Primordial Nucleosynthesis

An introductory review of the early evolution of the Universe relevant to the primordial synthesis of the light nuclides deuterium, helium-3, helium-4 and lithium-7. The predictions of the element abundances in the "standard", hot, big bang cosmological model (SBBN) are described. After descriptions of the evolution of the primordial abundances from "there and then" to "here and now", the SBBN predictions are compared to current observational data. The implications for the st...

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.

Primordial nucleosynthesis provides a probe of the Universe during its early evolution. Given the progress exploring the constituents, structure, and recent evolution of the Universe, it is timely to review the status of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) and to confront its predictions, and the constraints which emerge from them, with those derived from independent observations of the Universe at much later epochs in its evolution. Following an overview of the key physics contro...

Within the first 20 minutes of the evolution of the hot, dense, early Universe, astrophysically interesting abundances of deuterium, helium-3, helium-4, and lithium-7 were synthesized by the cosmic nuclear reactor. The primordial abundances of these light nuclides produced during Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) are sensitive to the universal density of baryons and to the early-Universe expansion rate which at early epochs is governed by the energy density in relativistic parti...

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 baryon-to-photon ratio of the Universe obtained from studies of the anisotropies of cosmic microwave background radiation. Although the computed abundances of light elements during primordial nucleosynthesis and those determined from observatio...

Standard Big Bang Nucleosynthesis at the baryon density determined by the microwave anisotropy spectrum predicts an excess of \li7 compared to observations by a factor of 4-5. In contrast, BBN predictions for D/H are somewhat below (but within ~2 \sigma) of the weighted mean of observationally determined values from quasar absorption systems. Solutions to the \li7 problem which alter the nuclear processes during or subsequent to BBN, often lead to a significant increase in th...

Limits can be placed on nonstandard neutrino physics when big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) calculations employing standard neutrino physics agree with the observationally inferred primordial abundances of deuterium (D), $^3$He, $^4$He, and $^7$Li. These constraints depend most sensitively on the abundances of D and $^4$He. New observational determinations of the primordial D and/or $^4$He abundances could force revisions in BBN constraints on nonstandard neutrino physics.

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 present new calculations of light element abundances through li6 and li7, with updated nuclear reactions and uncertainties including those in the neutron lifetime. We provide fits to these results as a function of baryon density and of the numb...

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 observations lie a factor 3-4 below the BBN+WMAP prediction. This 4-5\sigma\ mismatch constitutes the cosmic "lithium problem," with disparate solutions possible. (1) Astrophysical systematics in the observations could exist but are increasingly con...

The physics of the standard hot big bang cosmology ensures that the early Universe was a primordial nuclear reactor, synthesizing the light nuclides (D, 3He, 4He, and 7Li) in the first 20 minutes of its evolution. After an overview of nucleosynthesis in the standard model (SBBN), the primordial abundance yields will be presented, followed by a status report (intended to stimulate further discussion during this symposium) on the progress along the road from observational data ...