Application of inverse Z-pinch for study of the pd reaction at keV energy range

Formation and dynamics of the hydrogen liner, and nuclear reaction (pd→3He+γ (5.5 MeV)) in the keV collision energy range were studied using the inverse Z-pinch configuration. The fundamental properties of light nuclei reactions in keV energy range are of importance for checking the validity of the models in basic physics and astrophysics. Two experimental techniques were proposed and tested for recovering the energy distribution of the protons in the expanding plasma liner. The first technique is based on the measuring the proton flow density, and the second on the measuring the Hα-plasma radiation of the exited neutrals in the expanding plasma liner. It is shown that the combined use of these two techniques could provide relevant information on the energy distribution of the accelerated protons in the liner. This approach was used to get the estimates of the upper limits for the astrophysical S-factor and effective cross section of the pd-reaction for proton–deuteron collisions in the energy range of 2.7–16.7 keV.