Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Resolving conclusions about the early Universe requires accurate nuclear measurements

  • Comment
  • Published:

From Nature Reviews Physics

View current issue Sign up to alerts

Nuclear physics experiments give reaction rates that, via modelling and comparison with primordial abundances, constrain cosmological parameters. The error bars of a key reaction, D(p,γ)3He, were tightened in 2020, revealing discrepancies between different analyses and calling for more accurate measurements of other reactions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Planck Collaboration, Aghanim, N., Akrami, Y. et al. Planck 2018 results - VI. Cosmological parameters. A&A 641, A6 (2020).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Mossa, V., Stöckel, K., Cavanna, F. et al. The baryon density of the Universe from an improved rate of deuterium burning. Nature 587, 210–213 (2020).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Pisanti, O., Mangano, G., Miele, G. & Mazzella, P. Primordial deuterium after LUNA: concordances and error budget. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.11537 (2020).

  4. Yeh, T.-H., Olive, K. A. & Fields, B. D. The impact of new d(p,γ)He3 rates on big bang nucleosynthesis. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/2011.13874 (2020).

  5. Pitrou, C., Coc, A., Uzan, J.-P. & Vangioni, E. A new tension in the cosmological model from primordial deuterium? Mon. Notices Royal Astron. Soc. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab135 (2021).

  6. Cooke, R. J., Pettini, M. & Steidel, C. C. One percent determination of the primordial deuterium abundance. Astrophys. J. 855, 102 (2018).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Xu, Y. et al. NACRE II: an update of the NACRE compilation of charged-particle-induced thermonuclear reaction rates for nuclei with mass number A<16. Nucl. Phys. A 918, 61–169 (2013).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  8. Fields, B. D., Olive, K. A., Yeh, T.-H. & Young, C. Big-Bang nucleosynthesis after Planck. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys. 2020, 010 (2020).

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  9. Pitrou, C., Coc, A., Uzan, J.-P. & Vangioni, E. Precision big bang nucleosynthesis with improved Helium-4 predictions. Phys. Rep. 754, 1–66 (2018).

    Article  ADS  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  10. Ando, S., Cyburt, R. H., Hong, S. W. & Hyun, C. H. Radiative neutron capture on a proton at big-bang nucleosynthesis energies. Phys. Rev. C 74, 025809 (2006).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, CNRS, Paris, France

    Cyril Pitrou, Jean-Philippe Uzan & Elisabeth Vangioni

  2. Sorbonne Université, Institut Lagrange de Paris, Paris, France

    Cyril Pitrou, Jean-Philippe Uzan & Elisabeth Vangioni

  3. IJCLab, CNRS IN2P3, Université Paris-Saclay, Orsay, France

    Alain Coc

Authors
  1. Cyril Pitrou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Alain Coc
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jean-Philippe Uzan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Elisabeth Vangioni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cyril Pitrou.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Pitrou, C., Coc, A., Uzan, JP. et al. Resolving conclusions about the early Universe requires accurate nuclear measurements. Nat Rev Phys 3, 231–232 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-021-00294-6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s42254-021-00294-6

  • Springer Nature Limited

Search

Navigation