The effects of ion temperature on the energy spectra of T + T → 2n + α reaction products

Abstract

The effects of ion temperature on the energy spectra of products of the T + T → 2n + α reaction are modelled and analysed. A model is derived by assuming that the spectra in the centre of mass (CM) frame for a given reaction energy are known. The model is then applied to two different sets of data for the energy spectra in the CM frame. In both cases, it is shown that varying the ion temperature causes significant changes in the shapes of the n and α spectra. For the n spectrum, the apparent intensity of sequential decay through the ground state of 5He decreases with increasing temperature. For the α spectrum, the sharp edge in the CM frame spectrum near 3.75 MeV caused by the dineutron reaction channel results in a thermally broadened spectrum with a high-energy tail at energies > 4 MeV. Knowledge of such features may help to interpret data from experiments designed to investigate the T + T reaction at low reaction energies.