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Primordial nucleosynthesis during the keV era (open access)

Primordial nucleosynthesis during the keV era

Energetic hadronic and electromagnetic showers in the keV era of the hot big bang are produced by the decays of long lived particles. These showers initiate a new phase of nucleosynthesis. The abundance ratios of D, /sup 3/He, /sup 6/Li and /sup 7/Li are given by fixed points of rate equations, which are determined by nuclear physics not by the nature of the decaying particle. The fixed points are independent of prior abundances, so that constraints from the MeV era of nucleosynthesis evaporate, except for a requirement that /sup 4/He not be underproduced. For example, ..cap omega../sub B/ = 1 and many more than four neutrino species are both possible. Within the accuracy of our calculation (there are uncertainties of at least a factor of three), the abundances agree with those inferred from observations. Considerable /sup 6/Li is produced and must be depleted in both population II halo stars and in the galactic disk. We predict /sup 6/Li, /sup 3/He and D abundances in primordial material which are higher than conventional nucleosynthesis. 8 refs.
Date: September 9, 1987
Creator: Dimopoulos, S.; Esmailzadeh, R.; Hall, L. J. & Starkman, G. D.
System: The UNT Digital Library