Screened Coulomb potentials for astrophysical nuclear fusion reactions
T.E. Liolios
European Center for Theoretical Studies in Nuclear Physics and Related Areas, Villa Tambosi,
I-38050 Villazzano (TN), Italy
University of Thessaloniki, Department of Theoretical Physics, Thessaloniki 54006, Greece
Hellenic War College, BST 903, Greece
theoliol@physics.auth.gr
Received: 19 May 2000 / Revised version: 28 August 2000
Communicated by V.V. Anisovich
Abstract
The electron-screening acceleration of laboratory fusion reactions at
astrophysical energies is an unsolved problem of great importance to
astrophysics. That effect is modeled here by considering the fusion of
hydrogen-like atoms whose electron probability density is used in Poisson's
equation in order to derive the corresponding screened Coulomb potential
energy. That way atomic excitations and deformations of the fusing atoms can
be taken into account. Those potentials are then treated semiclassically in
order to obtain the screening (accelerating) factor of the reaction. By
means of the proposed model the effect of a superstrong magnetic field on
laboratory hydrogen fusion reactions is investigated here for the first time
showing that, despite the considerable increase in the cross-section of the
dd reaction, the pp reaction is still too slow to justify
experimentation. The proposed model is finally applied on the
fusion reaction describing satisfactorily the experimental
data although some ambiguity remains regarding the molecular nature of the
deuteron target. Notably, the present method gives a sufficiently high
screening energy for hydrogen fusion reactions so that the take-away energy
of the spectator nucleus can also be taken into account.
PACS
25.10.+s Nuclear reactions involving few-nucleon systems -
25.45.-z
2H-induced reactions
Copyright Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag 2000
