Cosmological Implications of the First Measurement of the Local ISM Abundance of $^3$He

Details Cosmological Implications of the First Measurement of the Local ISM Abundance of $^3$He Cosmological Implications of the First Measurement of the Local ISM Abundance of $^3$He

1996-02-10

arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9602050v1

Astrophys.J. 466 (1996) L59-L62

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

15 pages + 2 figures (included as eps files using epsf.sty and rotate.sty), submitted to Nature

Scientific paper

10.1086/310173

Deuterium plays a crucial role in testing big-bang nucleosynthesis. Its chemical evolution, while simple (it is burned to $^3$He), is intertwined with the more complicated evolution of $^3$He. Gloeckler \& Geiss' new measurement of the $^3$He abundance and the HST measurement of D, both in the local ISM today, can be compared to the pre-solar nebula abundances of D and $^3$He. Within the uncertainties, the sum of D + $^3$He relative to hydrogen is unchanged. This provides some validation of the cosmological utility of D + $^3$He, first suggested by Yang et al (1984), and further, indicates that over the past 4.5 Gyr there has been at most modest stellar production of $^3$He, in contradiction with stellar modeling, or modest stellar destruction of $^3$He, in contradiction with some ``solar spoons.'' While the earlier Galactic evolution of D + $^3$He cannot be constrained directly, it is expected to be dominated by massive stars, which deplete their $^3$He and produce metals. Based on the Galactic metallicity and the constancy of D + $^3$He over the past 4.5 Gyr, we derive a more empirically based lower bound to the cosmological baryon density; while not dramatically different from the original bound of Yang et al (1984) based on D + $^3$He, it alleviates some of the cosmic tension between the big-bang $^4$He abundance and those of D and $^3$He.

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