The Cosmic Lithium Story

Elements ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 241-246
Author(s):  
Katharina Lodders

Lithium’s story spans the history of the universe and is one that links to all its largest-scale processes: big bang nucleosyntheses, the evolution of stars, and galactic chemical evolution. Lithium was the only metal produced in the big bang, alongside the gases H and He. Stars destroy both stable isotopes of Li easily, yet we still have Li today, even after generations of stars have come and gone. Ongoing production of Li by galactic cosmic rays and by a limited number of Li-producing nuclear reactions and transport processes in some rare types of stars keeps lithium present in the universe.

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Gleiser

AbstractThe history of life on Earth and in other potential life-bearing planetary platforms is deeply linked to the history of the Universe. Since life, as we know, relies on chemical elements forged in dying heavy stars, the Universe needs to be old enough for stars to form and evolve. The current cosmological theory indicates that the Universe is 13.7 ± 0.13 billion years old and that the first stars formed hundreds of millions of years after the Big Bang. At least some stars formed with stable planetary systems wherein a set of biochemical reactions leading to life could have taken place. In this paper, I argue that we can divide cosmological history into four ages, from the Big Bang to intelligent life. The physical age describes the origin of the Universe, of matter, of cosmic nucleosynthesis, as well as the formation of the first stars and Galaxies. The chemical age began when heavy stars provided the raw ingredients for life through stellar nucleosynthesis and describes how heavier chemical elements collected in nascent planets and Moons gave rise to prebiotic biomolecules. The biological age describes the origin of early life, its evolution through Darwinian natural selection and the emergence of complex multicellular life forms. Finally, the cognitive age describes how complex life evolved into intelligent life capable of self-awareness and of developing technology through the directed manipulation of energy and materials. I conclude discussing whether we are the rule or the exception.


1994 ◽  
Vol 159 ◽  
pp. 293-299
Author(s):  
G. Burbidge ◽  
F. Hoyle ◽  
J.V. Narlikar

The standard big bang cosmology has the universe created out of a primeval explosion that not only created matter and radiation but also spacetime itself. The big bang event itself cannot be discussed within the framework of a physical theory but the events following it are in principle considered within the scope of science. The recent developments on the frontier between particle physics and cosmology highlight the attempts to chart the history of the very early universe.


KronoScope ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-111
Author(s):  
Christophe Bouton

Abstract This paper deals with the problem of the emergence of time in three different ways, at the intersection of the history of philosophy and the history of science: 1) the emergence of time with subjectivity examined on the basis of Kant’s idealism; 2) the emergence of time with life, considered in the light of the work of Bergson; 3) the emergence of time with the Universe, in relation to the notions of ‘The Big Bang’ and ‘The Planck Wall’. It concludes that the idea of the emergence of time is inconsistent in a diachronic sense, and problematic in a synchronic sense. One meaning could, however, be accorded to this notion: with life, a new relation to time has emerged and has attained one of its most developed forms with the human being.


Author(s):  
Rodney Bartlett

This hypothesis is the result of my conviction that science will oneday prove everything in space and time is part of a unification. In "A Brief History of Time", Stephen Hawking wrote, "If everything in the universe depends on everything else in a fundamental way, it might be impossible to get close to a full solution (of the universe's puzzles) by investigating parts of the problem (such as general relativity and quantum mechanics) in isolation." The goal: to establish a “proof of concept” to which equations can be added. It’s concluded the Steady State, Big Bang, Inflation and Multiverse theories all ultimately fail and a topological model including bits (binary digits), Mobius strips, figure-8 Klein bottles and Wick rotation works better. The failed cosmologies have impressive points leading to the idea that they’re all necessary stepping-stones. For example, the Big Bang is seen here as violation of the 1st Law of Thermodynamics but its supposed origin from quantum fluctuations is reminiscent of bits switching between 1 and 0. The topological hypothesis has potential to explain dark matter, dark energy, and electromagnetic-gravitational union. Finally, the article introduces what is called vector-tensor-scalar geometry - and extensions of Einstein's Gravity and Maxwell's Electromagnetism.


Author(s):  
Max Pettini

Astronomers now have at their disposal telescopes and instruments that allow them to look back in time over most of the history of the Universe, from the present epoch to less than a billion years after the Big Bang, when the Universe was still in its infancy. Using quasars (the bright nuclei of distant galaxies) as background sources of light, we can follow the evolution of galaxies and of the matter between them from the First Stars to the rich diversity of the Universe today. In this article, I focus on recent developments in the study of the most metal-poor gas seen in the spectra of quasars, whose properties can be used to infer the nature of the First Stars and, in some cases, even determine the universal fraction of baryons.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (33) ◽  
pp. 143
Author(s):  
Dastagiri M.B.

