Using Inertial Fusion Implosions to Measure the T + [superscript 3]He Fusion Cross Section at Nucleosynthesis-Relevant Energies

Abstract

Light nuclei were created during big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). Standard BBN theory, using rates inferred from accelerator-beam data, cannot explain high levels of [superscript 6]Li in low-metallicity stars. Using high-energy-density plasmas we measure the T([superscript 3]He,γ)[superscript 6]Li reaction rate, a candidate for anomalously high [superscript 6]Li production; we find that the rate is too low to explain the observations, and different than values used in common BBN models. This is the first data directly relevant to BBN, and also the first use of laboratory plasmas, at comparable conditions to astrophysical systems, to address a problem in nuclear astrophysics.