Primordial lithium abundance in catalyzed big bang nucleosynthesis

There exists a well-known problem with the ⁷Li+⁷Be abundance predicted by standard big bang nucleosynthesis being larger than the value observed in population II stars. The catalysis of big bang nucleosynthesis by metastable, τ_X≳10³  sec, charged particles X^- is capable of suppressing the primordial ⁷Li+⁷Be abundance and making it consistent with the observations. We show that to produce the correct abundance, this mechanism of suppression places a requirement on the initial abundance of X^- at temperatures of 4×10⁸  K to be on the order of or larger than 0.02 per baryon, which is within the natural range of abundances in models with metastable electroweak-scale particles. The suppression of ⁷Li+⁷Be is triggered by the formation of (⁷BeX^-) compound nuclei, with fast depletion of their abundances by catalyzed proton reactions, and in some models by direct capture of X^- on ⁷Be. The combination of ⁷Li+⁷Be and ⁶Li constraints favors the window of lifetimes, 1000  s≲τ_X≤2000  s.