Lm. Krauss et Pj. Kernan, RECENT DEUTERIUM OBSERVATIONS AND BIG-BANG NUCLEOSYNTHESIS CONSTRAINTS, The Astrophysical journal, 432(2), 1994, pp. 120000079-120000081
A new observation of D in a primordial gas cloud, made using the high-
resolution spectrograph at the Keck telescope, indicates an abundance
D/H = (1.9-2.5) x 10(-4) (Songaila et al. 1994). Because the new measu
rement is substantially larger than previous, Galactic estimates, this
would force a reassessment of big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) methodol
ogy and predictions-if it is confirmed. Using a new BBN Monte Carlo co
de and analysis technique (Kernan & Krauss 1994), we derive constraint
s implied by a lower limit of D/H = 1.9 x 10(-4). We find OMEGA(B) les
s-than-or-equal-to 0.0068 h-2, which is definitively incompatible with
baryonic halo dark matter. We also explore implications of combining
the D measurement with other light-element abundances. Li-7 provides a
lower bound, OMEGA(B) greater-than-or-equal-to 0.004 h-2. Also, the i
nitial He-4 mass fraction (Y(p)) would have to be less than 23.5%, ass
uming three light neutrino species-in good agreement with present obse
rvational estimates. Finally, observational upper limits of Y(p) less-
than-or-equal-to 24% and Li-7/H less-than-or-equal-to 2.3 x 10(-10) wo
uld now allow the number of effective neutrino species to be as large
as 3.9.