Physics Ledger · Prediction Cosmology τ-Effective 1–5%

Primordial Deuterium Abundance D/H

Primordial Deuterium Abundance D/H: τ-value 2.52!×!10⁻⁵, observed 2.53!×!10⁻⁵, deviation -0.4%.

Prediction

τ-Formula
τ-native ηB
τ-Value
2.52!×!10⁻⁵
Observed
2.53!×!10⁻⁵
Deviation
-0.4%

τ-Formula

D/H = τ-native from η_B ≈ 2.52 × 10⁻⁵

Derivation

Using $η_B = (121/270)\,ι_τ^19 ≈ 6.041 × 10^-10$ as the sole input to the standard BBN nuclear network:

in comparison with the observed value $D/H_obs = (2.527 ± 0.030) × 10^-5$ (Cooke et al.\ 2018). The deviation is $+2.7%$ ($+2.3σ$). (Registry: V.T241, $τ$-effective, Wave 25.)

The slight D/H overshoot is physically expected: the $τ$-native $η_B$ is $1.03%$ below the Planck value, meaning fewer baryons per photon, hence less efficient deuterium destruction ($D + D$ and $D + p$ reactions), yielding a slightly higher residual D/H. The BBN sensitivity $d((D/H))/d(η_B) ≈ -1.6$ quantifies this anti-correlation.

Source

This prediction is derived in the Physics Ledger (Chapter 62 — inflation-cmb-bbn), Books IV–V of Panta Rhei.

Registry

Canonical derivation in Book V.

Metadata

DomainCosmology
Precision Tier1–5%
Scopeτ-Effective
Registry IDV.T241
Canonical BookBook V