Abstract
The 6Li(p,γ)7Be reaction is involved in all three main nucleosynthesis scenarios: Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, the interaction of cosmic rays with interstellar matter, and stellar nucleosynthesis. Conflicting experimental results have been reported in literature for the 6Li(p,γ)7Be reaction cross section trend at astrophysical energies. A recent direct measurement found a resonance-like structure at Ec.m. = 195 keV, corresponding to an excited state at Ex ~ 5800 keV in 7Be which, however, has not been confirmed by either theoretical calculations or other direct measurements. In order to clarify the existence of this resonance, a new experiment was performed at the Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics, located deep underground at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (Italy). The 6Li(p,γ)7Be cross section was measured in the energy range Ec.m. = 60-350 keV with unprecedented sensitivity and no evidence for the alleged resonance was found.
Highlights
According to simulations of the Galaxy chemical evolution most of the solar system lithium was provided by low-mass stars [1] while less than half of it was produced by Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) [2, 3] or Galactic cosmic rays interacting with interstellar matter
The 6Li/7Li isotopic ratio has been proposed as a tool to constrain non-standard lithium production mechanisms [8] and pollution of stellar atmospheres [9] in the context of the cosmological lithium problem, The 6Li(p,γ)7Be reaction plays a key role in determining the stellar 6Li/7Li
We performed a new experiment [17] at the Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics (LUNA), located deep underground at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (Italy) [18]
Summary
According to simulations of the Galaxy chemical evolution most of the solar system lithium was provided by low-mass stars [1] while less than half of it was produced by Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) [2, 3] or Galactic cosmic rays interacting with interstellar matter.The predicted BBN 6Li/7Li isotopic ratio is ∼ 10−5 [4], significantly lower than the solar system value of 0.08 [5]. The predicted BBN 6Li/7Li isotopic ratio is ∼ 10−5 [4], significantly lower than the solar system value of 0.08 [5]. Measurements of the 6Li(p,γ)7Be reaction cross section at low energies have reported inconsistent results on the slope of the astrophysical S -factor [10, 11].
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