Submitted by omigodd t3_yj0y9t in askscience
NEYO8uw11qgD0J t1_iun3kwm wrote
Reply to comment by tea_and_biology in Why didn't heavier atoms originate in the Big Bang? by omigodd
So if the cooling process were longer, we'd have more heavier elements outright rather than waiting for stellar evolution to provide the rest, correct?
Shufflepants t1_iun7vlf wrote
Would have to be longer specifically within the right temperature and pressure range, but yes.
nivlark t1_iuowfau wrote
Not necessarily, because the restrictions they described would still exist: lithium would still be incredibly scarce, and the conditions simply aren't extreme enough to get the triple-alpha process running, counter-intuitive as that may sound. The problem here is that fusing two ^(4)He nuclei produces ^(8)Be, which has an astonishingly short half-life of one ten thousand trillionth of a second. Only inside the core of a massive star is the reaction rate high enough to fuse a third helium nucleus to make stable ^(12)C before the ^(8)Be falls apart.
omigodd OP t1_iuo0qcp wrote
Alternatively, if Beryllium-8 was stable, we could have had heavier elements
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