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We have performed a heavy ion radiative capture reaction between two light heavy ions, 12C and 16O, leading to 28Si. The present experiment has been performed below Coulomb barrier energies in order to reduce the phase space and to try to shed light on structural effects. Obtained γ-spectra display a previously unobserved strong feeding of intermediate states around 11 MeV at these energies. This new decay branch is not fully reproduced by statistical nor semi-statistical decay scenarii and may imply structural effects. Radiative capture cross-sections are extracted from the data.

26Al is an important radioisotope in astrophysics that provides evidence of ongoing nucleosynthesis in the Galaxy. The 23Na(α, p)26Mg reaction has been identified by a sensitivity study as being one of the most important reactions for the production of 26Al in the convective C/Ne burning shell of massive stars. Owing to large uncertainties in previous experimental data, model calculations are used for the reaction rate of 23Na(α, p)26Mg in this sensitivity study. Current experimental data suggest a reaction rate a factor of ~40 higher than model calculations. However, a new measurement of this reaction cross section has been made in inverse kinematics in the energy range Ec.m. = 1.28–3.15 MeV at TRIUMF, and found to be in reasonable agreement with the model calculation. A new reaction rate is calculated and tight constraints on the uncertainty in the production of 26Al, due to this reaction, are determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1S(p,γ)34Cl reaction is important for constraining predictions of certain isotopic abundances in oxygen-neon novae. Models currently predict as much as 150 times the solar abundance of 33S in oxygen-neon nova ejecta. This overproduction factor may, however, vary by orders of magnitude due to uncertainties in the 33S(p,γ)34Cl reaction rate at nova peak temperatures. Depending on this rate, 33S could potentially be used as a diagnostic tool for classifying certain types of presolar grains. Better knowledge of the 33S(p,γ)34Cl rate would also aid in interpreting nova observations over the S-Ca mass region and contribute to the firm establishment of the maximum endpoint of nova nucleosynthesis. Additionally, the total S elemental abundance which is affected by this reaction has been proposed as a thermometer to study the peak temperatures of novae. Previously, the 33S(p,γ)34Cl reaction rate had only been studied directly down to resonance energies of 432 keV. However, for nova peak temperatures of 0.2-0.4 GK there are 7 known states in 34Cl both below the 432 keV resonance and within the Gamow window that could play a dominant role. Direct measurements of the resonance strengths of these states were performed using the DRAGON recoil separator at TRIUMF. Additionally two new states within this energy region are reported. Several hydrodynamic simulations have been performed, using all available experimental information for the 33S(p,γ)34Cl rate, to explore the impact of the remaining uncertainty in this rate on nucleosynthesis in nova explosions. These calculations give a range of ~ 20-150 for the expected 33S overproduction factor, and a range of ~ 100-450 for the 32S/33S ratio expected in ONe novae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reaction paths of two proposed nucleosynthetic processes on the proton-rich side of stability, the r p and vp processes, pass through a region of isotopes between Mo and Pd where masses had long gone unmeasured. Precise knowledge of the paths and final abundances of these two processes has been limited by the corresponding lack of precision in the proton-separation energies Sp, when derived from extrapolated masses. The masses of 18 neutron-deficient isotopes of Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, and Rh have been measured using the Canadian Penning trap mass spectrometer. Three of the masses presented, 90Mo, 91Mo, and 93Tc, provide the first direct measurement of the masses of these nuclides, and the others provide confirmation of recent measurements using other Penning traps. Included in this work is a measurement of the mass of 87Mo, which differs by 3.7σ from the mass presented in the 2003 Atomic Mass Evaluation. This leads to a change in the Sp, value of 88Tc which reduces the suppression of flow of the vp-process path through 87Mo(p, γ)88Tc reported following the mass measurement of 88Tc [C. Weber et al.. Phys. Rev. C 78, 054310 (2008)]. This in turn affects the resulting vp-process abundances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The DRAGON facility for the study of radiative capture reactions has an extended gas target, surrounded by an array of BGO detectors. The distribution of detected gamma rays amongst the segmented array permits an estimate of the reaction position and consequently of the resonance energy. We report a study of the technique, using the 24Mg(p, )25Al reaction. Energy determination to better than 0.5% has been demonstrated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In Wolf-Rayet and asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, the 26gAl(p,γ)27 Si reaction is expected to govern the destruction of the cosmic γ-ray emitting nucleus 26Al. The rate of this reaction, however, is highly uncertain due to the unknown properties