Predicting Big Bang Deuterium

We present new upper and lower bounds to the primordial abundances of deuterium and helium-3 based on observational data from the solar system and the interstellar medium. Independent of any model for the primordial production of the elements we find (at the 95\% C.L.): $1.5 \times 10^{-5} \le (D/H)_P \le 10.0 \times 10^{-5}$ and $(^3He/H)_P \le 2.6\times 10^{-5}$. When combined with the predictions of standard big bang nucleosynthesis, these constraints lead to a 95\% C.L. bound on the primordial abundance of deuterium: $(D/H)_{best} = (3.5^{+2.7}_{-1.8})\times 10^{-5}$. Measurements of deuterium absorption in the spectra of high redshift QSOs will directly test this prediction. The implications of this prediction for the primordial abundances of helium-4 and lithium-7 are discussed, as well as those for the universal density of baryons.Comment: Revised version of paper to reflect comments of the referee and reply to suggestions of Copi, Schramm, and Turner regarding the overall analysis and treatment of chemical evolution of D and He-3. Best-fit D/H abundance changes from (2.3 + 3.0 - 1.0)x10^{-5} to (3.5 +2.7 - 1.8) x10^{-5}. See also hep-ph/950531

Limits on MeV Dark Matter from the Effective Number of Neutrinos

Thermal dark matter that couples more strongly to electrons and photons than to neutrinos will heat the electron-photon plasma relative to the neutrino background if it becomes nonrelativistic after the neutrinos decouple from the thermal background. This results in a reduction in N_eff below the standard-model value, a result strongly disfavored by current CMB observations. Taking conservative lower bounds on N_eff and on the decoupling temperature of the neutrinos, we derive a bound on the dark matter particle mass of m_\chi > 3-9 MeV, depending on the spin and statistics of the particle. For p-wave annihilation, our limit on the dark matter particle mass is stronger than the limit derived from distortions to the CMB fluctuation spectrum produced by annihilations near the epoch of recombination.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, discussion added, references added and updated, labels added to figure, to appear in Phys. Rev.

A method for the estimation of p-mode parameters from averaged solar oscillation power spectra

A new fitting methodology is presented which is equally well suited for the estimation of low-, medium-, and high-degree mode parameters from $m$-averaged solar oscillation power spectra of widely differing spectral resolution. This method, which we call the "Windowed, MuLTiple-Peak, averaged spectrum", or WMLTP Method, constructs a theoretical profile by convolving the weighted sum of the profiles of the modes appearing in the fitting box with the power spectrum of the window function of the observing run using weights from a leakage matrix that takes into account both observational and physical effects, such as the distortion of modes by solar latitudinal differential rotation. We demonstrate that the WMLTP Method makes substantial improvements in the inferences of the properties of the solar oscillations in comparison with a previous method that employed a single profile to represent each spectral peak. We also present an inversion for the internal solar structure which is based upon 6,366 modes that we have computed using the WMLTP method on the 66-day long 2010 SOHO/MDI Dynamics Run. To improve both the numerical stability and reliability of the inversion we developed a new procedure for the identification and correction of outliers in a frequency data set. We present evidence for a pronounced departure of the sound speed in the outer half of the solar convection zone and in the subsurface shear layer from the radial sound speed profile contained in Model~S of Christensen-Dalsgaard and his collaborators that existed in the rising phase of Solar Cycle~24 during mid-2010

Metastable GeV-scale particles as a solution to the cosmological lithium problem

The persistent discrepancy between observations of 7Li with putative primordial origin and its abundance prediction in Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) has become a challenge for the standard cosmological and astrophysical picture. We point out that the decay of GeV-scale metastable particles X may significantly reduce the BBN value down to a level at which it is reconciled with observations. The most efficient reduction occurs when the decay happens to charged pions and kaons, followed by their charge exchange reactions with protons. Similarly, if X decays to muons, secondary electron antineutrinos produce a similar effect. We consider the viability of these mechanisms in different classes of new GeV-scale sectors, and find that several minimal extensions of the Standard Model with metastable vector and/or scalar particles are capable of solving the cosmological lithium problem. Such light states can be a key to the explanation of recent cosmic ray anomalies and can be searched for in a variety of high-intensity medium-energy experiments.Comment: 50 pages, 13 figures; references added, typo correcte

