Cosmological scenario of stop NLSP with gravitino LSP and the cosmic lithium problem

TL;DR

This paper investigates whether a stop NLSP decaying hadronically in a gravitino dark matter framework can resolve the primordial lithium abundance discrepancies observed in cosmology.

Contribution

It proposes a novel scenario where stop NLSP decays address the cosmological lithium problem within supersymmetric models.

Findings

Stop NLSP decay can alter lithium abundances to match observations

The scenario is compatible with gravitino dark matter constraints

It offers a potential solution to the longstanding lithium problem

Abstract

The discrepancy on Li^7 and Li^6 abundances between the observational data and the standard Big Bang Nucleosynthesis theory prediction has been a nagging problem in astrophysics and cosmology, given the highly attractive and succesful Big Bang paradigm. One possible solution of this lithium problem is through hadronic decays of a massive metastable particle which alter the primordial element abundances. We explore this possibility using gravitino dark matter framework in which the next lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP) is typically long-lived. We found that stop NLSP can provide an attractive solution to the lithium problem.