Many-channel microscopic cluster model of $^{8}$Be: S-factors

Abstract

We investigate low--energy astrophysical $S$ factors for reactions proceeding through the $^{8}$Be compound system with entrance channels $p+{}^{7}$Li, $n+{}^{7}$Be, and $d+{}^{6}$Li. Using the same microscopic many--channel three--cluster framework as in our previous study of the high--lying $^{8}$Be spectrum, we calculate $S(E)$ for $^{7}$Li($p,\alpha)^{4}$He, $^{7}$Be($n,\alpha)^{4}$He, $^{7}$Be($n,p)^{7}$Li, $^{6}$Li($d,\alpha)^{4}$He, $^{6}$Li($d,p)^{7}$Li, and $^{6}$Li($d,n)^{7}$Be in the energy range relevant for primordial and stellar nucleosynthesis. For the mirror pair $^{7}$Li($p,\alpha)^{4}$He / $^{7}$Be($n,\alpha)^{4}$He and for $^{7}$Be($n,p)^{7}$Li the calculated $S$ factors reproduce both the absolute scale and the low--energy trends of the experimental data within their quoted uncertainties, whereas the absolute $S$ factors for the deuteron--induced channels on $^{6}$Li are underestimated at low energy, consistent with the shifted $^{6}$Li+$d$ threshold and the absence of a broad subthreshold $2^{+}$ structure in the present implementation. A partial--wave analysis identifies the dominant $J^{\pi}$ contributions in each channel and relates them to specific $^{8}$Be resonances, while demonstrating that cluster polarization, previously shown to be crucial for the $^{8}$Be spectrum, is likewise essential for the normalization and energy dependence of several $S$ factors. Evaluating $S(E)$ at appropriate Gamow energies, we obtain a hierarchy of reaction channels that quantifies the relative importance of neutron-- and deuteron--induced processes for the production and destruction of $^{7}$Li and $^{7}$Be.