of key resonances in the temperature regime of hydrogen burning. We present a high-resolution inverse kinematic study of the 26gAl(d,p)27Si reaction as a method for constraining the strengths of key astrophysical resonances in the 26gAl(p,γ)27Si reaction. In particular, the results indicate that the resonance at Er = 127keV in determines the entire 26gAl(p,γ)27Si reaction rate over almost the complete temperature range of Wolf-Rayet stars and AGB stars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first conclusive evidence of a dipole resonance in 11Li having isoscalar character observed from inelastic scattering with a novel solid deuteron target is reported. The experiment was performed at the newly commissioned IRIS facility at TRIUMF. The results show a resonance peak at an excitation energy of 1.03±0.03 MeV with a width of 0.51±0.11 MeV (FWHM). The angular distribution is consistent with a dipole excitation in the distorted-wave Born approximation framework. The observed resonance energy together with shell model calculations show the first signature that the monopole tensor interaction is important in 11Li. The first ab initio calculations in the coupled cluster framework are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heavy-ion radiative capture 12C(O16,γ28Si) was measured at the sub-Coulomb barrier bombarding energy Elab = 15.7 MeV, which corresponds to the lowest important resonance observed in the 12C+ O16 fusion excitation function. Thanks to combination of the bismuth germanate (BGO) γ-ray array and the 0° DRAGON electromagnetic spectrometer at TRIUMF, the γ-decay spectrum from the entrance channel down to the ground state of 28Si was measured. Comparisons of the experimental spectrum to γ spectrum extracted from Monte Carlo simulations of the complete setup suggest a Jπ = 2+ spin-parity assignment to the entrance channel and yield the radiative capture cross section ωRC = 0.22±0.04μb. Combining this present spin assignment with previous data on radiative capture, a J(J+1) systematics was constructed, and it indicated a moment of inertia commensurate with the 12C+O16 grazing angular momentum. Strong dipole transitions are observed from the entrance channel to T=1 states around 11.5 MeV and are found to result from enhanced M1IV transitions to states exhausting a large part of the M1 sum rule built on the ground state of 28Si. This specific decay was also reported at bombarding energies close to the Coulomb barrier in our previous study of the 12C(12C,γ24Mg) heavy-ion radiative capture reaction. Similarities between both systems are investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the first direct measurement of an astrophysical reaction using a radioactive beam of isomeric nuclei. In particular, we have measured the strength of the key 447-keV resonance in the 26mAl(p,γ)27Si reaction to be 432+146-226 meV and find that this resonance dominates the thermally averaged reaction rate for temperatures between 0.3 and 2.5 GK. This work represents a critical development in resolving one of the longest standing issues in nuclear astrophysics research, relating to the measurement of proton capture reactions on excited quantum levels, and offers unique insight into the destruction of isomeric 26Al in astrophysical plasmas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 20Ne(p, γ)21Na reaction is the starting point of the NeNa cycle, which is an important process for the production of intermediate mass elements. The Ec.m. = 1113 keV resonance plays an important role in the determination of stellar rates for this reaction since it is used to normalize experimental direct capture yields at lower energies. The commonly accepted strength of this resonance, ωγ = 1.13 ± 0.07 eV, has been misinterpreted as the strength in the center-of-mass frame when it is actually the strength in the laboratory frame. This has motivated a new measurement of the Ec.m. = 1113 keV resonance strength in 20Ne(p, γ)21Na using the DRAGON recoil mass spectrometer. The DRAGON result, 0.972 ± 0.11 eV, is in good agreement with the accepted value when both are calculated in the same frame of reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rate of the 18F(p,γ)19Ne reaction affects the final abundance of the γ-ray observable radioisotope 18F, produced in novae. However, no successful measurement of this reaction exists and the rate used is calculated from incomplete information on the contributing resonances. Of the two resonances thought to play a significant role, one has a radiative width estimated from the assumed analogue state in the mirror nucleus, 19F. The second does not have an analogue state assignment at all, resulting in an arbitrary radiative width being assumed. Here, we report the first successful direct measurement of the 18F(p,γ)19Ne reaction. The strength of the 665 keV resonance (Ex=7.076 MeV) is found to be over an order of magnitude weaker than currently assumed in nova models. Reaction rate calculations show that this resonance therefore plays no significant role in the destruction of 18F at any astrophysical energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A measurement of the a-ß-? angular correlation in the Gamow-Teller decay 8Li→8Be* + ? + ß, 8Be*→a + a has been performed using ions confined in a linear Paul trap surrounded by silicon detectors. The energy difference spectrum