Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2008/iii/paper-62/3/v/b/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 iii Paper 62 3 v b Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A longer neutron half-life means a larger mean lifetime . Holding the initial neutron-to-proton ratio and the nuclear-burning delay fixed, the derivative of the neutron survival factor is positive:Thus fewer neutrons disappear during the deuterium bottleneck, and the final helium-4 mass fraction increases.
There can be a second effect if the increased lifetime represents a uniform reduction of the relevant weak interaction strength. With fixed masses and other couplings, neutron decay and the conversion reactions both scale as . Thus , whereas . Weaker conversion then freezes out earlier and increases , reinforcing the survival effect. The survival argument alone already establishes the requested neutron half-life effect on primordial helium; linking lifetime to all conversion rates additionally requires this microscopic assumption.
New to topics? Read the docs here!