Implications of a primordial origin for the dispersion in D/H in quasar absorption systems.
We explore the difficulties with a primordial origin of variations of D/H in quasar absorption systems. In particular we examine options such as a very large-scale inhomogeneity in the baryon content of the universe. We show that very large-scale (much larger than 1 Mpc) isocurvature perturbations are excluded by current cosmic microwave background observations. Smaller-scale ad hoc perturbations (approximately 1 Mpc) still may lead to a large dispersion in primordial abundances but are subject to other constraints.
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Case-Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106-7079, USA.
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