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Register a new userLow Energy measurement of the $^{96}mathrm{Zr}(alpha,n)^{99}mathrm{Mo}$ reaction cross section and its impact on weak r-process nucleosynthesis
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Lighter heavy elements beyond iron and up to around silver can form in neutrino-driven ejecta in core-collapse supernovae and neutron star mergers. Slightly neutron-rich conditions favour a weak r-process that follows a path close to stability. Therefore, the beta decays are slow compared to the expansion time scales, and ($alpha$,n) reactions become critical to move matter towards heavier nuclei. The rates of these reactions are calculated with the statistical model and their main uncertainty, at energies relevant for the weak r-process, is the $alpha$+nucleus optical potential. There are several sets of parameters to calculate the $alpha$+nucleus optical potential leading to large deviations for the reaction rates, exceeding even one order of magnitude. Recently the $^{96}$Zr($alpha$,n)$^{99}$Mo reaction has been identified as a key reaction that impacts the production of elements from Ru to Cd. Here, we present the first cross section measurement of this reaction at energies (6.22 MeV $leq$ E$_mathrm{c.m.}$ $leq$ 12.47 MeV) relevant for the weak r-process. The new data provide a stringent test of various model predictions which is necessary to improve the precision of the weak r-process network calculations. The strongly reduced reaction rate uncertainty leads to very well-constrained nucleosynthesis yields for $Z = 44 - 48$ isotopes under different neutrino-driven wind conditions.
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The astrophysical $s$-process is one of the two main processes forming elements heavier than iron. A key outstanding uncertainty surrounding $s$-process nucleosynthesis is the neutron flux generated by the ${}^{22}mathrm{Ne}(alpha, n){}^{25}mathrm{Mg}$ reaction during the He-core and C-shell burning phases of massive stars. This reaction, as well as the competing ${}^{22}mathrm{Ne}(alpha, gamma){}^{26}mathrm{Mg}$ reaction, is not well constrained in the important temperature regime from ${sim} 0.2$--$0.4$~GK, owing to uncertainties in the nuclear properties of resonances lying within the Gamow window. To address these uncertainties, we have performed a new measurement of the ${}^{22}mathrm{Ne}({}^{6}mathrm{Li}, d){}^{26}mathrm{Mg}$ reaction in inverse kinematics, detecting the outgoing deuterons and ${}^{25,26}mathrm{Mg}$ recoils in coincidence. We have established a new $n / gamma$ decay branching ratio of $1.14(26)$ for the key $E_x = 11.32$ MeV resonance in $^{26}mathrm{Mg}$, which results in a new $(alpha, n)$ strength for this resonance of $42(11)~mu$eV when combined with the well-established $(alpha, gamma)$ strength of this resonance. We have also determined new upper limits on the $alpha$ partial widths of neutron-unbound resonances at $E_x = 11.112,$ $11.163$, $11.169$, and $11.171$ MeV. Monte-Carlo calculations of the stellar ${}^{22}mathrm{Ne}(alpha, n){}^{25}mathrm{Mg}$ and ${}^{22}mathrm{Ne}(alpha, gamma){}^{26}mathrm{Mg}$ rates, which incorporate these results, indicate that both rates are substantially lower than previously thought in the temperature range from ${sim} 0.2$--$0.4$~GK.
Anomalous Viscous Fluid Dynamics (AVFD) model calculations for $mathrm{^{96}_{44}Ru +, ^{96}_{44}Ru}$ and $mathrm{^{96}_{40}Zr +, ^{96}_{40}Zr}$ collisions ($sqrt{s_{rm NN}} = 200$ GeV) are used in concert with a charge-sensitive correlator, to test its ability to detect and characterize the charge separation difference expected from the Chiral Magnetic Effect (CME) in these isobaric collisions. The tests indicate a larger charge separation for $mathrm{^{96}_{44}Ru +, ^{96}_{44}Ru}$ than for $mathrm{^{96}_{40}Zr +, ^{96}_{40}Zr}$ collisions, and a discernible CME-driven difference of $sim 10$% in the presence of realistic non-CME backgrounds. They also indicate a strategy for evaluating the relative influence of the background correlations, present for each isobar. These results suggest that charge separation measurements for these isobaric species could serve to further constrain unambiguous identification and characterization of the CME in upcoming measurements at RHIC.
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 ${}^{12}mathrm{C}(alpha,gamma){}^{16}mathrm{O}$ reaction plays a key role in the evolution of stars with masses of $M >$ 0.55 $M_odot$. The cross-section of the ${}^{12}mathrm{C}(alpha,gamma){}^{16}mathrm{O}$ reaction within the Gamow window ($E_textrm{c.m.}$ = 300 keV, $T_textrm9$ = 0.2) is extremely small (about $10^{-17}$ barn), which makes the direct measurement in a ground-based laboratory with existing techniques unfeasible. Up until now, the cross-sections at lower energies can only be extrapolated from the data at higher energies. However, two subthreshold resonances, located at $E_x$ = 7.117 MeV and $E_x$ = 6.917 MeV, make this extrapolation more complicated. In this work, the 6.917 MeV subthreshold resonance in the ${}^{12}mathrm{C}(alpha,gamma){}^{16}mathrm{O}$ reaction was investigated via the ${}^{12}mathrm{C}({}^{11}mathrm{B},{}^{7}mathrm{Li}){}^{16}mathrm{O}$ reaction. The experiment was performed using the Q3D magnetic spectrograph at the HI-13 tandem accelerator. We measured the angular distribution of the ${}^{12}mathrm{C}({}^{11}mathrm{B},{}^{7}mathrm{Li}){}^{16}mathrm{O}$ transfer reaction leading to the 6.917 MeV state. Based on the FRDWBA analysis, we derived the asymptotic normalization coefficient (ANC) of the 6.917 MeV level in $^{16}$O to be (1.10 $pm$ 0.29) $times 10^{10}$ fm$^{-1}$, with which the reduced $alpha$ width was computed to be $18.0pm4.7$ keV at the channel radius of 6.5 fm. Finally, we calculated the astrophysical $S_{E2}(300)$ factor of the ground-state transitions to be 46.2 $pm$ 7.7 keV b. The result for the astrophysical $S_{E2}(300)$ factor confirms the values obtained in various direct and indirect measurements and presents an independent examination of the most important data in nuclear astrophysics.
A measurement of total cross-section values of the $^{130}$Ba(p,$gamma$)$^{131}$La reaction at low proton energies allows a stringent test of statistical model predictions with different proton+nucleus optical model potentials. Since no experimental data are available for proton-capture reactions in this mass region around A~$approx$~130, this measurement can be an important input to test the global applicability of proton+nucleus optical model potentials. The total reaction cross-section values were measured by means of the activation method. After the irradiation with protons, the reaction yield was determined by use of $gamma$-ray spectroscopy using two clover-type high-purity germanium detectors. In total, cross-section values for eight different proton energies could be determined in the energy range between 3.6 MeV $leq E_p leq$ 5.0 MeV, thus, inside the astrophysically relevant energy region. The measured cross-section values were compared to Hauser-Feshbach calculations using the statistical model codes TALYS and SMARAGD with different proton+nucleus optical model potentials. With the semi-microscopic JLM proton+nucleus optical model potential used in the SMARAGD code, the absolute cross-section values are reproduced well, but the energy dependence is too steep at the lowest energies. The best description is given by a TALYS calculation using the semi-microscopic Bauge proton+nucleus optical model potential using a constant renormalization factor.
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