A Simultaneous Solution to the ^6Li and ^7Li Big Bang Nucleosynthesis Problems from a Long-Lived Negatively-Charged Leptonic Particle
Abstract
The Li abundance observed in metal poor halo stars exhibits a plateau similar to that for Li suggesting a primordial origin. However, the observed abundance of Li is a factor of larger and that of Li is a factor of 3 lower than the abundances predicted in the standard big bang when the baryon-to-photon ratio is fixed by WMAP. Here we show that both of these abundance anomalies can be explained by the existence of a long-lived massive, negatively-charged leptonic particle during nucleosynthesis. Such particles would capture onto the synthesized nuclei thereby reducing the reaction Coulomb barriers and opening new transfer reaction possibilities, and catalyzing a second round of big bang nucleosynthesis. This novel solution to both of the Li problems can be achieved with or without the additional effects of stellar destruction.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.0711.3854,
title = {A Simultaneous Solution to the ^6Li and ^7Li Big Bang Nucleosynthesis Problems from a Long-Lived Negatively-Charged Leptonic Particle},
author = {Motohiko Kusakabe and Toshitaka Kajino and Richard N. Boyd and Takashi Yoshida and Grant J. Mathews},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0711.3854},
year = {2008}
}
Comments
6 pages, 2 figures, to be published in Physical Review D