Nuclear physics and its role for describing the early universe

Abstract

Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) requires several nuclear physics inputs and nuclear reaction rates. An up-to-date compilation of direct cross sections of [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]He and [Formula: see text]He reactions is given, being these ones among the most uncertain bare-nucleus cross sections. An intense experimental effort has been carried on in the last decade to apply the Trojan Horse Method (THM) to study reactions of relevance for the BBN and measure their astrophysical S(E)-factor. The reaction rates and the relative error for the four reactions of interest are then numerically calculated in the temperature ranges of relevance for BBN [Formula: see text]. These value were then used as input physics for primordial nucleosynthesis calculations in order to evaluate their impact on the calculated primordial abundances and isotopical composition for H, He and Li. New results on the [Formula: see text]He reaction rate were also taken into account.These were compared with the observational primordial abundance estimates in different astrophysical sites. Reactions to be studied in perspective will also be discussed.