Abstract
view Abstract Citations (11) References (55) Co-Reads Similar Papers Volume Content Graphics Metrics Export Citation NASA/ADS On Interstellar Lithium toward SN 1987A as an Indicator of Primordial Lithium Malaney, Robert A. ; Alcock, Charles R. Abstract In the standard big bang model a determination of the primordial lithium abundance can allow significant constraints to be placed on the baryon density of the universe. The value of the primordial lithium abundance also appears to play a pivotal role in discriminating between the standard model and the recently proposed inhomogeneous cosmologies, which purport to reconcile an {OMEGA}_b_ = 1 universe with observations of the primordial isotopes. Supernova 1987A allows for a new method of measuring the primordial lithium abundance through the opportunity of detecting, for the first time, interstellar lithium in the Galactic halo and in the interstellar medium of an external galaxy. We present here high-resolution spectroscopic data for the 6708 A Li I region toward SN 1987A. Although no positive detection of any Li I feature is reported, we attempt to derive an upper limit to the primordial lithium abundance from our derived upper limit of the Li I equivalent width. We show how such a procedure is beset by large uncertainties in our understanding of the depletion processes in the interstellar medium, and that the error on the upper limit to the primordial lithium abundance determined by this method is likely to be significantly larger than previously reported. We derive an upper limit to the primordial Li/H ratio of 4.4 x 10^-9^. The consequences of our results for standard and nonstandard big bang cosmologies is discussed. Publication: The Astrophysical Journal Pub Date: March 1990 DOI: 10.1086/168441 Bibcode: 1990ApJ...351...31M Keywords: Abundance; Interstellar Matter; Lithium; Supernova 1987a; Universe; Astronomical Spectroscopy; Big Bang Cosmology; Chemical Evolution; Interstellar Chemistry; Stellar Spectra; Astrophysics; COSMOLOGY; INTERSTELLAR: ABUNDANCES; NUCLEOSYNTHESIS; STARS: INDIVIDUAL ALPHANUMERIC: SN 1987A full text sources ADS | data products NED (2) SIMBAD (1)
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