Published April 12, 2004 | Version v1
Journal article

Updated Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis compared to WMAP results

  • 1. CSNSM, CNRS/IN2P3/UPS, Bat. 104, 91405 Orsay Campus (France)
  • 2. IAP/CNRS, 98bis Bd. Arago, 75014 Paris France (France)
  • 3. Physique Nucleaire Theorique et Physique Mathematique, CP229, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, B-1050 Brussels (Belgium)
  • 4. Centre de Recherche du Cyclotron, UCL, Chemin du Cyclotron 2, B-1348 Louvain-La-Neuve (Belgium)

Description

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, Ωbh2, with an unprecedented precision. This imposes a careful reanalysis of the standard Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis (SBBN) calculations. We have updated our previous calculations using thermonuclear reaction rates provided by a new analysis of experimental nuclear data constrained by R-matrix theory. Combining these BBN results with the Ωbh2 value from WMAP, we deduce the light element (4He, D, 3He and 7Li) primordial abundances and compare them with spectroscopic observations. There is a very good agreement with deuterium observed in cosmological clouds, which strengthens the confidence on the estimated baryonic density of the Universe. However, there is an important discrepancy between the deduced 7Li abundance and the one observed in halo stars of our Galaxy, supposed, until now, to represent the primordial abundance of this isotope. The origin of this discrepancy, observational, nuclear or more fundamental remains to be clarified. The possible role of the up to now neglected 7Be(d,p)2α and 7Be(d,α)5Li reactions is considered

Additional details

Publishing Information

Journal Title
AIP Conference Proceedings
Journal Volume
704
Journal Issue
1
Journal Page Range
p. 341-350
ISSN
0094-243X
CODEN
APCPCS

Conference

Title
5. Tours symposium on nuclear physics
Dates
26-29 Aug 2003
Place
Tours (France)

Optional Information

Notes
(c) 2004 American Institute of Physics