of the a particles emitted along and opposite the direction of the ß particle is consistent with the standard model prediction and places a limit of 3.1% (95.5% confidence level) on any tensor contribution to the decay. From this result, the amplitude of any tensor component CT relative to that of the dominant axial-vector component CA of the electroweak interaction is limited to |CT/CA|<0.18 (95.5% confidence level). This experimental approach is facilitated by several favorable features of the 8Li ß decay and has different systematic effects than the previous ß-? correlation results for a pure Gamow-Teller transition obtained from studying 6He ß decay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel technique for β-delayed neutron spectroscopy has been demonstrated using trapped ions. The neutron-energy spectrum is reconstructed by measuring the time of flight of the nuclear recoil following neutron emission, thereby avoiding all the challenges associated with neutron detection, such as back-grounds from scattered neutrons and ɣ rays and complicated detector-response functions. 137I+ ions delivered from a 252Cf source were confined in a linear Paul trap surrounded by radiation detectors, and the β-delayed neutron-energy spectrum and branching ratio were determined by detecting the β- and recoil ions in coincidence. Systematic effects were explored by determining the branching ratio three ways. Improvements to achieve higher detection efficiency, better energy resolution, and a lower neutron-energy threshold are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In stars, 16O represents the endpoint of the helium burning sequence due to the low rate of 16O(α,γ)20Ne. We present a new direct measurement of the total cross section of 16O(α,γ)20Ne at Ec.m. = 1.69 MeV employing the DRAGON recoil separator. In addition, the branching ratios and strength of the Ec.m. = 2.426 MeV 3- resonance were determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Paul trap is a linear radiofrequency-quadrupole ion trap that has been developed for precision studies. The design of the trap electrodes allows a variety of radiation detectors to surround the cloud of trapped ions. The momentum of the low-energy recoiling daughter nuclei following decay is negligibly perturbed by scattering and is available for study. This advantageous property of traps allows the kinematics of particles that are difficult or even impossible to directly detect to be precisely reconstructed using conservation of energy and momentum. An ion-trap system offers several advantages over atom traps, such as higher trapping efficiencies and element-independent capabilities. The first precision experiment using this system is a measurement of angular correlations in the decay of 8Li performed by inferring the momentum of the neutrino from the kinematic shifts imparted to the breakup particles. Many other studies that would benefit from a determination of the nuclear recoil can be performed with this system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The masses of 40 neutron-rich nuclides from Z = 51 to 64 were measured at an average precision of δm/m = 10-7 using the Canadian Penning Trap mass spectrometer at Argonne National Laboratory. The measurements, of fission fragments from a 252Cf spontaneous fission source in a helium gas catcher, approach the predicted path of the astrophysical r process. Where overlap exists, this data set is largely consistent with previous measurements from Penning traps, storage rings, and reaction energetics, but large systematic deviations are apparent in β-endpoint measurements. Differences in mass excess from the 2003 Atomic Mass Evaluation of up to 400 keV are seen, as well as systematic disagreement with various mass models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 17O(p,γ)18F reaction plays an important role in hydrogen-burning nucleosynthesis. Conflicting values for the low-energy behavior of its cross section exist in the literature. We present direct measurements of the astrophysical S factor of the 17O(p,γ)18F reaction at center-of-mass energies between 250 and 500 keV. These measurements were conducted in inverse kinematics at the DRAGON recoil separator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In stellar helium burning, 16O represents the endpoint of the helium-burning sequence due to the low rate of 16O(α,γ)20Ne. We present a new direct measurement of the total capture reaction rate of 16O(α,γ)20Ne at Ec.m.=2.26 MeV employing the DRAGON recoil separator. For the first time, the total S factor and its contributing direct capture transitions could be determined in one experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Preliminary studies in preparation for an absolute cross-section measurement of the radiative capture reaction 3He()7Be with the DRAGON recoil separator have demonstrated beam suppression at the 90% confidence level. A measurement of this cross section by observation of 7Be recoils at the focal plane of the separator should be virtually background free. