Cosmic Deuterium and Baryon Density

Abstract

Quasar absorption lines now permit a direct probe of deuterium abundances in primordial material, with the best current estimate $ (D/H)=1.9\pm 0.4 \times 10^{-4}$. If this is the universal primordial abundance $(D/H)_p$, Standard Big Bang Nucleosynthesis yields an estimate of the mean cosmic density of baryons, $\eta_{10}= 1.7\pm 0.2$ or $ \Omega_b h^2= 6.2\pm 0.8\times 10^{-3}$, leading to SBBN predictions in excellent agreement with estimates of primordial abundances of helium-4 and lithium-7. Lower values of $(D/H)_p$ derived from Galactic chemical evolution models may instead be a sign of destruction of deuterium and helium-3 in stars. The inferred baryon density is compared with known baryons in stars and neutral gas; about two thirds of the baryons are in some still-unobserved form such as ionized gas or compact objects. Galaxy dynamical mass estimates reveal the need for primarily nonbaryonic dark matter in galaxy halos. Galaxy cluster dynamics imply that the total density of this dark matter, while twenty or more times the baryon density, is still well below the critical value, unless both baryons and galaxies are concentrated in galaxy clusters relative to the dark matter.