Deuterium at high redshift: Primordial or evolved?
Résumé
On the basis of arguments from galactic chemical evolution we suggest that the recent observations of D/H vs. metallicity in several high redshift absorbers are best understood if the primordial D value is in the range DP/H ~ 2-3x 10-5. This range points to a rather high baryonic density (OmegaBh 2=0.019-0.026) compatible to the one obtained by recent estimates based on the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy measurements. Slightly higher values (D/H ~ 4x 10-5) are found in Lyman limit systems. Such values are still compatible with CMB estimates but, if taken at face value, suggest a trend of decreasing D abundance with metallicity. We argue that special assumptions, like differential enrichment, are required to explain the data in that case. A clear test of such a differential enrichment would be an excess of products of low mass stars like C and/or N in those systems, but currently available data of N/Si in DLAs do not favour such a ``non-standard'' scenario.
Domaines
Planète et Univers [physics]Origine | Fichiers éditeurs autorisés sur une archive ouverte |
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