Related papers: Cosmological Solutions to the Lithium Problem
One of the three testaments in favor of the big bang theory is the prediction of the primordial elemental abundances in the big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). The Standard BBN is a parameter-free theory due to the precise knowledge of the…
The light elements up to 7Li were produced by the Standard Big Bang nucleosynthesis (SBBN) in the early universe assuming standard conditions. All observed primordial abundances of these light elements match very well the predicted ones by…
The "stellar" solution to the cosmological lithium problem proposes that surface depletion of lithium in low-mass, metal-poor stars can reconcile the lower abundances found for Galactic halo stars with the primordial prediction. Globular…
Data from a recent 9Be(3He,t)9B measurement are used to rule out a possible solution to the cosmological lithium problem based on conventional nuclear physics.
The pre-Galactic abundance of lithium offers a unique window into non-thermal cosmological processes. The primordial Li abundance is guaranteed to be present and probes big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN), while an additional Li component is…
Assuming the best numerical value for the cosmic baryonic density and the existence of three neutrino flavors, standard big bang nucleosynthesis is a parameter-free model. It is important to assess if the observed primordial abundances can…
The success of primordial nucleosynthesis as a cornerstone of the hot Big Bang model has been limited by the long-standing lithium problem. Recent work presented a self-consistent perturbative analysis of the effects of variations in…
Recently, the first lithium detection outside of the Milky Way was made in low-metallicity gas of the Small Magellanic Cloud, which was at the level of the expected primordial value. Part of the observed lithium in any environment has…
In the standard hot big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) model the primordial abundances of H, H2, He3, He4, and Li7, fix the baryon density of the universe, $\Omega_b$, via the baryon-to-photon ratio, $\eta$, for a given Hubble parameter. Recent…
The observed amount of lithium for low metallicity population II stars (known as the Spite plateau) is a factor of $\sim 3-5$ lower than the predictions of the standard cosmology. Since the observations are limited to the local Universe…
The primordial lithium problem remains a persistent motivation for new-physics modifications of Big Bang nucleosynthesis, yet the precision of the observed deuterium abundance now places strong constraints on such attempts. This indicates…
The chemical evolution of lithium in the Milky Way represents a major problem in modern astrophysics. Indeed, lithium is, on the one hand, easily destroyed in stellar interiors, and, on the other hand, produced at some specific stellar…
Lithium is one of the few elements produced during the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis in the early universe. Moreover, its fragility makes it useful as a proxy for stellar environmental conditions. As such, the lithium abundance in old systems is…
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…
In 1982, Monique and Francois Spite discovered that the 7Li abundance in the atmosphere of old metal-poor dwarf stars in the galactic halo was independent of metallicity and temperature. Since then, 7Li abundance in the Universe has become…
According to the standard models of particle physics and cosmology, there should be a background of cosmic neutrinos in the present Universe, similar to the cosmic microwave photon background. The weakness of the weak interactions renders…
The primordial abundances of Deuterium, he4, and li7 are crucial to determination of the baryon density of the Universe in the framework of standard Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). li6 which is only produced in tiny quantities and it is…
The conventional Big Bang model successfully anticipates the initial abundances of 2H(D), 3He, and 4He, aligning remarkably well with observational data. However, a persistent challenge arises in the case of 7Li, where the predicted…
The persistent discrepancy between observations of 7Li with putative primordial origin and its abundance prediction in Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) has become a challenge for the standard cosmological and astrophysical picture. We point…
The lithium plateau observed in halo stars has long appeared as a paradox in the general context of the lithium abundance behavior in stellar outer layers. First, the plateau is flat, second, the lithium abundance dispersion is extremely…