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. N., COLE A. L., Famino M., Guray R. T., 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
  • Kocaeli University Affiliated: Yes

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.