Influence of electron capture and Coulomb explosion on electron screening in low energy nuclear reactions in laboratories

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We discuss the effects of electron capture by the projectile and the Coulomb explosion of a molecular projectile on the electron screening in low energy nuclear reactions in laboratory. Using the idea of equilibrium charge, we show that the electron capture of projectile leads to a screening energy which significantly exceeds the adiabatic limit in the simple consideration for the D(d,p)T reaction and provides a possibility to explain the large screening energy claimed in the analysis of experimental data. We then show that the Coulomb explosion can result in a large apparent screening energy as large as that encountered in the analysis of ³He(d,p)⁴He reactions induced by the molecular D₂+ and D₃+ projectiles at very low energies.