Evolution of deuterium, 3He and 4He in the Galaxy

In this work we present the predictions of the two-infall model concerning the evolution of D, He-3 and He-4 in the solar vicinity, as well as their distribution along the Galactic disk. Our results show that, when adopting detailed yields taking into account the extra-mixing process in low and intermediate mass stars, the problem of the overproduction of He-3 by the chemical evolution models is solved. The predicted distribution of He-3 along the disk is also in agreement with the observations. We also predict the distributions of D/H, D/O and D/N along the disk, in particular D abundances close to the primordial value are predicted in the outer regions of the Galaxy. The predicted D/H, D/O and D/N abundances in the local interstellar medium are in agreement with the mean values observed by the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer mission, although a large spread in the D abundance is present in the data. Finally, by means of our chemical evolution model, we can constrain the primordial value of the deuterium abundance, and we find a value of (D/H)(p) less than or similar to 4 x 10(-5) which implies Omega(b)h(2) greater than or similar to 0.017, in agreement with the values from the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation analysis. This value in turn implies a primordial He-4 abundance Y-p greater than or similar to 0.244.