Role of low-lying resonances for the Be-10(p, alpha)Li-7 reaction rate and implications for the formation of the Solar System

Evidence for the presence of short-lived radioactive isotopes when the Solar System formed is preserved in meteorites, providing insights into the conditions at the birth of our Sun. A low-mass core-collapse supernova had been postulated as a candidate for the origin of Be-10, reinforcing the idea that a supernova triggered the formation of the Solar System. We present a detailed study of the production of Be-10 by the v process in supernovae, which is very sensitive to the reaction rate of the major destruction channel, Be-10(p, alpha)Li-7. With data from recent nuclear experiments that show the presence of a resonant state in B-11 approximate to 193 keV, we derive new values for the Be-10(p, alpha)Li-7 reaction rate, which are significantly higher than previous estimates. We show that, with the new Be-10(p, alpha)Li-7 reaction rate, a low-mass CCSN is unlikely to produce enough Be-10 to explain the observed Be-10/Be-9 ratio in meteorites, even for a wide range of neutrino spectra considered in our models.