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Adding short description: "Discrepancy between the observed abundance of lithium produced in Big Bang nucleosynthesis and the amount that should theoretically exist." (Shortdesc helper) |
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{{short description|Discrepancy between the observed abundance of lithium produced in Big Bang nucleosynthesis and the amount that should theoretically exist.}}
In [[astronomy]], the '''lithium problem''', '''lithium discrepancy''' or '''Lithium gap''' refers to the discrepancy between the observed [[Abundance of the chemical elements|abundance]] of [[lithium]] produced in [[Big Bang nucleosynthesis]] and the amount that should theoretically exist. Namely, the most widely-accepted models of the Big Bang suggest that three times as much primordial lithium, in particular [[lithium-7]], should exist. This contrasts with the observed abundance of isotopes of [[hydrogen]] (<sup>1</sup>H and [[deuterium|<sup>2</sup>H]]) and [[helium]] ([[helium-3|<sup>3</sup>He]] and [[helium-4|<sup>4</sup>He]]) that are consistent with predictions.<ref name=HouStats>{{cite journal |last=Hou |first=S.Q. |last2=He |first2=J.J. |last3=Parikh |first3=A. |last4=Kahl |first4=D. |last5=Bertulani |first5=C.A. |last6=Kajino |first6=T. |last7=Mathews |first7=G.J. |last8=Zhao |first8=G. |date=2017 |title=Non-extensive statistics to the cosmological lithium problem |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |volume=834 |issue=2 |pages= |doi=10.3847/1538-4357/834/2/165 |url=https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/834/2/165/pdf |format=pdf}}</ref> This deficiency of lithium may in part be due to faster destruction than synthesis of <sup>7</sup>Li and its progenitor [[beryllium-7|<sup>7</sup>Be]] in [[nuclear reaction]]s, though no conclusive results on the reaction flow in Big Bang nucleosynthesis have been obtained. Newer theories involving physics beyond the [[standard model]], involving not well understood [[dark matter]], have also been proposed to explain the possible destruction of lithium, also inconclusively.<ref name=Bertulani>{{cite journal |last=Bertulani |first=C.A. |last2=Shubhchintak |last3=Mukhamedzhanov |first3=A.M. |title=Cosmological lithium problems |date=2018 |journal=The European Physical Journal Conferences |volume=184 |doi=10.1051/epjconf/201818401002 |arxiv=1802.03469}}</ref><ref name=MWoo>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170220-the-cosmic-explosions-that-made-the-universe |title=The Cosmic Explosions That Made the Universe |last=Woo |first=Marcus |date=21 Feb 2017 |website=earth |publisher=BBC |access-date=21 Feb 2017 |quote=A mysterious cosmic factory is producing lithium. Scientists are now getting closer at finding out where it comes from |deadurl=no |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170221214442/http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170220-the-cosmic-explosions-that-made-the-universe |archivedate=21 February 2017 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
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==Proposed solutions==
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==See also==
* [[Big Bang]]
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