Blog
Save
Email
Print
ShareIn physical cosmology, Big Bang nucleosynthesis (or primordial nucleosynthesis) refers to the production of nuclei other than H-1, the normal, light hydrogen, during the early phases of the universe, shortly after the Big Bang.
It is believed to be responsible for the formation of hydrogen (H-1 or simply H), its isotope deuterium (H-2 or D), the helium isotopes He-3 and He-4, and the lithium isotope Li-7.
Big Bang nucleosynthesis begins about one minute after the Big Bang, when the universe has cooled enough to form stable protons and neutrons, after baryogenesis.
From simple thermodynamical arguments, one can calculate the fraction of protons and neutrons based on the temperature at this point.
This fraction is in favour of protons, because the higher mass of the neutron results in a spontaneous decay of neutrons to protons with a half-life of about 15 minutes.
For more information about the topic Big Bang nucleosynthesis, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:
Shape of the Universe — The shape of the Universe is a subject of investigation within physical cosmology. Cosmologists and astronomers describe the geometry of the Universe ... > read more
Galaxy formation and evolution — The formation of galaxies is still one of the most active research areas in astrophysics; and, to some extent, this is also true for galaxy ... > read more
Physical cosmology — Physical cosmology, as a branch of astrophysics, is the study of the large-scale structure of the universe and is concerned with fundamental ... > read more
Ultimate fate of the universe — The ultimate fate of the universe is a subject of study in the field of cosmology. Vying scientific theories predict whether the life of the universe ... > read more
Large-scale structure of the cosmos — In physical cosmology, the term large-scale structure refers to the characterization of observable distributions of matter and light on the largest ... > read more
Multiverse — A multiverse (or meta-universe) is the hypothetical set of multiple possible universes, including our universe, which comprise the absolute whole of ... > read more
Redshift — In physics and astronomy, redshift is an observed increase in the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation received by a detector compared to that ... > read more
Cosmic microwave background radiation — In cosmology, the cosmic microwave background radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation discovered in 1965. It has a thermal black-body ... > read more
Astrophysics — Astrophysics is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties (luminosity, density, ... > read moreRecommend this page on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:
Other bookmarking and sharing tools:
more 