THE COULOMB DISSOCIATION OF B-8 AND THE B-8 SOLAR-NEUTRINO FLUX

The rate of the Be-7(p, gamma)B-8 reaction, directly related to the pr oduction of B-8 in the sun, is most uncertain and yields one of the la rgest uncertainty in the standard solar model (SSM) estimate of the B- 8 solar neutrino flux. We discuss a first attempt to measure this reac tion rate via the Coulomb dissociation method. The experiment utilized 46.5 MeV/u B-8 radioactive beams, from the RIKEN-RIPS facility and ou r initial results are consistent with the lower value of the cross sec tion, as measured by Filippone et at, as well as allow for an estimate of the p-wave contribution to the Be-7(p, gamma)B-8 reaction that nee ds to be corrected for in the extrapolation to solar energies. Our pre liminary result suggests a B-8 solar neutrino flux which is 25-30% sma ller than predicted by the various SSMs of Bahcall et al.