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We present 12C+12C direct fusion measurements with STELLA UKFATIMA, that reach into the region of astrophysics interest relevant to massive stars (M⊙ ≈ 25) using self-supporting thin rotating carbon foils [1]. We demonstrate that detecting gammas and light charged particles in coincidence with nanosecond timing is key for effective background reduction achieving reliable measurements in the sub-nanobarn range. We give details about core developments of the detection apparatus as well as the coincidence-analysis procedure of low count statistics. The present data largely follows the phenomenological hindrance interpolation and shows indication for resonant behaviour at the lowest energy explored.

Carbon burning plays a crucial role in stellar evolution, where this reaction is an important route for the production of heavier elements. A particle-γ coincidence technique that minimizes the backgrounds to which this reaction is subject and provides reliable cross sections has been used at the Argonne National Laboratory to measure fusion cross-sections at deep sub-barrier energies in the 12C+12C system. The corresponding excitation function has been extracted down to a cross section of about 6 nb. This indicates the existence of a broad S-factor maximum for this system. Experimental results are presented and discussed.

Multineutron and multiproton transfer channels, populated in the inverse kinematics reaction 197Au+130Te at Elab=1.07 GeV, were measured at Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro using the presently heaviest ion beam delivered by the PIAVE-ALPI accelerator complex and detecting both projectile-like and targetlike ions. To this end the large solid angle magnetic spectrometer PRISMA was coupled to a second arm for the detection of the heavy fragments in kinematic coincidence with the light ones selected and identified with the spectrometer. The data analysis is still in progress and will allow to compare the yields of both light and heavy partner with theoretical predictions performed with the GRAZING code to get quantitative information on transfer channels and the effect of evaporation and fission on the production rate of primary fragments. The mass integrated Z distribution, extracted from the experimental data, evidenced the population of proton pickup channels that, in conjunction with the neutron stripping ones from the 130Te, open the path for the production of neutron-rich heavy nuclei. In the following, we will present some preliminary results as well as details on the experimental configuration and perspectives for future investigations in the neutron-rich heavy region.

Excitation functions of one- and two-neutron transfer channels have been measured for the closed shell 40Ca+96Zr and superfluid 60Ni+116Sn systems from the Coulomb barrier energy to energies far below. By using the unique PRISMA performance in terms of resolution and efficiency, measurements at very low bombarding energies have been performed. In the case of the 60Ni+116Sn system, a complementary particle-γ coincident measurements provide the ground and excited state populations. The experimental transfer probabilities have been compared with semiclasical microscopic calculations that incorporate nucleon-nucleon correlations, together with known structure information of entrance and exit channels nuclei and reaction dynamics. These calculations well reproduce, in the whole energy range, one- and two-neutron transfer channels in shape and magnitude.

The fusion excitation function for the positive-Q-value system 12C+30Si (Qfus = +14.1 MeV) has been measured in inverse kinematics down to the μb level and compared with standard coupled-channel calculations. The appearance of the fusion hindrance phenomenon and the evidence of a S-factor maximum have been observed. This result can be significant to extrapolate the behavior of lighter astrophysical relevant systems at deep sub-barrier energies, where existing experimental data are still contradicting and affected by large errors.

The experimental setup STELLA (STELlar LAboratory) is designed for the measurement of deep sub-barrier light heavy ion fusion cross sections. For background suppression the γ-particle coincidence technique is used. In this project, LaBr3 detectors from the UK FATIMA (FAst TIMing Array) collaboration are combined with annular silicon strip detectors customized at IPHC-CNRS, Strasbourg, and the setup is located at Andromède, IPN, Orsay. The commissioning of the experimental approach as well as a sub-barrier 12C +12C → 24Mg∗ cross section measurement campaign are carried out.

