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Measurements of The Primordial D/H Abundance Towards Quasars

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2016

David Tytler ,
John M. O'Meara ,
Nao Suzuki ,
Dan Lubin ,
Scott Burles  and
David Kirkman
David Tytler
Affiliation:
Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences; University of California, San Diego; MS 0424; La Jolla; CA 92093-0424
John M. O'Meara
Affiliation:
Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences; University of California, San Diego; MS 0424; La Jolla; CA 92093-0424
Nao Suzuki
Affiliation:
Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences; University of California, San Diego; MS 0424; La Jolla; CA 92093-0424
Dan Lubin
Affiliation:
Center for Astrophysics and Space Sciences; University of California, San Diego; MS 0424; La Jolla; CA 92093-0424
Scott Burles
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637
David Kirkman
Affiliation:
Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, NJ 07574

Abstract

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Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) is the synthesis of the light nuclei, Deuterium (D or 2H), 3He, 4He and 7Li during the first few minutes of the universe. In this review we concentrate on recent data which give the primordial deuterium (D) abundance.

We have measured the primordial D/H in gas with very nearly primordial abundances. We use the Lyman series absorption lines seen in the spectra of quasars. We have measured D/H towards three QSOs, while a fourth gives a consistent upper limit. All QSO spectra are consistent with a single value for D/H: 3.325+0.22−0.25X10−5. From about 1994 − 1996, there was much discussion of the possibility that some QSOs show much higher D/H, but the best such example was shown to be contaminated by H, and no other no convincing examples have been found. Since high D/H should be much easier to detect, and hence it must be extremely rare or non-existent.

The new D/H measurements give the most accurate value for the baryon to photon ratio, η, and hence the cosmological baryon density: ωb = 0.0190 ± 0.0009 (1σ) A similar density is required to explain the amount of Lyα absorption from neutral Hydrogen in the intergalactic medium (IGM) at redshift z ≃ 3, and to explain the fraction of baryons in local clusters of galaxies. The D/H measurements lead to predictions for the abundances of the other light nuclei, which generally agree with measurements. The remaining differences with some measurements can be explained by a combination of measurement and analysis errors or changes in the abundances after BBN. The measurements do not require physics beyond the standard BBN model. Instead, the agreement between the abundances is used to limit the non-standard physics.

Type
3. Abundances of D, 3He and 4He
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 198: The Light Elements and their Evolution , 2000 , pp. 125 - 134
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2000 

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