High accuracy [sup 18]O(p,α)[sup 15]N reaction rate in the 8⋅10[sup 6]–5⋅10[sup 9] K temperature range

The 18O(p,α)15N reaction is of great importance in several astrophysical scenarios, as it influences the production of key isotopes such as 19F, 18O and 15N. In this work, a high accuracy 18O(p,α)15N reaction rate is proposed, based on the simultaneous fit of direct measurements and of the results of a new Trojan Horse experiment. In particular, we have focused on the study of the broad 660 keV 1/2+ resonance. Since Γ∼100–300 keV, it strongly influences the nearly‐zero‐energy region of the cross section by means of the low‐energy tail of the resonant contribution and dominates the cross section at higher energies. Here we provide a factor of 2 larger reaction rate above T∼0.5 109 K based ov…

Clustering in non-self-conjugate nuclei

First measurement of the 18O(p,α)15N cross section at astrophysical energies

International audience; The 18O(p,α)15N reaction rate has been deduced by means of the Trojan horse method. For the first time the contribution of the 20 keV resonance has been directly evaluated, giving a value about 35% larger than the one in the literature. Moreover, the present approach has allowed to improve the accuracy by a factor 8.5, as it is based on the measured strength instead of spectroscopic measurements. The contribution of the 90 keV resonance has been also determined, which turned out to be of negligible importance to astrophysics.

Few-body problems in nuclear astrophysics

Few-body methods provide very useful tools to solve different problems important for nuclear astrophysics. Some of them are discussed below.

Horizons: Nuclear Astrophysics in the 2020s and Beyond

Nuclear astrophysics is a field at the intersection of nuclear physics and astrophysics, which seeks to understand the nuclear engines of astronomical objects and the origin of the chemical elements. This white paper summarizes progress and status of the field, the new open questions that have emerged, and the tremendous scientific opportunities that have opened up with major advances in capabilities across an ever growing number of disciplines and subfields that need to be integrated.We take a holistic view of the field discussing the unique challenges and opportunities in nuclear astrophysics in regards to science, diversity, education, and the interdisciplinarity and breadth of the field…

Study of a-cluster states of 22Mg from resonance scattering of a post-accelerated 18Ne radioactive ion beam

An experiment aimed at the study of the α-cluster structure of 22Mg was performed at the Louvain la Neuve RIB facility. Preliminary results from a first feasibility run will be presented.

Molecular Structures in T=1 states of 10B

Multi-center (molecular) structures can play an important role in light nuclei. The highly deformed rotational band in 10Be with band head at 6.179 MeV has been observed recently and suggested to have an exotic alpha:2n:alpha configuration. A search for states with alpha:pn:alpha two-center molecular configurations in 10B that are analogous to the states with alpha:2n:alpha structure in 10Be has been performed. The T=1 isobaric analog states in 10B were studied in the excitation energy range of E=8.7-12.1 MeV using the reaction 1H(9Be,alpha)6Li*(T=1, 0+, 3.56 MeV). An R-matrix analysis was used to extract parameters for the states observed in the (p,alpha) excitation function. Five T=1 stat…