Abstract
We have made the first attempt at determining the LiLi cross section at astrophysical energies. This reaction competes with the LiB reaction in the inhomogeneous big bang model and with Li decay in the process. It may affect the primordial abundance and the stellar production of A>12 nuclei. Using a radioactive beam of Li and the Coulomb dissociation method we attempted to measure the cross section of the inverse reaction LiLi. We report only an upper limit because we were unable to determine and subtract the nuclear dissociation. Through the detailed balance theorem, this lead to an upper limit for the cross section of interest, LiLi. The limit is 198 b for = 0–500 keV or, when expressed as a reaction rate, 7200 cm s mole.
- Received 25 August 1997
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.57.959
©1998 American Physical Society