Measurement of the cross section of the Li-8(d,alpha)He-6 reaction of possible relevance to big bang nucleosynthesis

Sahin L., Boyd R., Cole A., Famino M., Guray R., Murphy A., ...More

PHYSICAL REVIEW C, vol.65, no.3, 2002 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 65 Issue: 3
  • Publication Date: 2002
  • Doi Number: 10.1103/physrevc.65.038801
  • Journal Name: PHYSICAL REVIEW C
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus
  • Istanbul University Affiliated: No

Abstract

We report measurements of the cross section of the Li-8(d, alpha) He-6 reaction in the energy range E-c.m. =2.3-3.5 MeV using a Li-8-radioactive beam on a CD2 foil. The astrophysical S factor and reaction rate were calculated from the measured cross section. The He-6 nuclei produced in the reaction were detected in solidstate detector telescopes. This reaction might have affected the primordial abundance of Li-6 in big bang nucleosynthesis, since He-6 beta decays to Li-6. However, several big bang nucleosynthesis network calculations were found to be insensitive to this reaction, suggesting that the Li-8(d, alpha) He-6 reaction does not affect Li-6 primordial production.