Related papers: Primordial Nucleosynthesis and Dark Matter
We provide a pedagogical introduction to non-particle dark matter, focused on primordial black holes (PBHs), black holes that may form in the early Universe from large overdensities. First, we outline the key properties of PBHs and how they…
Abundance observations indicate the presence of often surprisingly large amounts of neutron capture (i.e., s- and r-process) elements in old Galactic halo and globular cluster stars. These observations provide insight into the nature of the…
Primordial or big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) is one of the three historical strong evidences for the big bang model. The recent results by the Planck satellite mission have slightly changed the estimate of the baryonic density compared to…
The discovery and confirmation that some nuclides were formed soon after the Big Bang is one of the strongest arguments in favour of the Hot Big Bang theory. The process of combining protons and neutrons in a hot, expanding universe is…
Big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) theory, together with the precise WMAP cosmic baryon density, makes tight predictions for the abundances of the lightest elements. Deuterium and 4He measurements agree well with expectations, but 7Li…
The presence of light sterile neutrinos is one of the unanswered questions of particle physics. The cosmological counterpart is represented by dark radiation, i.e.\ any form of radiation present in the early Universe besides photons and…
It is proposed that dark matter is the origin of neutrino mass, thereby linking inexorably two undisputed (and seemingly unrelated) pieces of evidence for physics beyond the Standard Model. Leptogenesis at the TeV scale may also be…
Standard big bang nucleosynthesis (BBNS) promises accurate predictions of the primordial abundances of deuterium, helium-3, helium-4 and lithium-7 as a function of a single parameter. Previous measurements have nearly always been…
There is plenty of evidence that most matter in the Universe is dark (non-luminous). Particle physics offers several possible explanations. In this talk I focus on cold dark matter; the most promising candidates are then axions and the…
We investigate Big Bang nucleosynthesis (hereafter, BBN) in a cosmic environment characterized by a distribution of small-scale matter/antimatter domains. Production of antimatter domains in a baryo-asymmetric universe is predicted in some…
We present what we know on nucleosynthesis in the Universe and hypotheses that have been made in this regard. A brief description of the Universe's evolution during its different stages is offered, indicating which are the periods and…
From the observations of the anisotropies of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation, the WMAP satellite has provided a determination of the baryonic density of the Universe, \Omega_b.h^2, with an unprecedented precision. This…
We perform calculations of dark photon production and decay in the early universe for ranges of dark photon masses and vacuum coupling with standard model photons. Simultaneously and self-consistently with dark photon production and decay,…
Recent cosmological observations, such as the measurement of the primordial 4He abundance, CMB, and large scale structure, give preference to the existence of extra radiation component, Delta N_nu > 0. The extra radiation may be accounted…
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…
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…
The early, hot, dense, expanding Universe was a primordial reactor in which the light nuclides D, 3He, 4He and 7Li were synthesized in astrophysically interesting abundances. The challenge to the standard hot big bang model (Big Bang…
The synthesis of nuclei in diverse cosmic scenarios is reviewed, with a summary of the basic concepts involved before a discussion of the current status in each case is made. We review the physics of the early universe, the proton to…
Dark matter has been recognized as an essential part of matter for over 70 years now, and many suggestions have been made, what it could be. Most of these ideas have centered on Cold Dark Matter, particles that are expected in extensions of…
There is a puzzling contradiction: direct observations favor a low-mass density universe, but the only model which fits universe structure over more than three orders of magnitude in distance scale has a mix of hot (neutrino) and cold dark…