The 12C+12C fusion reaction is one of the most important for nuclear astrophysics since it determines the carbon ignition in stellar environments. Two experiments which make use of the gamma-particle coincidence technique to measure the 12C+12C S-factors at deep sub barrier energies are discussed. Results are presented showing a decrease of the S-factor below Ec.m. = 3 MeV.

Fusion cross sections have been measured in the 40Ca + 58Ni and 40Ca + 64Ni systems at energies around and below the Coulomb barrier. The 40Ca beam was delivered by the XTU Tandem accelerator of the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro and evaporation residues were measured at very forward angles with the LNL electrostatic beam deflector. Coupled-channels calculations were performed which highlight possible strong effects of neutron transfers on the fusion below the barrier in the 40Ca + 64Ni system. Microscopic time-dependent Hartree-Fock calculations have also been performed for both systems. Preliminary results are shown.

In order to better understand the influence of transfer in sub-barrier nuclear reactions, cross sections for the system 58,64Ni+124Sn have been measured down to 0.5-1 µb and compared to detailed coupledchannel calculations. In agreement with a phenomenological Q-value systematics, calculations show the importance of including the coupling to the transfer channel for these heavy systems. No clear evidence of fusion hindrance is observed, probably due to the fact that the cross sections measured in this experiment are not low enough for the appearance of that phenomenon.

In the last period, two classes of experiments have been carried out with the large acceptance magnetic spectrometer PRISMA. In particular, the one- and two-neutron transfer processes at energies ranging from the Coulomb barrier to deep below it and the population of exotic neutron rich nuclei in the A~130 and A~200 mass regions have been studied. Both kinds of experiments have been performed in inverse kinematics identifying in A, Z and velocity the light target-like recoils with PRISMA placed at very forward angles in order to have, at the same time, high efficiency and good energy and mass resolutions.

The cross section of the 12C+12C fusion reaction at low energies is of paramount importance for models of stellar nucleosynthesis in different astrophysical scenarios, such as Type Ia supernovae and Xray superbursts, where this reaction is a primary route for the production of heavier elements. In a series of experiments performed at Argonne National Laboratory, using Gammasphere and an array of Silicon detectors, measurements of the fusion cross section of 12C+12C were successfully carried out with the γ and charged-particle coincidence technique in the center-of-mass energy range of 3-5 MeV. These were the first background-free fusion cross section measurements for 12C+12C at energies of astrophysical interest. Our results are consistent with previous measurements in the high-energy region; however, our lowest energy measurement indicates a fusion cross section slightly lower than those obtained with other techniques.

DarkSide-50 at Gran Sasso underground laboratory (LNGS), Italy, is a direct dark matter search experiment based on a liquid argon TPC. DS-50 has completed its first dark matter run using atmospheric argon as target. The detector performances and the results of the first physics run are presented in this proceeding.

The fusion excitation function of 48Ti + 58Fe has been measured in a wide energy range around the Coulomb barrier, covering 6 orders of magnitude of the cross sections. We present here the preliminary results of this experiment, and a full comparison with the near-by system 58Ni + 54Fe where evidence of fusion hindrance shows up at relatively high cross sections. The sub-barrier cross sections of 48Ti + 58Fe are much larger than those of 58Ni + 54Fe. Significant differences are also observed in the logarithmic derivatives, astro-physical S-factors and fusion barrier distributions. The influence of low-energy nuclear structure on all these trends is pointed out and commented. Coupled-channels calculations using a Woods-Saxon potential are able to reproduce the experimental results for 48Ti + 58Fe. The logarithmic derivative of the excitation function is very nicely fit, and no evidence of hindrance is observed down to around 1 μb. The fusion barrier distribution is rather wide, flat and structureless. It is only in qualitative agreement with the calculated distribution.

Fusion cross sections have been measured in the 40Ca + 58Ni and 40Ca + 64Ni systems at beam energies ranging from Elab = 104.75 MeV to 153.5 MeV using the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro electrostatic deflector. Distributions of barriers have been extracted from the experimental data. Preliminary coupled channel calculations were performed and hints of effects of neutron transfers on the fusion below the barrier in the 40Ca + 64Ni are discussed.

