Tracking the post-BBN evolution of deuterium

Journal Article · Sun May 24 04:00:00 EDT 2009 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3154093· OSTI ID:21304935

Steigman, Gary ^[1]

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1. Departments of Physics and Astronomy Center for Cosmology and Astro-Particle Physics, Ohio State University, 191 West Woodruff Avenue Columbus, OH 43210 (United States)

The primordial abundance of deuterium produced during Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) depends sensitively on the universal ratio of baryons to photons, an important cosmological parameter probed independently by the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation. Observations of deuterium in high-redshift, low-metallicity QSO Absorption Line Systems (QSOALS) provide a key baryometer, determining the baryon abundance at the time of BBN to a precision of {approx}5%. Alternatively, if the CMB-determined baryon to photon ratio is used in the BBN calculation of the primordial abundances, the BBN-predicted deuterium abundance may be compared with the primordial value inferred from the QSOALS, testing the standard cosmological model. In the post-BBN universe, as gas is cycled through stars, deuterium is only destroyed so that its abundance measured anytime, anywhere in the Universe, bounds the primordial abundance from below. Constraints on models of post-BBN Galactic chemical evolution follow from a comparison of the relic deuterium abundance with the FUSE-inferred deuterium abundances in the chemically enriched, stellar processed material of the local ISM.

• OSTI ID: 21304935
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 1135; ISSN APCPCS; ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
ABSORPTION
BARYONS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
COSMOLOGICAL MODELS
COSMOLOGY
DEUTERIUM
ELEMENT ABUNDANCE
GALAXY NUCLEI
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
RED SHIFT
RELICT RADIATION
STARS
UNIVERSE