Commissioning of Underground Nuclear Astrophysics Experiment JUNA in China

¹ China Institute of Atomic Energy, Beijing, China
² Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
³ Institute of Modern Physics, Lanzhou, China
⁴ Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
⁵ Yalong River Hydro-Electronic Power Limited, Sichuan, China
⁶ Zhongshan University, Guangzhou, China
⁷ Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China
⁸ Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China
⁹ Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
¹⁰ RIKEN, Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, Wako, Japan
¹¹ Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
¹² Konkoly Observatory of the Hungarian Academy of sciences, Hungary
¹³ South Dakota State University, Brookings, South Dakota, US
¹⁴ Minnesota University, Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, US
¹⁵ University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, US
¹⁶ Osaka University, Suita, Osaka, Japan
¹⁷ Shandong University, Weihai campus, China
¹⁸ Institute for High Energy Physics, Beijing, China

^* e-mail: wpliu@ciae.ac.cn

Published online: 24 February 2022

Abstract

Underground Nuclear Astrophysics Experiment in China (JUNA) has been commissioned by taking the advantage of the ultra-low background in Jinping underground lab. High current mA level 400 KV accelerator with an ECR source and BGO detectors were commissioned. JUNA studies directly a number of nuclear reactions important to hydrostatic stellar evolution at their relevant stellar energies. In the first quarter of 2021, JUNA performed the direct measurements of ²⁵Mg(p,γ)²⁶Al, ¹⁹F(p,α)¹⁶O, ¹³C(α,n)¹⁶O and ¹²C(α,γ)¹⁶O near the Gamow window. The experimental results reflect the potential of JUNA with higher statistics, precision and sensitivity of the data. The preliminary results of JUNA experiment and future plan are given.