The sub-barrier fusion excitation function of 40Ca + 96Zr has been measured down to cross sections ≃2.4µb, i.e. two orders of magnitude smaller than obtained in the previous experiment, where the sub-barrier fusion of this system was found to be greatly enhanced with respect to 40Ca + 90Zr, and the need of coupling to transfer channels was suggested. The purpose of this work was to investigate the behavior of 40Ca + 96Zr fusion far below the barrier. The smooth trend of the excitation function has been found to continue, and the logarithmic slope increases very slowly. No indication of hindrance shows up, and a comparison with 48Ca + 96Zr is very useful in this respect. A new CC analysis of the complete excitation function has been performed, including explicitly one- and two-nucleon Q >0 transfer channels. Such transfer couplings bring significant cross section enhancements, even at the level of a few µb. Locating the hindrance threshold, if any, in 40Ca + 96Zr would require challenging measurements of cross sections in the sub-µb range.

We measured excitation functions for the main transfer channels in the 116Sn+60Ni reaction from above to well below the Coulomb barrier. The experiment has been performed in inverse kinematics, detecting the lighter (target-like) ions with the magnetic spectrometer PRISMA at very forward angles. The comparison between the data and microscopic calculations for the present case and for the previously measured 96Zr+40Ca system, namely superfluid and near closed shells nuclei, should significantly improve our understanding of nucleon-nucleon correlation properties in multinucleon transfer processes.

The heavy ion reaction 22Ne+208Pb at 128 MeV of bombarding energy has been studied using the PRISMA-CLARA experimental setup at Legnaro National Laboratories. Elastic, inelastic and one nucleon transfer cross sections have been measured. The experimental results are presented in parallel with the analysis on existing data for the unstable 24Ne nucleus, from the reaction 24Ne+208Pb at 182 MeV (measured at SPIRAL with the VAMOS-EXOGAM setup). The β2C charge deformation parameter for both 22Ne and 24Ne has been determined by a DWBA analysis of the experimental angular dis- tributions, showing a strong reduction for 24Ne.

The neutron-rich isotopes of tungsten, osmium and platinum have different shapes in their ground states and present also shape transitions phenomena. Spectroscopic information for these nuclei is scarce and often limited to the gamma rays from the decay of isomeric states. For the neutron-rich even-even osmium isotopes 194Os and 198Os, a shape transition between a slightly prolate deformed to an oblate deformed ground state was deduced from the observed level schemes. For the even-even nucleus lying in between, 196Os, no gamma ray transition is known. In order to elucidate the shape transition and to test the nuclear models describing it, this region was investigated through gamma-ray spectroscopy using the AGATA demonstrator and the large acceptance heavy-ion spectrometer PRISMA at LNL, Italy. A two-nucleon transfer from a 198Pt target to a stable 82Se beam was utilized to populate medium-high spin states of 196Os. The analysis method and preliminary results, including the first life-time measurement of isomeric states with AGATA, are presented.

Isospin mixing induced by the Coulomb interaction has been studied in the compound nucleus 80Zr at T~2 MeV produced in the fusion-evaporation reaction 40Ca+40Ca at Ebeam = 136 MeV. The isospin impurity was measured using the first step of the Giant Dipole Resonance γ decay. The preliminary value of the Coulomb spreading width has been extracted via statistical model analysis of the measured γ spectrum.

The feasibility of the multi-nucleon transfer (MNT) reaction in the 136Xe +198Pt system was investigated for synthesizing neutron-rich heavy nuclei around mass number A∼200 of astrophysical interest. Identification of the projectile-like fragments (PLF’s) was successfully performed by using VAMOS++ spectrometer. The isotopic distributions of the PLF’s produced by two-proton stripping and pickup reactions were compared with each other, demonstrating the properties of the MNT reactions observed in the present system. The two-proton pickup channels strongly populated than the twoproton stripping channels were observed. The isotopic distributions for different total kinetic energy loss (TKEL) ranges are also discussed. The overall enhancement of the strength of the two-proton pickup compared with the two-proton stripping appears to be related to the MNT reactions with relatively moderate energy dissipation.

