Quark mass variation constraints from Big Bang nucleosynthesis

Abstract

We study the impact on the primordial abundances of light elements created by a variation of the quark masses at the time of Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). In order to navigate through the particle and nuclear physics required to connect quark masses to binding energies and reaction rates in a model-independent way, we use lattice QCD data and a hierarchy of effective field theories. We find that the measured Helium-4 abundances put a bound of -1 % <~ d m_q/m_q <~ 0.7 % on a possible variation of quark masses. The effect of quark mass variations on the deuterium abundances can be largely compensated by changes of the baryon-to-photon ratio eta. Including bounds on the variation of eta coming from WMAP results and adding some additional assumptions further narrows the range of allowed values of d m_q/m_q.

8 pages, 3 figures, figures and references updated

References in corpus (28)

• Five-Year Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) Observations: Likelihoods and Parameters from the WMAP data
• Chiral Dynamics in Nucleons and Nuclei
• The fundamental constants and their variation: observational status and theoretical motivations
• The Cosmological Evolution of the Nucleon Mass and the Electroweak Coupling Constants
• Nuclear forces in the chiral limit
• Light hadron spectroscopy using domain wall valence quarks on an Asqtad sea
• Coupled Variations of Fundamental Couplings and Primordial Nucleosynthesis
• Nucleon-Nucleon Scattering From Fully-Dynamical Lattice QCD
• Precision Calculation of n+p->d+gamma Cross Section for Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis
• The Quark-Mass Dependence of Two-Nucleon Systems
• On the correlation between the binding energies of the triton and the alpha-particle
• Cosmological variation of deuteron binding energy, strong interaction and quark masses from big bang nucleosynthesis
• An Infrared Renormalization Group Limit Cycle in QCD
• Time-varying coupling strengths, nuclear forces and unification
• Strong-Isospin Violation in the Neutron-Proton Mass Difference from Fully-Dynamical Lattice QCD and PQQCD
• Dependence of nuclear binding on hadronic mass variation
• Multiple inflation and the WMAP 'glitches' II. Data analysis and cosmological parameter extraction
• Limits on Cosmological Variation of Strong Interaction and Quark Masses from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, Cosmic, Laboratory and Oklo Data
• Nucleosynthesis and the variation of fundamental couplings
• Dependence of hadronic properties on Quark Masses and Constraints on their Cosmological Variation
• Effect of quark-mass variation on big bang nucleosynthesis
• Universal Correlations in Pion-less EFT with the Resonating Group Model: Three and Four Nucleons
• Primordial Nucleosynthesis with varying fundamental constants: A semi-analytical approach
• Limits on cosmological variation of quark masses and strong interaction
• Pion-mass dependence of three-nucleon observables
• Helium and Deuterium Abundances as a Test for the Time Variation of the Fine Structure Constant and the Higgs Vacuum Expectation Value
• More on the infrared renormalization group limit cycle in QCD
• BBN and Lambda_QCD

Cited by in corpus (46)

• Nuclear effective field theory: status and perspectives
• Microscopic Clustering in Light Nuclei
• Explanation and Prediction of Observables using Continuum Strong QCD
• The Deuteron and Exotic Two-Body Bound States from Lattice QCD
• Frontiers in Nuclear Astrophysics
• Confinement contains condensates
• Effective Field Theory for Lattice Nuclei
• Viability of carbon-based life as a function of the light quark mass
• Baryon-Baryon Interactions and Spin-Flavor Symmetry from Lattice Quantum Chromodynamics
• Two-Nucleon Systems in a Finite Volume: (I) Quantization Conditions
• Chiral dynamics of few- and many-nucleon systems
• Varying the light quark mass: impact on the nuclear force and Big Bang nucleosynthesis
• Breaking of the equivalence principle in the electromagnetic sector and its cosmological signatures
• Dependence of the triple-alpha process on the fundamental constants of nature
• The Degree of Fine-Tuning in our Universe -- and Others
• The Weak Scale from BBN
• The variation of fundamental constants and the role of A=5 and A=8 nuclei on primordial nucleosynthesis
• New Ideas in Constraining Nuclear Forces
• The long and winding road from chiral effective Lagrangians to nuclear structure
• Axi-Higgs Cosmology
• Anthropic considerations in nuclear physics
• Low-energy theorems for nucleon-nucleon scattering at unphysical pion masses
• Nucleon Polarisabilities at and Beyond Physical Pion Masses
• Producing the Deuteron in Stars: Anthropic Limits on Fundamental Constants
• Low-energy theorems for nucleon-nucleon scattering at $M_{\pi }=450$ MeV
• Time Dependent Quark Masses and Big Bang Nucleosynthesis Revisited
• Nuclear Reactions from Lattice QCD
• $\theta$-dependence of light nuclei and nucleosynthesis
• On the Quark Mass Dependence of Two Nucleon Observables
• Early Modified Gravity: Implications for Cosmology
• Roles of ${}^7$Be$(n,p{)}^7$Li resonances in big bang nucleosynthesis with time-dependent quark mass and Li reduction by a heavy quark mass
• Alpha-alpha scattering in the Multiverse
• Subleading contributions to the nuclear scalar isoscalar currents
• Constraining scalar dark matter with Big Bang nucleosynthesis and atomic spectroscopy
• Nuclear Processes in Other Universes: Varying the Strength of the Weak Force
• Manifestations of dark matter and variations of fundamental constants in atoms and astrophysical phenomena
• Probing nuclear observables via primordial nucleosynthesis
• Improved Constraints on the Variation of the Weak Scale from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis
• Implications of the Oklo phenomenon in a chiral approach to nuclear matter
• Quantifying the sensitivity of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis to isospin breaking with input from lattice QCD
• Congeniality Bounds on Quark Masses from Nucleosynthesis
• Ab initio calculation of the Hoyle state and a new look at clustering in nuclei
• LIFE ON EARTH -- AN ACCIDENT? Chiral Symmetry and the Anthropic Principle
• Nuclear forces and ab initio calculations of atomic nuclei
• Baryon-baryon, meson-meson, and meson-baryon interactions in nonrelativistic QCD
• Formal Developments for Lattice QCD with Applications to Hadronic Systems