Measuring $^{3}$He($^{3}$He,2p)$^{4}$He and t(t,2n)$^{4}$He reactions near 10 keV at inertial confinement fusion facilities
ORAL
Abstract
Nuclear reactions at stellar energies are often obtained through extrapolations from higher energy data, or in low-background experiments such as those at the LUNA underground laboratory. However, even when measurements are possible, TN rates in burning plasmas are inherently different from those in beam-target experiments. The fusing nuclei are surrounded by bound electrons in accelerator experiments, whereas they occupy mainly continuum states in the plasma environment of a star. We will discuss plans to measure the bare-nuclear cross section and particle production spectra for the $^{3}$He($^{3}$He,2p)$^{4}$He fusion, a key reaction in the solar proton-proton chain, and the analogue T(t,2n)$^{4}$He reaction. Challenging issues of characterizing background proecess and plasman conditions will be discussed.
*This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office (DOE) at LLNL under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344, at MIT under Coop. Agreement No. DE-FC52-08NA28302, the University of Rochester, and the NY State Energy Research and Development Authority.
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