The Big Bang Nucleosynthesis - How to cook your elements quicker than instant noodles featuring Steffen Turkat (University of Padova)

Hosted by: Jakub Skowronski (University of Padua)

Abstract: In this seminar we will dive into the first minutes of our universe focusing on a unique period known as Big Bang Nucleosynthesis: After one second, the universe had already cooled down sufficiently to allow protons and neutrons to remain stable particles. However, temperatures were still high enough to allow nuclei to overcome each others Coulomb barrier and therefore enables the formation of the first light elements. Investigating this era, i.e. its relevant nuclear reactions, is providing a main pillar in our understanding of today’s elemental abundance in the universe.

We will explore this crucial era in more depth and discuss its impact for the upcoming 13.8 billion years. Furthermore, we will investigate the deuterium bottleneck and the baryon-to-photon ratio, which are also pivotal for multiple other astrophysical fields. Last but not least, we will focus on the current experimental status in order to draw a picture of what we currently have: A rather precise, but not yet perfectly understood picture of the chemical evolution of our early universe.