Study of the 2H(7Be,p+3He+4He)n Reaction for Resonances in 8B

Abstract

The solar neutrino is a good probe for understanding the internal structure and the energy production mechanism of stars with masses of about that of the sun because it does not interact with other materials of the star. The production rate of the solar neutrino is largely uncertain due to the lack of nuclear structure information on the 8B nucleus. In the search for resonances in the highly unstable nucleus 8B, which affect the production of solar neutrino, the 2H(7Be, p+3He+4He)n reaction was studied by using a radioactive 7Be beam produced at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Two layers of annular silicon strip detectors were used for particle identification, and the excitation energy of 8B was reconstructed by requiring triple coincidence for p, 3He, and 4He.