Speaker
Description
The onset of the CNO cycle in Population III stars requires the production of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen nuclei in an environment initially devoid of metals. Among the proposed mechanisms, α-induced reactions on light nuclei such as boron and lithium may provide a pathway for the synthesis of CNO material from primordial hydrogen and helium [1].
The corresponding reaction rates remain poorly constrained at astrophysical energies, primarily due to the experimental challenges associated with measuring very low yields and the presence of resonant structures near threshold [2]. Improved experimental data in the relevant energy range are therefore essential to better constrain these processes.
Within the ERC NUCLEAR project [3], we are investigating alpha-induced reactions at the Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics (LUNA) at LNGS (Italy), in collaboration with the University of Notre Dame (USA), taking advantage of the ultra-low background conditions provided by the underground environment. Measurements are being performed using the 400 kV accelerator [4], focusing on 10B in the astrophysically relevant energy region.
In this contribution, I will present the status of the experimental campaigns together with first yield measurements and ongoing analysis efforts.
This work is supported, in part, by the ERC NUCLEAR project (UKRI grant EP/Z534626/1).
[1] M. Wiescher et al. Eur. Phys. J. A (2021) 57:24
[2] A. Gula et al. Phys. Rev. C 107 (2023) 025805
[3] NUclear CLustering Effects in Astrophysical Reactions https://www.erc-nuclear.uk
[4] A. Formicola et al. Nucl. Instr. Meth. A 507 (2003) 609-616