A Simultaneous Solution to the ^6Li and ^7Li Big Bang Nucleosynthesis Problems from a Long-Lived Negatively-Charged Leptonic Particle

Abstract

The ${}^6$Li abundance observed in metal poor halo stars exhibits a plateau similar to that for ${}^7$Li suggesting a primordial origin. However, the observed abundance of ${}^6$Li is a factor of $10^3$ larger and that of ${}^7$Li is a factor of 3 lower than the abundances predicted in the standard big bang when the baryon-to-photon ratio is fixed by WMAP. Here we show that both of these abundance anomalies can be explained by the existence of a long-lived massive, negatively-charged leptonic particle during nucleosynthesis. Such particles would capture onto the synthesized nuclei thereby reducing the reaction Coulomb barriers and opening new transfer reaction possibilities, and catalyzing a second round of big bang nucleosynthesis. This novel solution to both of the Li problems can be achieved with or without the additional effects of stellar destruction.

6 pages, 2 figures, to be published in Physical Review D

References in corpus (1)

• Stau-catalyzed ${}^6$Li Production in Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis

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• Flaxino dark matter and stau decay
• Overview of the lithium problem in metal-poor stars and new results on 6Li