Related papers: Weinberg Angle, Neutron Abundance in BBN, and Life…
Current precision big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) studies motivate us to revisit the neutron lifespan in the plasma medium of the early universe. The mechanism we explore is the Fermi-blocking of decay electrons and neutrinos by plasma. As…
We discuss the effects of a possible time variation of the Newton constant $G_{\rm N}$ on light elements production in Big Bang Nucleosyntesis (BBN). We provide analytical estimates for the dependence of primordial abundances on the value…
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…
We examine big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) in models with a time-varying gravitational constant $G$, when this time variation is rapid on the scale of the expansion rate $H$, i.e, $\dot G/G \gg H$. Such models can arise naturally in the…
We explore the effect of neutron lifetime and its uncertainty on standard big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). BBN describes the cosmic production of the light nuclides $^1{\rm H}$, ${\rm D}$, $^3{\rm H}$+$^3{\rm He}$, $^4{\rm He}$, and $^7{\rm…
The successful prediction of light element abundances from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis has been a pillar of the standard model of Cosmology. Because many of the relevant reaction rates are sensitive to the values of fundamental constants, such…
In conventional general relativity, the expansion rate H of a Robertson-Walker universe is related to the energy density by the Friedmann equation. Aside from the present day, the only epoch at which we can constrain the expansion history…
Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) is very sensitive to the cosmological expansion rate. If the gravitational constant $G$ took a different value during the nucleosynthesis epoch than today, the primordial abundances of light elements would be…
Prediction of the primordial abundances of elements in the big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) is one of the three strong evidences for the big bang model. Precise knowledge of the baryon-to-photon ratio of the Universe from observations of the…
We consider the big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) in the Brane world scenario, where all matter fields are confined on our 3-brane and the radion of the Brane evolves cosmologically. In the Einstein frame fundamental fermion masses vary and…
Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) is the earliest sensitive probe of the values of many fundamental particle physics parameters. We have found the leading linear dependences of primordial abundances on all relevant parameters of the standard…
We show that the predicted primordial helium production is significantly reduced when new measurements of the neutron lifetime and the implied enhancement in the weak reaction rates are included in big-bang nucleosynthesis. Therefore, even…
We present the status of current US experimental efforts to measure the lifetime of the free neutron by the "beam" and "bottle" methods. BBN nucleosynthesis models require accurate measurements with 1 second uncertainties, which are…
For a brief time in its early evolution the Universe was a cosmic nuclear reactor. The expansion and cooling of the Universe limited this epoch to the first few minutes, allowing time for the synthesis in astrophysically interesting…
The effective number of neutrino species, $N_{\rm eff}$, serves as a key fitting parameter extensively employed in cosmological studies. In this work, we point out a fundamental inconsistency in the conventional treatment of $N_{\rm eff}$…
In this paper we consider the effects on big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) of the hadronic decay of a long-lived massive particle. If high-energy hadrons are emitted near the BBN epoch ($t \sim 10^{-2}$ -- $10^2 \sec$), they extraordinarily…
Primordial nucleosynthesis, or Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), is one of the three evidences for the Big-Bang model, together with the expansion of the Universe and the Cosmic Microwave Background. There is a good global agreement over a…
We establish the feasibility of measuring the neutron lifetime via an alternative, space-based class of methods, which use neutrons generated by galactic cosmic ray spallation of planets' surfaces and atmospheres. Free neutrons decay via…
Big Bang Nucleosynthesis can provide, via constraints on the expansion rate at that time, limits on possible variations in Newton's Constant, $G$. The original analyses were performed before an independent measurement of the…
We study effects of long-lived massive particles, which decay during the big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) epoch, on the primordial abundances of light elements. Compared to the previous studies, (i) the reaction rates of the standard BBN…