The Effect of Time Variation in the Higgs Vacuum Expectation Value on the Cosmic Microwave Background

A time variation in the Higgs vacuum expectation value alters the electron mass and thereby changes the ionization history of the universe. This change produces a measurable imprint on the pattern of cosmic microwave background (CMB) fluctuations. The nuclear masses and nuclear binding energies, as well as the Fermi coupling constant, are also altered, with negligible impact on the CMB. We calculate the changes in the spectrum of the CMB fluctuations as a function of the change in the electron mass. We find that future CMB experiments could be sensitive to |\Delta m_e/m_e| \sim |\Delta G_F/G_F| \sim 10^{-2} - 10^{-3}. However, we also show that a change in the electron mass is nearly, but not exactly, degenerate with a change in the fine-structure constant. If both the electron mass and the fine-structure constant are time-varying, the corresponding CMB limits are much weaker, particularly for l < 1000.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, Fig. 3 modified, other minor correction

The Interaction of New and Old Magnetic Fluxes at the Beginning of Solar Cycle 23

The 11-year cycle of solar activity follows Hale's law by reversing the magnetic polarity of leading and following sunspots in bipolar regions during the minima of activity. In the 1996-97 solar minimum, most solar activity emerged in narrow longitudinal zones - `active longitudes' but over a range in latitude. Investigating the distribution of solar magnetic flux, we have found that the Hale sunspot polarity reversal first occurred in these active zones. We have estimated the rotation rates of the magnetic flux in the active zones before and after the polarity reversal. Comparing these rotation rates with the internal rotation inferred by helioseismology, we suggest that both `old' and `new' magnetic fluxes were probably generated in a low-latitude zone near the base of the solar convection zone. The reversal of active region polarity observed in certain longitudes at the beginning of a new solar cycle suggests that the phenomenon of active longitudes may give fundamental information about the mechanism of the solar cycle. The non-random distribution of old-cycle and new-cycle fluxes presents a challenge for dynamo theories, most of which assume a uniform longitudinal distribution of solar magnetic fields.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures; accepted for publication in ApJ Letter

On Random Bubble Lattices

We study random bubble lattices which can be produced by processes such as first order phase transitions, and derive characteristics that are important for understanding the percolation of distinct varieties of bubbles. The results are relevant to the formation of topological defects as they show that infinite domain walls and strings will be produced during appropriate first order transitions, and that the most suitable regular lattice to study defect formation in three dimensions is a face centered cubic lattice. Another application of our work is to the distribution of voids in the large-scale structure of the universe. We argue that the present universe is more akin to a system undergoing a first-order phase transition than to one that is crystallizing, as is implicit in the Voronoi foam description. Based on the picture of a bubbly universe, we predict a mean coordination number for the voids of 13.4. The mean coordination number may also be used as a tool to distinguish between different scenarios for structure formation.Comment: several modifications including new abstract, comparison with froth models, asymptotics of coordination number distribution, further discussion of biased defects, and relevance to large-scale structur

Probing neutrino decays with the cosmic microwave background

We investigate in detail the possibility of constraining neutrino decays with data from the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR). Two generic decays are considered \nu_H -> \nu_L \phi and \nu_H -> \nu_L \nu_L_bar \nu_L. We have solved the momentum dependent Boltzmann equation in order to account for possible relativistic decays. Doing this we estimate that any neutrino with mass m > 1 eV decaying before the present should be detectable with future CMBR data. Combining this result with other results on stable neutrinos, any neutrino mass of the order 1 eV should be detectable.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.

A conjecture on the origin of dark energy

The physical origin of holographic dark energy (HDE) is investigated. The main existing explanations, namely the UV/IR connection argument of Cohen et al, Thomas' bulk holography argument, and Ng's spacetime foam argument, are shown to be not satisfactory. A new explanation of the HDE model is then proposed based on the ideas of Thomas and Ng. It is suggested that the dark energy might originate from the quantum fluctuations of spacetime limited by the event horizon of the universe. Several potential problems of the explanation are also discussed.Comment: 11 pages, no figure