Subscribe to the gold package and get unlimited access to Shamra Academy
Register a new userMeasurement of the 20 and 90 keV resonances in the ${}^{18}{rm O}(p,alpha){}^{15}$N reaction via THM
264
0
0.0
(
0
)
Ask ChatGPT about the research
No Arabic abstract
The $^{18}{rm O}(p,alpha)^{15}{rm N}$ reaction is of primary importance in several astrophysical scenarios, including fluorine nucleosynthesis inside AGB stars as well as oxygen and nitrogen isotopic ratios in meteorite grains. Thus the indirect measurement of the low energy region of the $^{18}{rm O}(p,alpha)^{15}{rm N}$ reaction has been performed to reduce the nuclear uncertainty on theoretical predictions. In particular the strength of the 20 and 90 keV resonances have been deduced and the change in the reaction rate evaluated.
rate research
Read More
Context. Direct observation of gamma-ray emission from the decay of $^{18}$F ejected in classical nova outbursts remains a major focus of the nuclear astrophysics community. However, modeling the abundance of ejected $^{18}$F, and thus the predicted detectability distance of a gamma-ray signal near 511 keV emitted from these transient thermonuclear episodes, is hampered by significant uncertainties in our knowledge of the key $^{18}$F(p,$alpha$) reaction rate. Aims. We analyze uncertainties in the most recent nuclear physics experimental results employed to calculate the $^{18}$F(p,$alpha$) reaction rate. Our goal is to determine which uncertainties have the most profound influence on the predicted abundance of $^{18}$F ejected from novae, in order to guide future experimental works. Methods. We calculated a wide range of $^{18}$F(p,$alpha$) reaction rates using R-Matrix formalism, allowing us to take into account all interference effects. Using a selection of 16 evenly-spaced rates over the full range, we performed 16 new hydrodynamic nova simulations. Results. We performed one of the most thorough theoretical studies of the impact of the $^{18}$F(p,$alpha$) reaction in classical novae to date. The $^{18}$F(p,$alpha$) rate remains highly uncertain at nova temperatures, resulting in a factor ~10 uncertainty in the predicted abundance of $^{18}$F ejected from nova explosions. We also found that the abundance of $^{18}$F may be strongly correlated with that of $^{19}$F. Conclusions. Despite numerous nuclear physics uncertainties affecting the $^{18}$F(p,$alpha$) reaction rate, which are dominated by unknown interference signs between 1/2$^+$ and 3/2$^+$ resonances, future experimental work should focus on firmly and precisely determining the directly measurable quantum properties of the subthreshold states in the compound nucleus $^{19}$Ne near 6.13 and 6.29 MeV.
The $^{15}{rm N}(p,gamma)^{16}{rm O}$ reaction provides a path from the CN cycle to the CNO bi-cycle and CNO tri-cycle. The measured astrophysical factor for this reaction is dominated by resonant capture through two strong $J^{pi}=1^{-}$ resonances at $E_{R}= 312$ and 962 keV and direct capture to the ground state. Recently, a new measurement of the astrophysical factor for the $^{15}{rm N}(p,gamma)^{16}{rm O}$ reaction has been published [P. J. LeBlanc {it et al.}, Phys. Rev. {bf C 82}, 055804 (2010)]. The analysis has been done using the $R$-matrix approach with unconstrained variation of all parameters including the asymptotic normalization coefficient (ANC). The best fit has been obtained for the square of the ANC $C^{2}= 539.2$ fm${}^{-1}$, which exceeds the previously measured value by a factor of $approx 3$. Here we present a new $R$-matrix analysis of the Notre Dame-LUNA data with the fixed within the experimental uncertainties square of the ANC $C^{2}=200.34$ fm${}^{-1}$. Rather than varying the ANC we add the contribution from a background resonance that effectively takes into account contributions from higher levels. Altogether we present 8 fits, five unconstrained and three constrained. In all the fits the ANC is fixed at the previously determined experimental value $C^{2}=200.34$ fm${}^{-1}$. For the unconstrained fit with the boundary condition $B_{c}=S_{c}(E_{2})$, where $E_{2}$ is the energy of the second level, we get $S(0)=39.0 pm 1.1 $ keVb and normalized ${tilde chi}^{2}=1.84$, i.e. the result which is similar to [P. J. LeBlanc {it et al.}, Phys. Rev. {bf C 82}, 055804 (2010)]. From all our fits we get the range $33.1 leq S(0) leq 40.1$ keVb which overlaps with the result of [P. J. LeBlanc {it et al.}, Phys. Rev. {bf C 82}, 055804 (2010)]. We address also physical interpretation of the fitting parameters.
The ratio between the rates of the reactions O-17(alpha,n)Ne-20 and O-17(alpha,gamma)Ne-21 determines whether O-16 is an efficient neutron poison for the s process in massive stars, or if most of the neutrons captured by O-16(n,gamma) are recycled into the stellar environment. This ratio is of particular relevance to constrain the s process yields of fast rotating massive stars at low metallicity. Recent results on the (alpha,gamma) channel have made it necessary to measure the (alpha,n) reaction more precisely and investigate the effect of the new data on s process nucleosynthesis in massive stars. We present a new measurement of the O-17(alpha, n) reaction using a moderating neutron detector. In addition, the (alpha, n_1) channel has been measured independently by observation of the characteristic 1633 keV gamma-transition in Ne-20. The reaction cross section was determined with a simultaneous R-matrix fit to both channels. (alpha,n) and (alpha, gamma) resonance strengths of states lying below the covered energy range were estimated using their known properties from the literature. A new O-17(alpha,n) reaction rate was deduced for the temperature range 0.1 GK to 10 GK. It was found that in He burning conditions the (alpha,gamma) channel is strong enough to compete with the neutron channel. This leads to a less efficient neutron recycling compared to a previous suggestion of a very weak (alpha,gamma) channel. S process calculations using our rates confirm that massive rotating stars do play a significant role in the production of elements up to Sr, but they strongly reduce the s process contribution to heavier elements.
The 18O(p,alpha)15N reaction rate has been extracted by means of the Trojan-Horse method. For the first time the contribution of the 20-keV peak has been directly evaluated, giving a value about 35% larger than previously estimated. The present approach has allowed to improve the accuracy of a factor 8.5, as it is based on the measured strength instead of educated guesses or spectroscopic measurements. The contribution of the 90-keV resonance has been determined as well, which turned out to be of negligible importance to astrophysics.
A current challenge for ab initio calculations is systems that contain large continuum contributions such as 8Be. We report on new measurements of radiative decay widths in this nucleus that test recent Greens function Monte Carlo calculations. Traditionally, {gamma} ray detectors have been utilized to measure the high energy photons from the 7Li(p, {gamma}){alpha}{alpha} reaction. However, due to the complicated response function of these detectors it has not yet been possible to extract the full {gamma} ray spectrum from this reaction. Here we present an alternative measurement using large area Silicon detectors to detect the two {alpha} particles, which provides a practically background free spectrum and retains good energy resolution. The resulting spectrum is analyzed using a many-level multi channel R-matrix parametrization. Improved values for the radiative widths are extracted from the R-matrix fit. We find evidence for significant non-resonant continuum contributions and tentative evidence for a broad 0+ resonance at 12 MeV.
Log in to be able to interact and post comments
comments
Fetching comments
Sign in to be able to follow your search criteria
