Cross section of He-3(He-3,2p)He-4 measured at solar energies

We report on the results of the He-3(He-4,2p)He-4 experiment at the underground accelerator facility LUNA (Gran Sasso). For the first time the lowest projectile energies utilized for the cross section measurement correspond to energies below the center of the solar Gamow peak (E-o=22 keV). The data provide no evidence for the existence of a hypothetical resonance in the energy range investigated. Although no extrapolation is needed anymore (except for energies at the low-energy tail of the Gamow peak), the data must be corrected for the effects of electron screening, clearly observed the first time for the He-3(He-3,2p)He-4 reaction. The effects are, however, larger than expected and not understood, leading presently to the largest uncertainty on the quoted S-b(0) value for bare nuclides (=5.40 MeV b). [S0556-2813(98)04505-1].