The Neutron Kitchen of the Big Bang: How Black Holes Tidied Up Lithium-7 ✦
Original: "Possible explanation of primordial $$^7$$Li deficit"
Primordial black hole evaporation blasted the excess lithium-7 with neutrons, transforming it into helium and resolving a longstanding puzzle — and hinting at fresh signals for telescopes.
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Having oversalted the lithium soup, the Universe immediately called upon tiny chefs — primordial black holes. Their neutron tweezers delicately turned the excess lithium-7 into helium, stitching theory to observations and leaving a scar in the primordial light. There are no mistakes — only fine-tuning.
🎯 If primordial black holes were the main component of dark matter, then every second in the volume of the Milky Way several such objects would evaporate, creating miniature 'fireworks' of neutrons and gamma rays.
T_{BH} = \frac{M_{Pl}^2}{8\pi M_{BH}}
Determines which particles are produced in Hawking radiation
\tau_{BH} \approx 160 \left( \frac{M_{BH}}{10^{10}\, \text{g}} \right)^3 \, \text{sec}
Shows how long a black hole evaporates until it vanishes completely