Related papers: The Cosmological Lithium Problem Revisited
I review recent developments in cosmology and astrophysics relevant to particle physics, focussing on the following questions: What's new in 1992? What have we learned since the last ICHEP meeting in 1990? and What are the prospects for the…
Big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) describes the production of the lightest nuclides via a dynamic interplay among the four fundamental forces during the first seconds of cosmic time. We briefly overview the essentials of this physics, and…
We study the effects of electron screening on nuclear reaction rates occurring during the Big Bang nucleosynthesis epoch. The sensitivity of the predicted elemental abundances on electron screening is studied in details. It is shown that…
In this short review we study the state of the art of the great problems in cosmology and their interrelationships. The reconciliation of these problems passes undoubtedly through the idea of a quantum universe.
We show how, by considering the cumulative effect of tiny quantum gravitational fluctuations over very large distances, it may be possible to: ($a$) reconcile nucleosynthesis bounds on the density parameter of the Universe with the…
A brief review of standard big bang nucleosynthesis theory and the related observations of the light element isotopes is presented. Implications of BBN on chemical evolution and constraints on particle properties will also be discussed.
Cosmological models involving an interaction between dark matter and dark energy have been proposed in order to solve the so-called coincidence problem. Different forms of coupling have been studied, but there have been claims that…
The cosmological Li problem is the observed discrepancy between Li abundance, A(Li), measured in Galactic dwarf, old and metal-poor stars (traditionally assumed to be equal to the initial value A(Li)_0), and that predicted by standard Big…
Despite their tremendous successes, modern-day cosmology and particle physics harbor a variety of unresolved mysteries. Two of the biggest are the origin of the baryon asymmetry of the Universe and the existence and nature of dark matter.…
In these lectures I discuss cosmological phase transitions with the goal of establishing the possibility of observational consequences. I argue that the {\em only} phase transition amenable of experimental study within the foreseeable…
Cosmological models which predict a large amount of antimatter in the Universe are reviewed. Observational signatures and searches for cosmic antimatter are briefly considered. A short discussion of new long range forces which might be…
I briefly review our current understanding of dark matter and dark energy. The first part of this paper focusses on issues pertaining to dark matter including observational evidence for its existence, current constraints and the `abundance…
Cosmology is living through fascinating times, where new observations from ground and space telescopes are questioning the established paradigm, the so-called Lambda Cold Dark Matter model. The particle nature of Dark Matter is severely…
Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) is studied within the framework of a two-parameter family of tensor-scalar theories of gravitation, with nonlinear scalar-matter coupling function a(phi). We run a BBN code modified by tensor-scalar gravity,…
We discuss several proposals for astrophysical and cosmological tests of quantum theory. The tests are motivated by deterministic hidden-variables theories, and in particular by the view that quantum physics is merely an effective theory of…
Primordial nucleosynthesis provides a probe of the universal abundance of baryons when the universe was only a few minutes old. Recent observations of anisotropy in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) probe the baryon abundance when the…
Reactions between atomic nuclei are measured in great detail in terrestrial laboratory experiments; transferring and extrapolating this knowledge to how the same reactions act within cosmic environments presents major challenges.…
We examine the possibility that Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) may produce non-trivial amounts of $^6$Li. If a primordial component of this isotope could be observed, it would provide a new fundamental test of Big-Bang cosmology, as well as…
In the last decade, progress on quantization of homogeneous cosmological spacetimes using techniques of loop quantum gravity has led to insights on various fundamental questions and has opened new avenues to explore Planck scale physics.…
Light element nucleosynthesis is an important chapter of nuclear astrophysics. Specifically, the rare and fragile light nuclei Lithium, Beryllium and Boron (LiBeB) are not generated in the normal course of stellar nucleosynthesis (except…