What's new? An ab initio investigation of the 3He-4He radiative capture into 7Be

The ³He${(\alpha ,\gamma )}^7$Be radiative capture reaction plays an important role in the creation of elements in stars and in the production of solar neutrinos. It is difficult to experimentally measure this fusion cross section at energies relevant to solar processes because of Coulomb repulsion. Therefore, theory is needed to perform extrapolations from higher energies (where experimental fusion measurements are feasible) to the astrophysical regime. We present the first microscopic calculations of ³He${(\alpha ,\gamma )}^7$Be with explicit inclusion of three-nucleon forces. With the incorporation of experimental bound-state and scattering information, our calculation of the astrophysical S factor agrees quantitatively with experimental data.