The universe is full of mystical things. Since ages, the belief that God became the Universe is a theological doctrine that has been developed. Evolutionary biologists and Modern scientists still believes in Big Bang theory. Many thinkers, theologians, philosophers, and scientists are unable to confirm the exact process of the origin of the universe. Hence, this paper focuses on analyzing the history of theologians, mythologists, philosophers, cosmologists and scientists research evidences, insights, theories, and rationales to find out about the origin of the universe. The study uses metaanalysis of universe origin scriptures, research, insights, and bibliographies which was put forth by theologians, philosophers, cosmologists, and scientists. The study found that as per Bhagavad-Gita, God is the source of all spiritual, intellectual, and material world. In 1996, Pastor Bob Burridge of the Genevan Institute for Reformed Studies reveals that as per Christian theology, God becoming the universe is not accordant with it. In the 1940s, Charles Hartshorne identified pandeism as a possible model of God’s nature as God is capable of changing. In 2001, Scott Adams surmised that an omnipotent God annihilated himself in the Big Bang. This is considered as per mythologist’s world created from dead deity physical substances. All Catholic scientists reported that God’s light and love revealed his creation. Physicist Bernard Haisch in his book entitled “The God Theory” concluded that the deity became the universe. Alan Dawe's (2011) book titled “The God Franchise” concludes that human knowledge is a briefly separated piece of God’s skill. Raphael Lataster (2013), Australian religious studies Scholar, projected that "Pandeism is the future God-concept of all". There is a long list of Catholic scientists who in their quest for learning maintained God at the origin of all existence. Theology and mythology proofs are not conforming with both science and philosophy. The Evolving God concept is also a wrong idea of metaphysics. If it is so, man would have been found under developed state. Jafree Ozwald explains that based on human request, the universe is not able to fulfill it but God does. The universe is not God. God is God. The study concludes that God created the universe from nothing and He is yet to manifest Himself. God is a supernatural power and has a divine holy nature that is omnipresence, omnipotence, and omniscience. The study suggests that the sharing of knowledge, debate, discussions, and consensus based on their evidences and perceptions among theologists, philosophers, mythologists, and scientists on the universe origin is a future task.


Author(s):  
John Iliopoulos

We present the evolution of our ideas concerning the history of the Cosmos. They are based on Einstein’s theory of General Relativity in which E.P. Hubble and G. Lemaître brought two fundamental new concepts: the expansion of the Universe and the model of the Big Bang. They form the basic elements of the modern theory of Cosmology. We present very briefly the observational evidence which corroborates this picture based on a vast amount of data, among which the most recent ones come from the Planck mission with a detailed measurement of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation. We show that during its evolution the Universe went through several phase transitions giving rise to the formation of particles, atoms, nuclei, etc. A particular phase transition, which occurred very early in the cosmic history, around 10–12 seconds after the Big Bang, is the Brout–Englert–Higgs (BEH) transition during which a fraction of the energy was transformed into mass, thus making it possible for most elementary particles to become massive.


Author(s):  
Rodney Bartlett

This hypothesis is the result of my conviction that science will oneday prove everything in space and time is part of a unification. In "A Brief History of Time", Stephen Hawking wrote, "If everything in the universe depends on everything else in a fundamental way, it might be impossible to get close to a full solution (of the universe's puzzles) by investigating parts of the problem (such as general relativity and quantum mechanics) in isolation." The goal: to establish a “proof of concept” to which equations can be added. It’s concluded the Steady State, Big Bang, Inflation and Multiverse theories all ultimately fail and a topological model including bits (binary digits), Mobius strips, figure-8 Klein bottles and Wick rotation works better. The failed cosmologies have impressive points leading to the idea that they’re all necessary stepping-stones. For example, the Big Bang is seen here as violation of the 1st Law of Thermodynamics but its supposed origin from quantum fluctuations is reminiscent of bits switching between 1 and 0. The topological hypothesis has potential to explain dark matter, dark energy, and electromagnetic-gravitational union. Finally, the article introduces what is called vector-tensor-scalar geometry - and extensions of Einstein's Gravity and Maxwell's Electromagnetism.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (08) ◽  
pp. 1741001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant J. Mathews ◽  
Motohiko Kusakabe ◽  
Toshitaka Kajino

Primordial nucleosynthesis remains as one of the pillars of modern cosmology. It is the testing ground upon which many cosmological models must ultimately rest. It is our only probe of the universe during the important radiation-dominated epoch in the first few minutes of cosmic expansion. This paper reviews the basic equations of space-time, cosmology, and big bang nucleosynthesis. We also summarize the current state of observational constraints on primordial abundances along with the key nuclear reactions and their uncertainties. We summarize which nuclear measurements are most crucial during the big bang. We also review various cosmological models and their constraints. In particular, we analyze the constraints that big bang nucleosynthesis places upon the possible time variation of fundamental constants, along with constraints on the nature and origin of dark matter and dark energy, long-lived supersymmetric particles, gravity waves, and the primordial magnetic field.


2006 ◽  
Vol 190 ◽  
pp. 15-15
Author(s):  
D CASTELVECCHI
Keyword(s):  
Big Bang ◽  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document