Measurement of the H2(p,γ)He3 S factor at 265–1094 keV

2021

Recent astronomical data have provided the primordial deuterium abundance with percent precision. As a result, big bang nucleosynthesis may provide a constraint on the universal baryon to photon ratio that is as precise as, but independent from, analyses of the cosmic microwave background. However, such a constraint requires that the nuclear reaction rates governing the production and destruction of primordial deuterium are sufficiently well known. Here, a new measurement of the $^{2}\mathrm{H}{(p,\ensuremath{\gamma})}^{3}\mathrm{He}$ cross-section is reported. This nuclear reaction dominates the error on the predicted big bang deuterium abundance. A proton beam of 400--1650 keV beam energy…