TY - JOUR
T1 - Metastable charged sparticles and the cosmological 7Li problem
AU - Cyburt, Richard H.
AU - Ellis, John
AU - Fields, Brian D.
AU - Luo, Feng
AU - Olive, Keith A.
AU - Spanos, Vassilis C.
PY - 2012/12
Y1 - 2012/12
N2 - We consider the effects of metastable charged sparticles on Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), including bound-state reaction rates and chemical effects. We make a new analysis of the bound states of negatively-charged massive particles with the light nuclei most prominent in BBN, and present a new code to track their abundances, paying particular attention to that of 7Li. Assuming, as an example, that the gravitino is the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP), and that the lighter stau slepton, 1, is the metastable next-to-lightest sparticle within the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (CMSSM), we analyze the possible effects on the standard BBN abundances of 1 bound states and decays for representative values of the gravitino mass. Taking into account the constraint on the CMSSM parameter space imposed by the discovery of the Higgs boson at the LHC, we delineate regions in which the fit to the measured light-element abundances is as good as in standard BBN. We also identify regions of the CMSSM parameter space in which the bound state properties, chemistry and decays of metastable charged sparticles can solve the cosmological 7Li problem.
AB - We consider the effects of metastable charged sparticles on Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), including bound-state reaction rates and chemical effects. We make a new analysis of the bound states of negatively-charged massive particles with the light nuclei most prominent in BBN, and present a new code to track their abundances, paying particular attention to that of 7Li. Assuming, as an example, that the gravitino is the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP), and that the lighter stau slepton, 1, is the metastable next-to-lightest sparticle within the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (CMSSM), we analyze the possible effects on the standard BBN abundances of 1 bound states and decays for representative values of the gravitino mass. Taking into account the constraint on the CMSSM parameter space imposed by the discovery of the Higgs boson at the LHC, we delineate regions in which the fit to the measured light-element abundances is as good as in standard BBN. We also identify regions of the CMSSM parameter space in which the bound state properties, chemistry and decays of metastable charged sparticles can solve the cosmological 7Li problem.
KW - big bang nucleosynthesis
KW - dark matter theory
KW - particle physics - cosmology connection
KW - supersymmetry and cosmology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84871756408&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84871756408&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1088/1475-7516/2012/12/037
DO - 10.1088/1475-7516/2012/12/037
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84871756408
SN - 1475-7516
VL - 2012
JO - Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
JF - Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
IS - 12
M1 - 037
ER -