Title
Experimental Evidence of a Variant Neutron Spectrum from the T (t,2n)α Reaction at Center-of-Mass Energies in the Range of 16-50 keV
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-27-2018
Abstract
© 2018 American Physical Society. Full calculations of six-nucleon reactions with a three-body final state have been elusive and a long-standing issue. We present neutron spectra from the T(t,2n)α (TT) reaction measured in inertial confinement fusion experiments at the OMEGA laser facility at ion temperatures from 4 to 18 keV, corresponding to center-of-mass energies (Ec.m.) from 16 to 50 keV. A clear difference in the shape of the TT-neutron spectrum is observed between the two Ec.m., with the He5 ground state resonant peak at 8.6 MeV being significantly stronger at the higher than at the lower energy. The data provide the first conclusive evidence of a variant TT-neutron spectrum in this Ec.m. range. In contrast to earlier available data, this indicates a reaction mechanism that must involve resonances and/or higher angular momenta than L=0. This finding provides an important experimental constraint on theoretical efforts that explore this and complementary six-nucleon systems, such as the solar He3(He3,2p)α reaction.
Recommended Citation
Gatu Johnson, M.; Forrest, C. J.; Sayre, D. B.; Bacher, A.; Bourgade, J. L.; Brune, C. R.; Caggiano, J. A.; Casey, D. T.; Frenje, J. A.; Glebov, V. Yu; Hale, G. M.; Hatarik, R.; Herrmann, H. W.; Janezic, R.; Kim, Y. H.; Knauer, J. P.; Landoas, O.; McNabb, D. P.; Paris, M. W.; Petrasso, R. D.; Pino, J. E.; Quaglioni, S.; Rosse, B.; Sanchez, J.; Sangster, T. C.; Sio, H.; Shmayda, W.; Stoeckl, C.; Thompson, I.; and Zylstra, A. B., "Experimental Evidence of a Variant Neutron Spectrum from the T (t,2n)α Reaction at Center-of-Mass Energies in the Range of 16-50 keV" (2018). Physics & Astronomy Open Access Publications. 89.
https://ohioopen.library.ohio.edu/physics-astronomy-oapub/89