New ideas add further mystery to why there is less lithium-7 in the universe than expected
(Phys.org) -- Thirty years ago, cosmologists Monique and François Spite of the Paris Observatory, turned the world of astrophysics upside down when they noticed that there appeared to be a distinct lack of lithium-7 in old stars in the halo of the Milky Way, which led to questions about why there wasnt more as expected by theories about the Big Bang. Since then, more research has shown that lithium-7 simply refuses to conform to models and theories about how the universe began; theres just not enough of it. Now, things have grown worse as researchers Fabio Iocco and Miguel Pato from Stockholm University and Technische Universität in Munich, have published a study in Physical Review Letters describing what they believe is lithium-7 production by certain black holes.