EMPRESS. XV. A New Determination of the Primordial Helium Abundance Suggesting a Moderately Low $Y_\mathrm{P}$ Value

TL;DR

This study refines the primordial helium abundance estimate using Subaru observations of extremely metal-poor galaxies, suggesting a slightly lower value than previous estimates and hinting at possible new physics.

Contribution

It provides a new measurement of $Y_P$ based on EMPGs, reducing uncertainties and exploring implications for cosmology and particle physics.

Findings

$Y_P$ = 0.2402 with ±0.0040 uncertainty

Results are ~1σ lower than previous estimates

Indicates a mild tension with Standard Model and Planck data

Abstract

We present a new constraint on the primordial helium abundance, $Y_\mathrm{P}$, based on Subaru observations. A major source of uncertainty in previous $Y_\mathrm{P}$ determinations is the lack of extremely metal-poor galaxies (EMPGs; $0.01-0.1\,Z_\odot$), which have metallicities a few to ten times lower than the metal-poor galaxies (MPGs; $0.1-0.4\,Z_\odot$) predominantly used in earlier studies, requiring substantial extrapolation to zero metallicity. Here, we perform Subaru near-infrared spectroscopy of 29 galaxies, including 14 EMPGs. By incorporating existing optical spectra, we derive He/H for each galaxy using photoionization modeling of helium and hydrogen emission lines, including the He \textsc{i} 10830\AA \, line to break the density--temperature degeneracy. After carefully selecting galaxies with robust He/H determinations, and adding 58 galaxies from previous studies, we obtain $Y_\mathrm{P} = 0.2402^{+0.0040}_{-0.0040}$. This $Y_\mathrm{P}$ value is $\sim1\sigma$ lower than most of the previous estimates, but agrees with recent determinations using EMPGs and the CMB constraint from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) experiment. Our result indicates $N_\mathrm{eff} = 2.54^{+0.20}_{-0.25}$, showing a mild ($\sim2\sigma$) tension with the Standard Model and Planck results. These tensions may suggest a nonzero lepton asymmetry $(\xi_\mathrm{e}\neq0)$, which would alleviate the tension with $\xi_\mathrm{e} = 0.05^{+0.02}_{-0.03}$. More observations of EMPGs and further assessments of systematic uncertainties are essential to test the potential tension more rigorously.