DEUTERON-DEUTERON REACTION CROSS SECTIONS AT VERY LOW ENERGIES

Recent studies of the deuteron-deuteron nuclear reactions in metallic targets, at projectile energies below the Coulomb barrier, show a significant enhancement of cross sections due to the electron screening effect and the threshold resonance contribution. Both effects are sensitive to the crystal lattice defects of the target material which increases the effective electron mass. Based on experimental results and the atomic deuteron-deuteron potential, we could calculate here the cross section of the H-2(d, p)H-3 reaction down to energies corresponding to room temperature where the enhancement effects are of crucial importance.