Primordial nucleosynthesis and the abundances of beryllium and boron

David Thomas, David N. Schramm, Keith A. Olive, Brian D. Fields

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

89 Scopus citations

Abstract

The recently attained ability to make measurements of Be and B as well as to put constraints on 6Li abundances in metal-poor stars has led to a detailed reexamination of big bang nucleosynthesis in the A ≳ 6 regime. The nuclear reaction network has been significantly expanded, with many new rates added. It is demonstrated that although a number of A > 1 reaction rates are poorly determined, even with extreme values chosen, the standard homogeneous model is unable to produce significant yields (Be/H and B/ H < 10-17 when A ≤ 7 abundances fit) above A = 7, and the 7Li/6Li ratio always exceeds 500. We also preliminarily explore inhomogeneous models, such as those inspired by a first-order quark-hadron phase transition, where regions with high neutron/proton ratios can allow some leakage up to A > 7. However, models that fit the A ≤ 7 abundances still seem to have difficulty in obtaining significant A ≥ 7 yields.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)569-579
Number of pages11
JournalAstrophysical Journal
Volume406
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1 1993

Keywords

  • Abundances
  • Nuclear reactions
  • Nucleosynthesis

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