An international research team has recently updated the 7Li(d,n)24He reaction rate based on latest experimental data, which removes the significant ambiguity in the cosmological lithium (Li) problem from the perspective of nuclear physics.
The big bang is regarded as the most successful model to describe the origination and evolution of the universe currently. However, its success has been limited by the so-called lithium problem, which refers to the fact that primordial lithium-7 abundance is overpredicted by a factor of three in comparison to the value from observation, while predictions match the observed primordial deuterium and helium abundances.
From the perspective of nuclear physics, the accurate reaction rates of lithium destruction reactions are crucial for accurate prediction of the primordial lithium-7 abundance and further understanding of the lithium problem. Nevertheless, as an important lithium-7 destruction reaction, the 7Li(d,n)24He reaction has not been well studied before 2018.
In the latest study published in The Astrophysical Journal, the researchers updated the 7Li(d,n)24He reaction rate based on the recent experimental measurements on the three near-threshold beryllium-9 excited states. This work was conducted by an international team led by Hou Suqing at the Institute of Modern Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
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