Abstract
Among the reactions involved in the production and destruction of deuterium during Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, the deuterium-burning D(p,\(\gamma \))\(^3\)He reaction has the largest uncertainty and limits the precision of theoretical estimates of primordial deuterium abundance. Here we report the results of a careful commissioning of the experimental setup used to measure the cross-section of the D(p,\(\gamma \))\(^3\)He reaction at the Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics of the Gran Sasso Laboratory (Italy). The commissioning was aimed at minimising all sources of systematic uncertainty in the measured cross sections. The overall systematic error achieved (\(< 3\%\)) will enable improved predictions of BBN deuterium abundance.
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Data Availability Statement
This manuscript has no associated data or the data will not be deposited. [Authors’ comment: ...].
Notes
The astrophysical S(E) factor is defined as [6]: \(S(E)=E\sigma (E)\exp {(2\pi \eta )}\), where E is the energy of interaction in the centre of mass system, \(\sigma (E)\) is the energy dependent cross-section, and \(\eta \) is the Sommerfeld parameter \(\eta (E)=\mathrm{Z_1 Z_2}\alpha (\mu c^2/2E)^{1/2}\) (with Z\(_i\) atomic numbers of the interacting particles, \(\alpha \) fine structure constant, \(\mu \) reduced mass, and c speed of light).
The relative efficiency is defined at 1.33 MeV relative to that of a standard 3-diameter, 3-long NaI(Tl) scintillator at 25 cm from the source.
The power dissipated by the beam is calculated as the product of the beam intensity and the beam energy lost in the gas. For our experiment, we obtain 23.3 mW/cm (8.5 mW/cm) at the lowest (highest) beam energy \(E_\mathrm{p} = 50\) keV (\(E_\mathrm{p} = 395\) keV) used.
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Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the invaluable contribution of Donatello Ciccotti for his support during all phases of the experiment at LUNA, Marco D’Incecco for his work on custom electronics, Massimiliano De Deo for the implementation of the data acquisition system, and Giuliano Sobrero for the development of the new gas target control panel. We also acknowledge the mechanical workshop at LNGS, INFN sez. Bari and Dipartimento Interateneo di Fisica Bari. This work has mainly been supported by INFN, with contributions by Helmholtz Association (ERC-RA-0016), DFG (BE4100/4-1), NKFIH (K120666), COST (ChETEC CA16117), STFC-UK and the University of Naples Compagnia di San Paolo (STAR).
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Communicated by Maria Borge.
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Mossa, V., Stöckel, K., Cavanna, F. et al. Setup commissioning for an improved measurement of the D(p,\(\gamma \))\(^3\)He cross section at Big Bang Nucleosynthesis energies. Eur. Phys. J. A 56, 144 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-020-00149-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-020-00149-1