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Science 17 March 1967:
Vol. 155. no. 3768, pp. 1369 - 1376
DOI: 10.1126/science.155.3768.1369
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Articles

Cosmological Element Production

Robert V. Wagoner 1

1 California Institute of Technology, Pasadena

Two recent observations appear to have provided critical information about the past history of the universe. The thermal character of the microwave background radiation suggests that the universe has expanded from a state of high temperature and density, and places constraints on such a big-bang cosmology. The observations of very weak helium lines in the spectra of certain stars in the halo of our galaxy are possibly due to a low primeval abundance of this element. However, the simplest model of a big-bang cosmology leads to much higher helium abundances, such as are observed in the solar system and in many stars. The production of helium can be reduced either by altering the early expansion rate or by introducing degenerate electron neutrinos. Observations of interstellar and intergalactic deuterium and He4, and possibly even He3 and Li7, are needed to test the various models.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Jupiter: Its Infrared Spectrum from 16 to 40 Micrometers.
J. R. Houck, J. R. Houck, J. B. Pollack, D. Schaack, R. A. Reed, and A. Summers (1975)
Science 189, 720-722
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History of the Universe.
G. Gamow (1967)
Science 158, 766-769
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