An Update of the Primordial Helium Abundance

Peimbert, A.; Peimbert, M.; Luridiana, V.
Bibliographical reference

IAU General Assembly, Meeting #29, #2256004

Advertised on:
8
2015
Number of authors
3
IAC number of authors
1
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
Three of the best determinations of the primordial helium abundance (Yp) are those obtained from low metallicity HII regions by Aver, Olive, Porter, & Skillman (2013); Izotov, Thuan, & Guseva (2014); and Peimbert, Peimbert, & Luridiana (2007). In this poster we update the Yp determination by Peimbert et al. taking into account, among other aspects, recent advances in the determination of the He atomic physical parameters, the temperature structure, the collisional effects of high temperatures on the Balmer lines, as well as the effect of H and He bound-bound absorption.We compare our results with those of Aver et al. and Izotov et al. and point out possible explanations for the differences among the three determinations. We also compare our results with those obtained with the Plank satellite considering recent measurements of the neutron mean life; this comparison has implications on the determination of the number of light neutrino families.