High-Precision Measurement of D($γ$, $n$)$p$ Photodisintegration Reaction and Implications for Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis
Yinji Chen, Zirui Hao, Jianjun He, Toshitaka Kajino, Shung-ichi Ando, Yudong Luo, Hongrui Feng, Liyong Zhang, Gongtao Fan, Hongwei Wang, Hao Zhang, Zhilin Shen, Longxiang Liu, Hanghua Xu, Yue Zhang, Pu Jiao, Xinyue Li, Yuxuan Yang, Sheng Jin, Kaijie Chen, Wenqing Shen, Yugang Ma
公開日: 2025/9/15
Abstract
We report on a high-precision measurement of the D($\gamma$, $n$)$p$ photodisintegration reaction at the newly commissioned Shanghai Laser Electron Gamma Source (SLEGS), employing a quasi-monochromatic $\gamma$-ray beam from Laser Compton Scattering. The cross sections were determined over $E_\gamma$=2.327-7.089 MeV, achieving up to a factor of 2.2 improvement in precision near the neutron separation threshold. Combined with previous data in a global Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) analysis using dibaryon effective field theory, we obtained the unprecedentedly precise $p$($n$, $\gamma$)D cross sections and thermonuclear rate, with a precision up to 3.8 times higher than previous evaluations. Implemented in a standard Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) framework, this new rate decreases uncertainty of the key cosmological parameter of baryon density $\Omega_b h^2$ by up to $\approx$16% relative to the LUNA result. A residual $\approx$1.2$\sigma$ tension between $\Omega_b h^2$ constrained from primordial D/H observations and CMB measurements persists, highlighting the need for improved $dd$ reaction rates and offering potential hints of new physics beyond the standard model of cosmology.