Solution to the lithium discrepancy

[EL]

A nice solution to the lithium discrepancy, recently published in Nature:
http://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/0608201

 

[Garth]

Note the linear expanding model also overproduces Lithium.

Nucleosynthesis in a Simmering Universe

To get the observed abundances of light elements besides 4He, one would have to fall back upon a host of other mechanisms that were being explored in the SBB in the pre-1976 days. The most popular processes are:
(i) nucleosynthesis by secondary explosions of super massive objects [6], (ii) nucleosynthesis in inhomogeneous models,
(iii) effect of inhomogeneous n/p ratios as the universe comes out of the QGP phase transition,
(iv) spallation of light nuclei at a much later epoch. It is easy to rule out the survival of D by the processes (ii) and (iii) while the process (i) requires very special initial conditions.
It also shares a common difficulty with process (iv), viz.: the production of D to the required levels is possible but it is accompanied by an overproduction of lithium. Any later destruction of lithium in turn completely destroys D. Within the framework of the cosmological evolution that we are exploring here, we find the best promise in a model that
would combine (ii) and (iv).

(Pages 7 & 8)

Garth