Primordial nucleosynthesis in inhomogeneous cosmologies Omega = 1 with baryons

Abstract

The authors consider the constraints on Ω from primordial nucleosynthesis in inhomogeneous cosmologies. They find that allowance for isothermal fluctuations significantly weakens the upper bound on the average value of Ω derived from the standard big bang. Under the plausible additional assumption that regions of high baryon density are preferentially absorbed into cold dark matter, the constraints from primordial nucleosynthesis can be satisfied for large values of Ω, including Ω = 1.