i am not getting it

I am definitely not the person to ask. It seems to me that the limiting factor here is the formation of nuclei. The nuclei are controlled by the strong force.

 

One of the other ideas is the steady state universe. In that theory there is no beginning or end to things. So reactions creating heavier nuclei have been happening forever. The only explanation for all of the light elements in the universe is that new light elements must be created.

 

But we know that iron is the nuclei - and I don't know how to state it properly - is the least energy state. Fuse nuclei up to iron and get energy out. Fission nuclei down to iron and get energy out.

 

A steady state universe should tend to an iron abundant universe unless there were a continuing source of energy to produce the lighter elements.

 

I'm admittedly grasping here, but there are some knowledgeable posters here that should know.

I would go and looks up nucleisynthesis. And also about the strong nuclear force...they should help you get going

It is consistent with the big bang theory. Atoms wouldn't be able to form at first, and the first that could be formed would be hydrogen. Due to various stellar processes you would see the heavier elements be fused from hydrogen, more and more over time. This is in fact what we do see as we look back in time. And when we look at the current universe, we see the proportion of heavier elements increasing. There is far too much of the light elements to be in a steady equilibrium.