Improved information on the 7Li+p→α+α reaction via the Trojan Horse Method applied to the 3He break-up.

The astrophysically relevant 7Li+p→α+α reaction was investigated via the THM by selecting the quasi-free contribution to the measured 3He+7Li→α+α+d three-body process. This investigation is mainly aimed at testing the validity of the pole approximation in the THM against the bound structure of the Trojan-horse nucleus. The three-body experiment was performed at 33 MeV, corresponding to a 7Li-p relative energy ranging from 0.2 to 7 MeV. The quasi-free 7Li+p cross-section was compared with the free reaction cross-section as well as with indirect data from a previous THM experiment. The good agreement between data sets throughout the energy range investigated provided a very important validity test of the pole approximation for the THM. © 2006 American Institute of Physics [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]