English

Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis After Planck

Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics 2020-06-17 v1 High Energy Physics - Phenomenology Nuclear Experiment

Abstract

We assess the status of big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) in light of the final Planck data release and other recent developments, and in anticipation of future measurements. Planck data fix the cosmic baryon density to 0.9% precision, and determine the helium abundance and effective number of neutrinos with precision approaching that of astronomical and BBN determinations respectively. In addition, new high-redshift measurements give D/H to better precision than theoretical predictions, and new Li/H data reconfirm the lithium problem. We present new 7Be(n,p)7Li{}^{7}{\rm Be}(n,p){}^{7}{\rm Li} rates using new neutron capture measurements; we have also examined the effect of proposed changes in the d(p,γ)3Hed(p,\gamma){}^{3}{\rm He} rates. Using these results we perform a series of likelihood analyses. We assess BBN/CMB consistency, with attention to how our results depend on the choice of Planck data, as well as how the results depend on the choice of non-BBN, non-Planck data sets. Most importantly the lithium problem remains, and indeed is more acute given the very tight D/H observational constraints; new neutron capture data reveals systematics that somewhat increases uncertainty and thus slightly reduces but does not essentially change the problem. We confirm that d(p,γ)3Hed(p,\gamma){}^{3}{\rm He} theoretical rates brings D/H out of agreement and slightly increases 7Li; new experimental data are needed at BBN energies. Setting the lithium problem aside, we find the effective number of neutrino species at BBN is Nν=2.86±0.15N_\nu = 2.86 \pm 0.15. Future CMB Stage-4 measurements promise substantial improvements in BBN parameters: helium abundance determinations will be competitive with the best astronomical determinations, and NeffN_{\rm eff} will approach sensitivities capable of detecting the effects of Standard Model neutrino heating of the primordial plasma. (Abridged)

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1912.01132,
  title  = {Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis After Planck},
  author = {Brian D. Fields and Keith A. Olive and Tsung-Han Yeh and Charles Young},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1912.01132},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

63 pages, 22 figures. Comments welcome

R2 v1 2026-06-23T12:33:48.546Z