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Nucleosynthesis of mid-mass elements is thought to occur under hot and explosive astrophysical conditions. Radiative α capture on 34S has been shown to impact nucleosynthesis in several such conditions, including core and shell oxygen burning, explosive oxygen burning, and type Ia supernovae. Purpose: Broad uncertainties exist in the literature for the strengths of three resonances within the astrophysically relevant energy range (ECM=1.94-3.42MeV at T=2.2GK). Further, there are several states in 38Ar within this energy range which have not been previously measured. This work aimed to remeasure the resonance strengths of states for which broad uncertainty existed as well as to measure the resonance strengths and energies of previously unmeasured states. Methods: Resonance strengths and energies of eight narrow resonances (five of which had not been previously studied) were measured in inverse kinematics with the DRAGON facility at TRIUMF by impinging an isotopically pure beam of 34S ions on a windowless 4He gas target. Prompt γ emissions of de-exciting 38Ar recoils were detected in an array of bismuth germanate scintillators in coincidence with recoil nuclei, which were separated from unreacted beam ions by an electromagnetic mass separator and detected by a time-of-flight system and a multianode ionization chamber. Results: The present measurements agree with previous results. Broad uncertainty in the resonance strength of the ECM=2709keV resonance persists. Resonance strengths and energies were determined for five low-energy resonances which had not been studied previously, and their strengths were determined to be significantly weaker than those of previously measured resonances. Conclusions: The five previously unmeasured resonances were found not to contribute significantly to the total thermonuclear reaction rate. A median total thermonuclear reaction rate calculated using data from the present work along with existing literature values using the STARLIB rate calculator agrees with the NON-SMOKER statistical model calculation as well as the REACLIB and STARLIB library rates at explosive and nonexplosive oxygen-burning temperatures (T=3-4GK and T=1.5-2.7GK, respectively). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Classical novae are cataclysmic nuclear explosions occurring when a white dwarf in a binary system accretes hydrogen-rich material from its companion star. Novae are partially responsible for the galactic synthesis of a variety of nuclides up to the calcium (A∼40) region of the nuclear chart. Although the structure and dynamics of novae are thought to be relatively well understood, the predicted abundances of elements near the nucleosynthesis endpoint, in particular Ar and Ca, appear to sometimes be in disagreement with astronomical observations of the spectra of nova ejecta. Purpose: One possible source of the discrepancies between model predictions and astronomical observations is nuclear reaction data. Most reaction rates near the nova endpoint are estimated only from statistical model calculations, which carry large uncertainties. For certain key reactions, these rate uncertainties translate into large uncertainties in nucleosynthesis predictions. In particular, the 38K(p,γ)39Ca reaction has been identified as having a significant influence on Ar, K, and Ca production. In order to constrain the rate of this reaction, we have performed a direct measurement of the strengths of three candidate ℓ=0 resonances within the Gamow window for nova burning, at 386±10 keV, 515±10 keV, and 689±10 keV. Method: The experiment was performed in inverse kinematics using a beam of unstable 38K impinged on a windowless hydrogen gas target. The 39Ca recoils and prompt γ rays from 38K(p,γ)39Ca reactions were detected in coincidence using a recoil mass separator and a bismuth-germanate scintillator array, respectively. Results: For the 689 keV resonance, we observed a clear recoil-γ coincidence signal and extracted resonance strength and energy values of 120-30+50(stat.)-60+20(sys.)meV and 679+2-1(stat.)±1(sys.)keV, respectively. We also performed a singles analysis of the recoil data alone, extracting a resonance strength of 120±20(stat.)±15(sys.) meV, consistent with the coincidence result. For the 386 keV and 515 keV resonances, we extract 90% confidence level upper limits of 2.54 meV and 18.4 meV, respectively. Conclusions: We have established a new recommended 38K(p,γ)39Ca rate based on experimental information, which reduces overall uncertainties near the peak temperatures of nova burning by a factor of ∼250. Using the rate obtained in this work in model calculations of the hottest oxygen-neon novae reduces overall uncertainties on Ar, K, and Ca synthesis to factors of 15 or less in all cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The rate of the 18F(p,γ)19Ne reaction affects the final abundance of the radioisotope 18F ejected from novae. This nucleus is important as its abundance is thought to significantly influence the first-stage 511-keV and continuum γ-ray emission in the aftermath of novae. No successful measurement of this reaction existed prior to this work, and the rate used in stellar models had been calculated based on incomplete information from contributing resonances. Purpose: Of the two resonances thought to provide a significant contribution to the astrophysical reaction rate, located at Ec.m.=330 and 665 keV, the former has a radiative width estimated from the assumed analog state in the mirror nucleus, 19F, while the latter resonance does not have an analog state assignment, resulting in an arbitrary radiative width being assumed. As such, a direct measurement was needed to establish what role this resonance plays in the destruction of 18F at nova temperatures. This paper extends and takes the place of a previous Letter which reported the strength of the Ec.m.