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arXiv · 2605.19927

A new analysis of the "hep" S-factor and the "hen" cross section

Michele Viviani·Alex Gnech·Laura Elisa Marcucci·Alejandro Kievsky·Luca Girlanda
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Abstract

We present a new accurate analysis of the $^3$He$(p,e^+\nu_e)$${}^4$He (''hep'') reaction at astrophysical energies. The S-factor is computed using a state-of-the-art method to calculate the four-nucleon scattering and bound-state wave functions (the hyperspherical harmonic expansion), and by using nuclear interactions and accompanying electroweak nuclear currents obtained within the chiral effective field theory framework. Our analysis includes a detailed examination of the theoretical uncertainties coming from two different sources: the truncation of the interaction and current chiral expansions, and the model dependence. Our recommended final theoretical value for the hep S-factor at zero energyis $S(0)=(8.7\pm 0.9)\times 10^{-20}$ keV b. We provide also the energy spectrum of the outgoing hep positrons which may be measured in future experiments. We include also an analysis of the ''sister'' reaction $^3$He$(n,\gamma)$${}^4$He (''hen'') at low energies, showing that the calculation well reproduce the total cross section from thermal energies to few MeV, validating our results on the hep reaction.

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Michele Viviani, Alex Gnech, Laura Elisa Marcucci, Alejandro Kievsky, Luca Girlanda. 2026-05-19. A new analysis of the "hep" S-factor and the "hen" cross section. https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.19927

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