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Reaction atlas · Big Bang nucleosynthesis

Fusion · Big Bang nucleosynthesis

3H(d,n)4He

: triton + deuteron → helium‑4 + neutronHow to read the notation

On this page

Tritium and a deuteron fuse into 4He and a neutron. After the Big Bang it turned tritium into helium; on Earth it is the reaction planned for fusion power plants.

The tritium made by deuteron fusion after the Big Bang was mostly turned into 4He by this reaction. Its rate is so high that it does not limit the predicted abundances. Because the same reaction powers fusion experiments, its cross section is among the best studied in nuclear physics.

Facts

How well known
Measured precisely for fusion-energy applications; its uncertainty does not affect BBN predictions.
Live evaluation
No live evaluation yet · Evaluations
Q-value · energy released
17.589 MeV
Gamow window
  • 110 ± 100 keVdeuterium bottleneck, 0.8 GK (Big Bang nucleosynthesis)
  • 58 ± 45 keVend of BBN, 0.3 GK (Big Bang nucleosynthesis)
Kind
Fusion

How it was measured

1 measurement, 1992Show the list
  1. 1992

    Calculation from theory

    Parametrizations of the cross section and thermal reactivity based on R-matrix calculations; a correction followed in 1993. [1]

Measurements (EXFOR)

Every dataset EXFOR holds for this reaction, drawn by the energies it covers, against the energies a star uses.

102 datasets in 43 EXFOR entries, 1950–2015 · 5 without an energy range, not drawn

Temperature
Lowest energy in EXFOR
6.12 keV
Bonner, 1950; Conner et al., 1952 · σ · C2884.002
Distance from the Gamow peak
0.52 Gamow widths below
E₀ = 112 keV, window 10.5–213 keV
Rate from energies not in EXFOR
< 0.01%
at T₉ = 0.8, smooth estimate
1 keV10 keV100 keV1 MeV10 MeV100 MeVCentre-of-mass energy (keV)E₀ = 112 keVσSdσ/dΩAyotherlowest in EXFOR 6.12 keV
  • Gamow window, hatched where no measurement reaches
  • Outlined bars are shown but not counted (the rule is under “How these numbers are made”).
  • A diamond is a dataset at a single energy. Bars running off the right edge continue to higher energies.
The datasets of the gap map, by quantity
The datasets of the gap map, by quantity
QuantityDatasetsE_cm range (keV)
σcross section233 keV – 234 MeV
SS-factor147.9 keV – 69.5 keV
dσ/dΩangular distribution646 keV – 234 MeV
Aypolarization860 keV – 11.4 MeV
…other118.9 keV – 18.9 keV
How these numbers are made

Lowest measured energy, everywhere in the data explorer: the lowest centre-of-mass energy at which a dataset in EXFOR measures the reaction itself (cross section, S-factor, angular distribution, yield or resonance strength), judged point by point. A point counts when it is a value, not an upper or lower limit, when it lies at least one standard deviation above zero, and when its energy is physical: at least 1 keV for charged particles, and not below the threshold of an endothermic reaction. Not counted: extrapolated, calculated, evaluated or derived values; superseded, deleted or preliminary data; ratios; a single S-factor value, which in EXFOR is a fit result; and indirect methods (Trojan horse, Coulomb dissociation, ANC, surrogate reactions), recognized from EXFOR's method and analysis codes, their text and the title. Frame and unit errors of EXFOR are corrected first, and values the literature shows to be upper limits are read as limits, from a list that gives the evidence for each. Datasets that reach the same energy within 0.5% are all credited, earliest first. Rate from energies not in EXFOR: the share of the rate integrand at that temperature outside the energy ranges the counted datasets cover (from their lowest measured point to their highest), with a constant S-factor (σ ∝ S(E₀)/E · e^−2πη, so the integrand is e^(−E/kT − 2πη)); for a neutron capture, σ ∝ 1/v. Resonances make the real integrand lumpy, so read it as a smooth baseline.

Details

The cross section is dominated by a broad 3/2+ resonance in 5He just above the d+t threshold, which makes it very large at BBN energies. Bosch and Hale (1992) gave parametrizations of the cross section and of the Maxwellian reactivity, based on R-matrix calculations, that are widely used in fusion research, together with those of 2H(d,n)3He, 2H(d,p)3H and 3He(d,p)4He.

Peak energy E0 ± half the 1/e width, centre of mass, from the AME2020 masses.

Evaluations

Compilations that combine the data into a recommended rate.

  • —P. Descouvemont et al., At. Data Nucl. Data Tables 88, 203 (2004) [2]
  • —H.-S. Bosch, G. M. Hale, Nucl. Fusion 32, 611 (1992); correction Nucl. Fusion 33, 1919 (1993) [1]

Related reactions

References

  1. 1.

    H.-S. Bosch, G. M. Hale

    Improved formulas for fusion cross-sections and thermal reactivities

    Nucl. Fusion 32, 611 (1992); correction Nucl. Fusion 33, 1919 (1993)

  2. 2.

    P. Descouvemont, A. Adahchour, C. Angulo, A. Coc, E. Vangioni-Flam

    Compilation and R-matrix analysis of Big Bang nuclear reaction rates

    At. Data Nucl. Data Tables 88, 203 (2004) · arXiv:astro-ph/0407101

How to cite this page

J. Skowronski, 3H(d,n)4He, in Reaction atlas, 2026-10-12, https://jskowron.eu/atlas/3H-dn-4He.

Cite the date you used; it is the last change to this page.

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