Ab initio calculations of light-ion fusion reactions

The exact treatment of nuclei starting from the constituent nucleons and the fundamental interactions among them has been a long-standing goal in nuclear physics. Above all nuclear scattering and reactions, which require the solution of the many-body quantum-mechanical problem in the continuum, represent an extraordinary theoretical as well as computational challenge for ab initio approaches. The ab initio No-Core Shell Model/Resonating-Group Method (NCSM/RGM) [1, 2, 3, 4] complements a microscopic cluster technique with the use of realistic interactions, and a microscopic and consistent description of the nucleon clusters. This approach is capable of describing simultaneously both bound and scattering states in light nuclei. Recent applications to light nuclei scattering and fusion reactions relevant to energy production in stars and Earth based fusion facilities, such as the deuterium-3He fusion [4], are presented. Progress toward the inclusion of the three nucleon force into the formalism is outlined.