High-Precision Measurement of <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi mathvariant="normal">D</mml:mi> <mml:mo stretchy="false">(</mml:mo> <mml:mi>γ</mml:mi> <mml:mo>,</mml:mo> <mml:mi>n</mml:mi> <
We report on a high-precision measurement of the D(γ,n)p photodisintegration reaction at the newly commissioned Shanghai Laser Electron Gamma Source, employing a quasimonochromatic γ-ray beam from Laser Compton Scattering. The cross sections were determined over E_{γ}=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 analysis using dibaryon effective field theory, we obtained the unprecedentedly precise p(n,γ)D cross sections and thermonuclear rate, with a precision up to ≈4 times higher than previous evaluations. Implemented in a standard Big Bang nucleosynthesis framework, this new rate decreases uncertainty of the key cosmological parameter of baryon density Ω_{b}h^{2} by up to ≈16% relative to the Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics (LUNA) result. A residual ≈1.2σ tension between Ω_{b}h^{2} constrained from primordial D/H observations and cosmic microwave background measurements persists, highlighting the need for improved dd reaction rates and offering potential hints of new physics beyond the standard model of cosmology.
Authors
- Gong-Tao Fan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4240-7293)
- Hongrui Feng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0626-7270)
- Yinji Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4558-1086)
- Yudong Luo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8965-1859)
- Shung-Ichi Ando (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2937-3102)
- Kai-Jie Chen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0007-913X)
- Zi-Rui Hao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5538-4118)
- Y. G. (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0233-9900)
- Hang-Hua Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7424-891X)
- Toshitaka Kajino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8619-359X)
- Zhi Shen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7825-6263)
- Yue Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2189-8580)
- Hong‐Wei Wang
- X. Y. Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8333-0635)
- Hao Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1437-9918)
- J. J. He (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3616-2680)
- Liyong Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6904-1391)
- Longxiang Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1517-165X)
- Wenqing Shen
- Sheng Jin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4737-9516)
- Pu Jiao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6150-1677)
- Yu-Xuan Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7066-6340)
Institutions
- Peking University (CN)
- Fudan University (CN)
- Beijing Normal University (CN)
- Shanghai Advanced Research Institute (CN)
- Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (CN)
- National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (JP)
- Sun Moon University (KR)
- East China Normal University (CN)
- The University of Tokyo (JP)
- Beihang University (CN)
- Daegu University (KR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Letters
- Published
- 2026-01-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/tbbt-s819
- Primary Topic
- demographic modeling and climate adaptation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00