How will the cosmological lithium problem be solved?
4
Ṁ1kṀ242036
53%
Systematic errors in stellar abundance observations
50%
Stellar depletion (astrophysical solution)
50%
Nuclear physics: Unknown/revised BBN reaction rates
50%
Decaying or annihilating dark matter
50%
Varying fundamental constants
50%
Sterile neutrinos
48%
Inhomogeneous cosmology
Resolution criteria
This market is independent multiple choice; multiple options can resolve YES if a combination of factors is determined to solve the problem.
Background
The cosmological lithium problem is one of the most persistent discrepancies in modern physical cosmology. Standard Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN)—when combined with precise baryon density measurements from the Cosmic Microwave Background (e.g., Planck)—predicts a primordial abundance of Lithium-7 that is approximately 3 to 4 times higher than what is actually observed in the atmospheres of old, metal-poor Population II halo stars (a baseline known as the "Spite plateau").
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