Abstract
The nuclear physics input from the cross section is a major uncertainty in the fluxes of and neutrinos from the Sun predicted by solar models and in the abundance obtained in big-bang nucleosynthesis calculations. The present work reports on a new precision experiment using the activation technique at energies directly relevant to big-bang nucleosynthesis. Previously such low energies had been reached experimentally only by the prompt- technique and with inferior precision. Using a windowless gas target, high beam intensity, and low background -counting facilities, the cross section has been determined at 127, 148, and 169 keV center-of-mass energy with a total uncertainty of 4%. The sources of systematic uncertainty are discussed in detail. The present data can be used in big-bang nucleosynthesis calculations and to constrain the extrapolation of the astrophysical factor to solar energies.
- Received 5 July 2006
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.97.122502
©2006 American Physical Society