In a recent Physical Review C paper, scientists from the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland), Grand Accélérateur National d'Ions Lourds (France), and FRIB used the shell model embedded in the continuum to analyze the collectivization of resonance states in carbon-11 via the coupling to the proton emission threshold. These resonances are important for boron-proton fusion reactors employing the aneutronic fusion of the boron-11 nucleus with a proton that produces three energetic alpha particles.

The authors concluded that the presence of threshold-aligned proton resonances in carbon-11 is expected to strongly enhance the cross-section of the fusion of boron-10 nucleus with a proton that produces a long-lived isotope of beryllium-7 poisoning the aneutronic energy source.

One of the authors of the paper is Witek Nazarewicz, John A. Hannah Distinguished Professor of Physics and chief scientist at FRIB.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Office of Nuclear Physics.

Michigan State University (MSU) operates the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) as a user facility for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC), supporting the mission of the DOE-SC Office of Nuclear Physics. User facility operation is supported by the DOE-SC Office of Nuclear Physics as one of 28 DOE-SC user facilities.

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of today’s most pressing challenges. For more information, visit energy.gov/science.