Photodisintegration cross section of the reaction (4)He(γ,p)(3)H between 22 and 30 MeV

Phys Rev Lett. 2012 Jan 27;108(4):042502. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.108.042502. Epub 2012 Jan 25.

Abstract

The two-body photodisintegration cross section of (4)He into a proton and triton was measured with monoenergetic photon beams in 0.5 MeV energy steps between 22 and 30 MeV. High-pressure (4)He-Xe gas scintillators of various (4)He/Xe ratios served as targets and detectors. Pure Xe gas scintillators were used for background studies. A NaI detector together with a plastic scintillator paddle was employed for determining the incident photon flux. Our comprehensive data set follows the trend of the theoretical calculations of the Trento group very well, although our data are consistently lower in magnitude by about 5%. However, they differ significantly from the majority of the previous data, especially from the recent data of Shima et al. The latter data had put into question the validity of theoretical approaches used to calculate core-collapse supernova explosions and big-bang nucleosynthesis abundances of certain light nuclei.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Gamma Rays*
  • Helium / chemistry*
  • Models, Chemical
  • Photochemical Processes
  • Radioactivity
  • Tritium / chemistry*
  • Xenon / chemistry

Substances

  • Tritium
  • Helium
  • Xenon