Abstract. The astrophysical S(E) factor of14 N(p, γ) 15 O has been measured for effective center-of-mass energies between E ef f = 119 and 367 keV at the LUNA facility using TiN solid targets and Ge detectors. The data are in good agreement with previous and recent work at overlapping energies. R-matrix analysis reveals that due to the complex level structure of 15 O the extrapolated S(0) value is model dependent and calls for additional experimental efforts to reduce the present uncertainty in S(0) to a level of a few percent as required by astrophysical calculations. .KvX -and γ ray spectroscopy -97.10.CvStellar structure and evolution PACS

The nuclear physics input from the 3 He(α, γ) 7 Be cross section is a major uncertainty in the fluxes of 7 Be and 8 B neutrinos from the Sun predicted by solar models and in the 7 Li abundance obtained in big-bang nucleosynthesis calculations. The present work reports on a new precision experiment using the activation technique at energies directly relevant to big-bang nucleosynthesis. Previously such low energies had been reached experimentally only by the prompt-γ technique and with inferior precision. Using a windowless gas target, high beam intensity and low background γ-counting facilities, the 3 He(α, γ) 7 Be cross section has been determined at 127, 148 and 169 keV center-of-mass energy with a total uncertainty of 4 %. The sources of systematic uncertainty are discussed in detail. The present data can be used in big-bang nucleosynthesis calculations and to constrain the extrapolation of the 3 He(α, γ) 7 Be astrophysical S-factor to solar energies. The 3 He(α, γ) 7 Be reaction is a critical link in the 7 Be and 8 B branches of the proton-proton (p-p) chain of solar hydrogen burning [1]. At low energies its cross section σ(E) (E denotes the center of mass energy, E α the 4 He beam energy in the laboratory system) can be parameterized by the astrophysical S-factor S(E) defined as. The 9.4 % uncertainty [3] in the Sfactor extrapolation to the solar Gamow energy (23 keV) contributes 8 % to the uncertainty in the predicted fluxes of solar neutrinos from the decays of 7 Be and 8 B [4]. The interior of the Sun, in turn, can be studied [4,5] by comparing this prediction with the data from neutrino detectors [6,7], which determine the 8 B neutrino flux with a total uncertainty as low as 3.5 % [7].Furthermore, the production of 7 Li in big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) is highly sensitive to the 3 He(α, γ) 7 Be cross section in the energy range E ≈ 160-380 keV [8], with an adopted uncertainty of 8 % [9]. Based on the baryon-to-photon ratio from observed anisotropies in the cosmic microwave background [10], network calculations predict primordial 7 Li abundances [11] that are significantly higher than observations [12,13]. A lower 3 He(α,γ)7 Be cross section at relevant energies may explain part of this discrepancy. The3 He(α,γ) 7 Be (Q-value: 1.586 MeV) reaction leads to the emission of prompt γ-rays, and the final 7 Be nucleus decays with a half-life of 53.22 ± 0.06 days, emitting a 478 keV γ-ray in 10.44 ± 0.04 % of the cases [14]. The cross section can be measured by detecting either the induced 7 Be activity (activation method) or the prompt γ-rays from the reaction (prompt-γ method). Previous activation studies [15,16,17,18] cover the energy range E = 420-2000 keV. Prompt γ-ray measurements [15,19,20,21,22,23,24] cover E = 107-2500 keV, although with limited precision at low energies.The global shape of the S-factor curve is well reproduced by theoretical calculations [25,26]. However, the slope has been questioned [26] for E ≤ 300 keV, where there are no high-precision data. Furthermore, a global analysis [3] ind...

Publisher's Note: Astrophysical S factor of the 3 He(α, γ ) 7 Be reaction measured at low energy via detection of prompt and delayed γ rays [Phys. Rev. C 75, 065803 (2007)]

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