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Nov 24
2009
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The Universe is now 1 minute old, and all the anti-matter has been destroyed by annihilation with matter. The leftover matter is in the form of electrons, protons and neutrons. As the temperature continues to drop, protons and neutrons can undergo fusion to form heavier atomic nuclei. This process is called nucleosynthesis.
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Its harder and harder to make nuclei with higher masses (because more protons mean
more positive charge and more electrostatic repulsion). So the most common
substance in the Universe is hydrogen (one proton), followed by helium,
lithium, beryllium and boron (the first elements on the periodic table). Isotopes (nuclei with extra
neutrons) are formed, such as deuterium and tritium, because the neutron
has no charge and is absorbed by the nuclei. However, these elements are
unstable and decay into free protons and neutrons.
The rate of nucleosynthesis is set by the density of nuclei per cc in the early
Universe, in other words, the cosmic density parameter, |
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Note that this above diagram refers to the density parameter,  , of
baryons, which is close to 0.02. However, much of the Universe is in the form
of dark matter.
A key point is that the ratio of hydrogen to helium is extremely sensitive to the density of matter in the Universe (the parameter that determines if the Universe is open, flat or closed). The higher the density, the more helium produced during the nucleosynthesis era. The current measurements indicate that 75% of the mass of the Universe is in the form of hydrogen, 24% in the form of helium and the remaining 1% in the rest of the periodic table (note that your body is made mostly of these `trace' elements). Note that since helium is 4 times the mass of hydrogen, the number of hydrogen atoms is 90% and the number of helium atoms is 9% of the total number of atoms in the Universe. |
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There are over 100 naturally occurring elements in the Universe and
classification makes up the periodic table. The very lightest elements
are made in the early Universe. The elements between boron and iron
(atomic number 26) are made in the cores of stars by thermonuclear
fusion, the power source for all stars.
The fusion process produces Fusion of elements with atomic numbers (the number of protons) greater than 26 uses up more energy than is produced by the reaction. Thus, elements heavier than iron cannot be fuel sources in stars. And, likewise, elements heavier than iron are not produced in stars, so what is their origin?. |
energy
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The construction of elements heavier than involves nucleosynthesis by neutron capture. A nuclei can capture or fuse with a neutron because the neutron is electrically neutral and, therefore, not repulsed like the proton. In everyday life, free neutrons are rare because they have shorthalf-life's before they radioactively decay. Each neutron capture produces an isotope, some are stable, some are unstable. Unstable isotopes will decay by emitting a positron and a neutrino to make a new element. |
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Neutron capture can happen by two methods, the s and r-processes, where
s and r stand for slow and rapid. The s-process happens in the inert
carbon core of a star, the slow capture of neutrons. The s-process
works as long as the decay time for unstable isotopes is longer than the
capture time. Up to the element bismuth (atomic number 83), the
s-process works, but above this point the more massive nuclei that can
be built from bismuth are unstable.
The second process, the r-process, is what is used to produce very heavy, neutron rich nuclei. Here the capture of neutrons happens in such a dense environment that the unstable isotopes do not have time to decay. The high density of neutrons needed is only found during a supernova explosion and, thus, all the heavy elements in the Universe (radium, uranium and plutonium) are produced this way. The supernova explosion also has the side benefit of propelling the new created elements into space to seed molecular clouds which will form new stars and solar systems. |
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