Activation measurement of the 3He(alpha,gamma)7Be cross section at low energy

D. Bemmerer; F. Confortola; H. Costantini; A. Formicola; Gy. Gyurky; R. Bonetti; C. Broggini; P. Corvisiero; Z. Elekes; Zs. Fulop; G. Gervino; A. Guglielmetti; C. Gustavino; G. Imbriani; M. Junker; M. Laubenstein; A. Lemut; B. Limata; V. Lozza; M. Marta; R. Menegazzo; P. Prati; V. Roca; C. Rolfs; C. Rossi Alvarez; E. Somorjai; O. Straniero; F. Strieder; F. Terrasi; H. P. Trautvetter

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.97.122502

Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · nucl-ex/0609013

Activation measurement of the 3He(alpha,gamma)7Be cross section at low energy

View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

The nuclear physics input from the 3He(alpha,gamma)7Be cross section is a major uncertainty in the fluxes of 7Be and 8B neutrinos from the Sun predicted by solar models and in the 7Li abundance obtained in big-bang nucleosynthesis calculations. The present work reports on a new precision experiment using the activation technique at energies directly relevant to big-bang nucleosynthesis. Previously such low energies had been reached experimentally only by the prompt-gamma technique and with inferior precision. Using a windowless gas target, high beam intensity and low background gamma-counting facilities, the 3He(alpha,gamma)7Be cross section has been determined at 127, 148 and 169 keV center-of-mass energy with a total uncertainty of 4%. The sources of systematic uncertainty are discussed in detail. The present data can be used in big-bang nucleosynthesis calculations and to constrain the extrapolation of the 3He(alpha,gamma)7Be astrophysical S-factor to solar energies.

Explore related subjects

nucl-ex astro-ph

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

D. Bemmerer, F. Confortola, H. Costantini, A. Formicola, Gy. Gyurky, R. Bonetti, C. Broggini, P. Corvisiero, Z. Elekes, Zs. Fulop, G. Gervino, A. Guglielmetti, C. Gustavino, G. Imbriani, M. Junker, M. Laubenstein, A. Lemut, B. Limata, V. Lozza, M. Marta, R. Menegazzo, P. Prati, V. Roca, C. Rolfs, C. Rossi Alvarez, E. Somorjai, O. Straniero, F. Strieder, F. Terrasi, H. P. Trautvetter. 2006-09-11. Activation measurement of the 3He(alpha,gamma)7Be cross section at low energy. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.97.122502

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Isospin-symmetry violation - kaons and beyond (ISO-BREAK 25: summary and outlook)

This report summarizes the presentations and discussions during the ISO-BREAK 25 Workshop ``Isospin symmetry violation: kaons and beyond'', which was held at Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce on October 23--25, 2025. We address the current status of the isospin-symmetry breaking discovered by NA61/SHINE in nucleus--nucleus collisions at the CERN SPS, its confirmation by other experiments and studies in \ee and deep inelastic scattering. In addition, we discuss the theoretical status as well as we outline experimental and theoretical priorities towards understanding this currently unexplained phenomenon.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2026

Probing the $^{12}$C+$^{12}$C fusion reaction via zero-degree spectator measurement in the $^{12}$C($^{14}$N,$αd$)$^{20}$Ne quasi-free reaction

The 12C+12C fusion reaction is a key physical process in stellar evolution and supernova explosions. It not only determines the late evolutionary fate of massive stars but also directly influences the critical conditions for triggering Type Ia supernovae in accreting white dwarfs. In this work, the THM was employed to investigate the 12C(12C,a0)20Ne reaction channel of the 12C+12C fusion process, using 14N as the Trojan horse nucleus. Telescope detectors were placed at 0 and 15 deg. to design two experimental configurations covering the forward-angle regions where spectator particles are most likely to emerge. By applying the DWBA, two sets of astrophysical S*(E) factors for the two-body reaction 12C(12C,a0)20Ne were extracted from the three-body reaction 12C(14N,da0)20Ne and normalized to existing experimental data. The results show that, limited by the overall experimental resolution, the present study cannot resolve fine resonance structures. Within the astrophysical energy region of 0.5-2 MeV, the extracted S*(E) factor exhibits an increasing trend toward lower energies. The S*(E) factor obtained with the 0-deg configuration shows a flatter trend than that obtained with the 15-deg configuration. Supported by the quasi-free reaction simulation results, the divergence between the two data sets may reflect a combination of experimental acceptance effects, finite detector resolution, and possible differences in the relative contributions of reaction mechanisms. This study provides a systematic examination of the experimental design, quasi-free event selection strategy, and interpretation of the underlying physical mechanisms, serving as a useful reference for understanding the role of the 12C+12C fusion reaction in astrophysical processes.

nucl-ex↗

arXiv2026

Mean-$p_T$ fluctuations in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=3.0$--$19.6$ GeV within JAM2

Event-by-event mean-$p_T$ fluctuations probe initial-state fluctuations and their evolution through the dynamics of heavy-ion collisions. We study second-order mean-$p_T$ fluctuations in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}=3.0$--$19.6$ GeV using JAM2 in the RQMDv mean-field mode with the MH2 parameterization. The model qualitatively reproduces the measured identified-particle $p_T$ spectra, providing a single-particle baseline for the fluctuation analysis. The scaled fluctuation $k_2$ decreases with increasing $\langle N_{\rm part}\rangle$ and shows broad agreement with the available measurements at 7.7--19.6 GeV, whereas its calculated centrality dependence is stronger than that in the data at 3.0--4.5 GeV. For the combined proton-plus-antiproton sample, the unnormalized correlator $\langle c_2\rangle$ is positive and larger than that for charged pions. The charged-pion correlator $\langle c_2\rangle$ is negative or consistent with zero over most centrality intervals at 3.0 and 3.5 GeV, becomes weakly positive at 4.5 GeV, and remains positive at higher energies. Its energy evolution resembles the change in the reaction-plane elliptic flow, but this comparison does not establish a common microscopic origin. These calculations provide species-dependent predictions within a transport model without an explicit partonic stage. Isolating the contributions of mean fields, rescattering, and spectator interactions requires controlled variations of the transport dynamics.

nucl-ex↗