Primordial Nucleosynthesis

Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), along with the cosmic background radiation and the Hubble expansion, is one of the pillars ofthe standard, hot, big bang cosmology since the primordial synthesis of the light nuclides (D, $^3$He, $^4$He, $^7$Li) must have occurred during the early evolution of a universe described by this model. The overall consistency between the predicted and observed abundances of the light nuclides, each of which spans a range of some nine orders of magnitu...

In this paper we review the present status of observations of the Big Bang elements D, 3He, 4He and 7Li and of their extrapolation to the primordial values. It is shown that, within the errors, the abundances are consistent with the predictions of the standard Big Bang nucleosynthesis for 1 < eta_10 < 6, which corresponds to 0.004 < Omega_b h_{0}^2 < 0.02$. Narrower consistencies in eta_{10} are still possible at about 1.7 or about 4, but in this case some of the observations...

The dual origin of population II Li7, in both big bang nucleosynthesis and galactic cosmic-ray nucleosynthesis is discussed. It is argued that with additional Li6 data, stringent limits on the degree of Li7 depletion can be obtained. Li7 depletion is also constrained by the concordance of big bang predictions with observational determinations of light element abundances. Stringent limits can also be obtained for a fixed primordial D/H abundance.

After few minutes the Universe evolved through conditions of temperature and density which permitted the first synthesis of astrophysically interesting abundances of D, 3He, 4He and 7Li. The relic abundances are sensitive probes of the nucleon density and so are the CMB acoustic oscillations, somewhat 400000 years later, which allow a stringent cross check. The CMB high precision estimate of the baryon density by WMAP is currently used as input parameter for standard big bang...

We present an up-to-date review of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN). We discuss the main improvements which have been achieved in the past two decades on the overall theoretical framework, summarize the impact of new experimental results on nuclear reaction rates, and critically re-examine the astrophysical determinations of light nuclei abundances. We report then on how BBN can be used as a powerful test of new physics, constraining a wide range of ideas and theoretical models...

We update Standard Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (SBBN) calculations on the basis of recent nuclear physics compilations (NACRE in particular), experimental and theoretical works. By a Monte--Carlo technique, we calculate the uncertainties on the light element yields (4He, D, 3He, 7Li) related to nuclear reactions. The results are compared to observations that are thought to be representative of the corresponding primordial abundances. It is found that 7Li could lead to more strin...

In the first thousand seconds of its evolution the Universe was a primordial nuclear reactor synthesizing the nuclides D, $^3$He, $^4$He and $^7$Li. These messengers from the Big Bang provide a unique window on the early, hot, dense Universe, offering the opportunity for tests of the standard models of particle physics and of cosmology. A new, statistically coherent comparison of the primordial abundances of these nuclides inferred from increasingly accurate observational dat...

To elucidate the significance of the effect of systematic uncertainties in light element abundance estimates on cosmological bounds derivable from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) we present tables giving bounds on $\Omega_{baryon}$ and $N_{\nu}$ as one changes the limits on primordial \he and $^7$Li. This allows us to derive new relations between these estimates and constraints on $\Omega_{baryon}$ and $N_{\nu}$. For example, only if the helium mass fraction, $Y_p \ge .245$ do...

A critical review is given of the current status of cosmological nucleosynthesis. In the framework of the Standard Model with 3 types of relativistic neutrinos, the baryon-to-photon ratio, $\eta$, corresponding to the inferred primordial abundances of deuterium and helium-4 is consistent with the independent determination of $\eta$ from WMAP observations of anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background. However the primordial abundance of lithium-7 inferred from observation...

I review standard big bang nucleosynthesis and some versions of nonstandard BBN. The abundances of the primordial isotopes D, He-3, and Li-7 produced in standard BBN can be calculated as a function of the baryon density with an accuracy of about 10%. For He-4 the accuracy is better than 1%. The calculated abundances agree fairly well with observations, but the baryon density of the universe cannot be determined with high precision. Possibilities for nonstandard BBN include in...