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Title: New effects of a long-lived negatively charged massive particle on big bang nucleosynthesis

Journal Article · · AIP Conference Proceedings
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4874040· OSTI ID:22280476
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6]
  1. School of Liberal Arts and Science, Korea Aerospace University, Goyang 412-791, Korea and Department of Physics, Soongsil University, Seoul 156-743 (Korea, Republic of)
  2. School of Liberal Arts and Science, Korea Aerospace University, Goyang 412-791 (Korea, Republic of)
  3. Department of Physics, Soongsil University, Seoul 156-743 (Korea, Republic of)
  4. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan and Department of Astronomy, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan)
  5. Department of Chemistry, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578 (Japan)
  6. National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, 2-21-1 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan and Center for Astrophysics, Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 (United States)

Primordial {sup 7}Li abundance inferred from observations of metal-poor stars is a factor of about 3 lower than the theoretical value of standard big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) model. One of the solutions to the Li problem is {sup 7}Be destruction during the BBN epoch caused by a long-lived negatively charged massive particle, X{sup −}. The particle can bind to nuclei, and X-bound nuclei (X-nuclei) can experience new reactions. The radiative X{sup −} capture by {sup 7}Be nuclei followed by proton capture of the bound state of {sup 7}Be and X{sup −} ({sup 7}Be{sub x}) is a possible {sup 7}Be destruction reaction. Since the primordial abundance of {sup 7}Li originates mainly from {sup 7}Li produced via the electron capture of {sup 7}Be after BBN, the {sup 7}Be destruction provides a solution to the {sup 7}Li problem. We suggest a new route of {sup 7}Be{sub x} formation, that is the {sup 7}Be charge exchange at the reaction of {sup 7}Be{sup 3+} ion and X{sup −}. The formation rate depends on the ionization fraction of {sup 7}Be{sup 3+} ion, the charge exchange cross section of {sup 7}Be{sup 3+}, and the probability that excited states {sup 7}Be{sub x}* produced at the charge exchange are converted to the ground state. We find that this reaction can be equally important as or more important than ordinary radiative recombination of {sup 7}Be and X{sup −}. The effect of this new route is shown in a nuclear reaction network calculation.

OSTI ID:
22280476
Journal Information:
AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1594, Issue 1; Conference: OMEG12: 12. international symposium on origin of matter and evolution of galaxies, Tsukuba (Japan), 18-21 Nov 2013; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English