to a collapse — or so small that the expansion of the universe will go on forever.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Paolo Ciarcelluti

One of the still viable candidates for the dark matter is the so-called mirror matter. Its cosmological and astrophysical implications were widely studied, pointing out the importance to go further with research. In particular, the Big Bang nucleosynthesis provides a strong test for every dark matter candidate, since it is well studied and involves relatively few free parameters. The necessity of accurate studies of primordial nucleosynthesis with mirror matter has then emerged. I present here the results of accurate numerical simulations of the primordial production of both ordinary nuclides and nuclides made of mirror baryons, in presence of a hidden mirror sector with unbroken parity symmetry and with gravitational interactions only. These elements are the building blocks of all the structures forming in the Universe; therefore, their chemical composition is a key ingredient for astrophysics with mirror dark matter. The production of ordinary nuclides shows differences from the standard model for a ratio of the temperatures between mirror and ordinary sectorsx=T′/T≳0.3, and they present an interesting decrease of the abundance ofLi7. For the mirror nuclides, instead, one observes an enhanced production ofHe4, which becomes the dominant element forx≲0.5, and much larger abundances of heavier elements.


2021 ◽  
Vol 502 (2) ◽  
pp. 2474-2481
Author(s):  
Cyril Pitrou ◽  
Alain Coc ◽  
Jean-Philippe Uzan ◽  
Elisabeth Vangioni

ABSTRACT Recent measurements of the D(p,γ)3He nuclear reaction cross-section and of the neutron lifetime, along with the reevaluation of the cosmological baryon abundance from cosmic microwave background (CMB) analysis, call for an update of abundance predictions for light elements produced during the big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). While considered as a pillar of the hot big-bang model in its early days, BBN constraining power mostly rests on deuterium abundance. We point out a new ≃1.8σ tension on the baryonic density, or equivalently on the D/H abundance, between the value inferred on one hand from the analysis of the primordial abundances of light elements and, on the other hand, from the combination of CMB and baryonic oscillation data. This draws the attention on this sector of the theory and gives us the opportunity to reevaluate the status of BBN in the context of precision cosmology. Finally, this paper presents an upgrade of the BBN code primat.


2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (24) ◽  
pp. 1950194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tahani R. Makki ◽  
Mounib F. El Eid ◽  
Grant J. Mathews

Standard Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (SBBN) represents one of the basic tools to understand the early evolution of the universe. In this paper, we reanalyze this process to focus on the so-called lithium problem. 7Li is overproduced during SBBN compared to its primordial abundance as obtained from observations. For this reason, we extend the scenarios of SBBN in two directions: (i) equating all neutrino chemical potentials and including more neutrino families, (ii) varying neutrino chemical potentials independently. Since the so-called cosmological lithium problem is not resolved on nuclear/astrophysical ground, we argue that this problem should be examined by invoking nonstandard assumptions.


Universe ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 87
Author(s):  
Jaume Haro Cases ◽  
Llibert Aresté Saló

One of the most important issues in an inflationary theory as standard or quintessential inflation is the mechanism to reheat the universe after the end of the inflationary period in order to match with the Hot Big Bang universe. In quintessential inflation two mechanisms are frequently used, namely the reheating via gravitational particle production which is, as we will see, very efficient when the phase transition from the end of inflation to a kinetic regime (all the energy of the inflaton field is kinetic) is very abrupt, and the so-called instant preheating which is used for a very smooth phase transition because in that case the gravitational particle production is very inefficient. In the present work, a detailed study of these mechanisms is done, obtaining bounds for the reheating temperature and the range of the parameters involved in each reheating mechanism in order that the Gravitational Waves (GWs) produced at the beginning of kination do not disturb the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) success.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1668 (1) ◽  
pp. 012028
Author(s):  
Viviana Mossa

Abstract The Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) describes the production of light nuclides occurred during the first minutes of cosmic time. It started with the accumulation of deuterium, whose primordial abundance is sensitive to the universal baryon density and to the amount of relativistic particles. Currently the main source of uncertainty to an accurate theoretical deuterium abundance evaluation is due to the poor knowledge of the D(p, γ)3He cross section at BBN energies. The present work wants to describe one of the two experimental approaches proposed by the LUNA collaboration, whose goal is to measure with unprecedented precision, the reaction cross section in the energy range 30 < Ecm[keV] < 300.


2021 ◽  
Vol 923 (1) ◽  
pp. 49
Author(s):  
Joseph Moscoso ◽  
Rafael S. de Souza ◽  
Alain Coc ◽  
Christian Iliadis

Abstract Big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) is the standard model theory for the production of light nuclides during the early stages of the universe, taking place about 20 minutes after the big bang. Deuterium production, in particular, is highly sensitive to the primordial baryon density and the number of neutrino species, and its abundance serves as a sensitive test for the conditions in the early universe. The comparison of observed deuterium abundances with predicted ones requires reliable knowledge of the relevant thermonuclear reaction rates and their corresponding uncertainties. Recent observations reported the primordial deuterium abundance with percent accuracy, but some theoretical predictions based on BBN are in tension with the measured values because of uncertainties in the cross section of the deuterium-burning reactions. In this work, we analyze the S-factor of the D(p,γ)3He reaction using a hierarchical Bayesian model. We take into account the results of 11 experiments, spanning the period of 1955–2021, more than any other study. We also present results for two different fitting functions, a two-parameter function based on microscopic nuclear theory and a four-parameter polynomial. Our recommended reaction rates have a 2.2% uncertainty at 0.8 GK, which is the temperature most important for deuterium BBN. Differences between our rates and previous results are discussed.


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