Scalar Temporal Field Dynamics and the Cosmological Lithium-7 Problem
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This paper presents a solution to the long-standing cosmological lithium-7 discrepancy using the Scalar Temporal Field Ontology (STFO), a framework in which time is modeled as a dynamical scalar field whose gradient defines causal structure and sources a disformal matter metric. While standard Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) accurately reproduces the primordial abundances of helium-4 and deuterium, it overestimates lithium-7 by a factor of three. In this work, a small, temperature-localized deviation in the scalar kinetic term X=τ˙2X = \dot{\tau}^2X=τ˙2 during the T≈0.05 MeVT \approx 0.05\,\mathrm{MeV}T≈0.05MeV epoch selectively reduces the production of 7Be{}^{7}\mathrm{Be}7Be, the precursor to cosmological 7Li{}^{7}\mathrm{Li}7Li. Through the exponential sensitivity of the Gamow factor and the disformal correction to nuclear reaction energies, the Scalar Temporal Field naturally yields an order-of-three suppression in lithium-7 while leaving helium and deuterium abundances unchanged. The paper includes:• a derivation of the reaction-level suppression mechanism• a UV→IR crossover in the scalar sector occurring naturally at the BBN epoch• consistency checks with GR, WEP tests, Planck 2023, and DESI Y1• quantitative predictions distinguishing STFO-modified BBN from the Standard Model This result constitutes a falsifiable, observationally consistent cosmological success for the Scalar Temporal Field Ontology. Copyright © 2025–2026 Cale Scott Howe. All rights reserved.
Author: Howe, Cale Scott
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7108445466
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