Fusion excitation functions of light heavy-ion systems show oscillatory structures above the Coulomb barrier, caused by resonances or due to the penetration of successive centrifugal barriers well separated in energy. In heavier systems, the amplitude of oscillations decreases and the peaks get nearer to each other. This makes the measurements very challenging. We have performed a first experiment for 28Si + 28Si, by measuring fusion cross sections (σ) in an energy range of ≃15 MeV above the barrier, with a small ΔElab = 0.5 MeV step. Three regular oscillations are clearly observed, which are best revealed by plotting the energy-weighted derivative of the excitation function. The excitation function has been recently measured down to cross sections ≤1μb with larger energy steps. Coupled-channel (CC) calculations based on a shallow potential in the entrance channel are able to reproduce the oscillations. A further analysis will provide a stringent test for the calculations, in particular for the choice of the ion-ion potential, because the subbarrier excitation function has to be reproduced as well. Coupled-channel (CC) calculations based on a shallow potential in the entrance channel are able to reproduce the oscillations. A further analysis will provide a stringent test for the calculations, in particular for the choice of the ion-ion potential, because the subbarrier excitation function has to be reproduced as well.

The 48Ti on 40Ca reactions have been studied at 300 and 600 MeV focusing on the fusion-evaporation (FE) and fusion-fission (FF) exit channels. Energy spectra and multiplicities of the emitted light charged particles have been compared to Monte Carlo simulations based on the statistical model. Indeed, in this mass region (A ~ 100) models predict that shape transitions can occur at high spin values and relatively scarce data exist in the literature about coincidence measurements between evaporation residues and light charged particles. Signals of shape transitions can be found in the variations of the lineshape of high energy gamma rays emitted from the de-excitation of GDR states gated on different region of angular momenta. For this purpose it is important to keep under control the FE and FF processes, to regulate the statistical model parameters and to control the onset of possible pre-equilibrium emissions from 300 to 600 MeV bombarding energy.

We measured excitation functions for the main transfer channels in the 116Sn+60Ni reaction at different bombarding energies from above to well below the Coulomb barrier. The experiment has been performed in inverse kinematics, detecting the lighter (target-like) ions with the magnetic spectrometer PRISMA at very forward angles. Good mass, nuclear charge and kinetic energy resolutions have been achieved. The comparison between the data and microscopic calculations for the present case and for the previously measured 96Zr+40Ca system, namely superfluid and near closed shells nuclei, should significantly improve our understanding of nucleon-nucleon correlation properties in multinucleon transfer processes.

Multinucleon transfer cross sections in the system 40Ca+96Zr have been measured at bombarding energies ranging from the Coulomb barrier to ~ 25% below. Target-like (lighter) recoils in inverse kinematics have been completely identif ed in A,Z and Q-value with the large solid angle magnetic spectrometer PRISMA. The experimental slopes of the neutron transfer probabilities at large internuclear separation are consistent with the values derived from the binding energies. A phenomenological interpretation of the transfer probabilities indicates the presence of enhanced values for the even number of neutron transfers.

Multinucleon transfer reactions have been investigated in 40Ar+208Pb with the Prisma+Clara set-up. The experimental differential cross sections of different neutron transfer channels have been obtained at three different angular settings taking into account the transmission through the spectrometer. The experimental yields of the excited states have been determined via particle-γ coincidences. In odd Ar isotopes, we reported a signif cant population of 11/2− states, reached via neutron transfer. Their structure matches a stretched conf guration of the valence neutron coupled to vibration quanta.