Speaker
Davide Trezzi
(INFN - Milano)
Description
LUNA (Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics) is a nuclear astrophysics experiment running at the INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) [1]. Aim of the experiment is to measure the cross section of fusion reactions that take place inside the stars and that, in the past, dominated the Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). The low background of the LNGS underground laboratory allows LUNA to investigate these reactions in the solar and Big Bang energy windows, where the cross sections drop down to values from pb to fb and even smaller, without the necessity of an extrapolation from the highest energies as usually done in laboratories at the Earth's surface.
Recently, the LUNA collaboration has been engaged in the study of the 2H(α, γ)6Li reaction. This reaction is fundamental in the BBN and determines the amount of primordial 6Li in the Universe. The measured quantity of 6Li has been found to be higher (two-three orders of magnitude) than expected from the present cross section estimate [2]. In order to clarify this discrepancy, the 2H(α, γ)6Li reaction has been directly investigated at LUNA down to 130 keV. The experimental set-up will be described and the preliminary data will be discussed. Other recent measurements at LUNA and future possibilities will be also outlined.
[1] C. Broggini et al., Ann. Rev. Nucl. Part. Sci., 60 (2010) 53
[2] C. Angulo et al., Nucl. Phys. A 656 (1999) 3
Primary author
Davide Trezzi
(INFN - Milano)
