The Deuterium to Hydrogen ratio: A gateway to new Physics

泰特勒博士和他的团队将利用类星体的吸收线，进行新的高精度测量，以求找到超越粒子物理标准模型的新物理。利用来自WMAP卫星的重子密度，大爆炸核合成(BBN)首次在没有自由参数的情况下预测了D/H比。这个项目将测试D/H测量结果是否与这一预测相符，要么验证我们目前对BBN的理解，要么发现新的物理。D/H测量可能会揭示各种各样的新物理学，包括新类型的粒子(稀有中微子)、中微子和反中微子数量的差异、长期存在的衰变粒子以及偏离广义相对论。这项提议的主要更广泛的影响是培养本科生的研究能力。

Dr. Tytler and his team will make new high accuracy measurements, using quasar absorption lines, of the primordial ratio of Deuterium to Hydrogen with the goal of finding new physics beyond the standard model of particle physics. Using a baryon density derived from the WMAP satellite, Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) for the first time predicts the D/H ratio with no free parameters. This program will test whether the D/H measurements agree with this prediction, either validating our current understanding of BBN, or uncovering new physics. The D/H measurements could reveal a wide variety of new physics, including new types of particles (sterile neutrinos), a difference in the numbers of neutrinos and antineutrinos, long lived decaying particles and deviations from general relativity. The primary broader impact of this proposal is training of undergraduate students in research.