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Understanding the Nuclear Aspects of the Big Bang
February 5 @ 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
The Department of Physics is organising a Departmental Research Seminar on “Nuclear Processes during the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis” on February 05, 2025. The seminar will be delivered by renowned academician Dr Martin Schaefer, Department of Theoretical Physics, Nuclear Physics Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences.
Tune in to hear from the expert on the phenomenon of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis.
Abstract
It is believed that at the early stage of the Universe, roughly 10 seconds after the Big Bang, the temperature dropped sufficiently to allow the first atomic nuclei to form. Subsequent nuclear reactions produced stable helium and lithium isotopes and negligible traces of heavier elements. This process is known as the primordial nucleosynthesis of light elements or Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN). At the end of BBN, the specific primordial abundances left an observable imprint in the current Universe. This echo nowadays serves to test the Hot Big Bang theory and the Standard Model of particle physics. An accurate description of BBN nuclear reactions is crucial in studying primordial nucleosynthesis. Nowadays, reaction dynamics can be calculated by applying highly sophisticated ab initio theoretical methods. In my contribution, I will discuss how a systematic approach to describing nuclear interactions and ab initio methods might contribute to revealing mysteries about this early stage of the Universe.