=665 keV resonance. Method: The DRAGON recoil separator was used to directly measure the strength of the important 665-keV resonance in this reaction, in inverse kinematics, by observing 19Ne reaction products. A radioactive 18F beam was provided by the ISAC facility at TRIUMF. R-matrix calculations were subsequently used to evaluate the significance of the results at astrophysical energies. Results: We report the direct measurement of the 18F(p,γ)19Ne reaction with the reevaluation of several detector efficiencies and the use of an updated 19Ne level scheme in the reaction rate analysis. The strength of the 665-keV resonance (Ex=7.076 MeV) is found to be an order of magnitude weaker than currently assumed in nova models. An improved analysis of the previously reported data is presented here, resulting in a slightly different value for the resonance strength. These small changes, however, do not alter the primary conclusions. Conclusions: Reaction rate calculations definitively show that the 665-keV resonance plays no significant role in the destruction of 18F at nova temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on the mass measurements of several neutron-rich Rb and Sr isotopes in the A≈100 region with the TITAN Penning-trap mass spectrometer. By using highly charged ions in the charge state q=10+, the masses of 98,99Rb and 98-100Sr have been determined with a precision of 6-12 keV, making their uncertainty negligible for r-process nucleosynthesis network calculations. The mass of 101Sr has been determined directly for the first time with a precision eight times higher than the previous indirect measurement and a deviation of 3σ when compared to the Atomic Mass Evaluation. We also confirm the mass of 100Rb from a previous measurement. Furthermore, our data indicate the existence of a low-lying isomer with 80keV excitation energy in 98Rb. We show that our updated mass values lead to minor changes in the r process by calculating fractional abundances in the A≈100 region of the nuclear chart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have performed the first direct measurement of the 38K(p,γ)39Ca reaction using a beam of radioactive 38K. A proposed ℓ=0 resonance in the 38K+p system has been identified at 679(2) keV with an associated strength of 120+50−30  meV. Upper limits of 1.16 (3.5) and 8.6 (26) meV at the 68% (95%) confidence level were also established for two further expected ℓ=0 resonances at 386 and 515 keV, respectively. The present results have reduced uncertainties in the 38K(p,γ)39Ca reaction rate at temperatures of 0.4 GK by more than 2 orders of magnitude and indicate that Ar and Ca may be ejected in observable quantities by oxygen-neon novae. However, based on the newly evaluated rate, the 38K(p,γ)39Ca path is unlikely to be responsible for the production of Ar and Ca in significantly enhanced quantities relative to solar abundances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several lifetimes in 23Mg have been determined for the first time using the Doppler-shift attenuation method. A Monte Carlo simulation code has been written to model the γ-ray line shape. An upper limit of τ<12 fs at the 95% C.L. has been obtained for the astrophysically important 7787 keV state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have performed the first direct measurement of two resonances of the ^{7}Be(α,γ)^{11}C reaction with unknown strengths using an intense radioactive ^{7}Be beam and the DRAGON recoil separator. We report on the first measurement of the 1155 and 1110 keV resonance strengths of 1.73±0.25(stat)±0.40(syst)  eV and 125&#95;{-25}^{+27}(stat)±15(syst)  meV, respectively. The present results have reduced the uncertainty in the ^{7}Be(α,γ)^{11}C reaction rate to ∼9.4%-10.7% over T=1.5-3  GK, which is relevant for nucleosynthesis in the neutrino-driven outflows of core-collapse supernovae (νp process). We find no effect of the new, constrained reaction rate on νp-process nucleosynthesis.

We present the first direct measurement of an astrophysical reaction using a radioactive beam of isomeric nuclei. In particular, we have measured the strength of the key 447-keV resonance in the ^{26m}Al(p,γ)^{27}Si reaction to be 432&#95;{-226}^{+146}  meV and find that this resonance dominates the thermally averaged reaction rate for temperatures between 0.3 and 2.5 GK. This work represents a critical development in resolving one of the longest standing issues in nuclear astrophysics research, relating to the measurement of proton capture reactions on excited quantum levels, and offers unique insight into the destruction of isomeric ^{26}Al in astrophysical plasmas.

How does nature hold together protons and neutrons to form the wide variety of complex nuclei in the Universe? Describing many-nucleon systems from the fundamental theory of quantum chromodynamics has been the greatest challenge in answering this question. The chiral effective field theory description of the nuclear force now makes this possible but requires certain parameters that are not uniquely determined. Defining the nuclear force needs identification of observables sensitive to the different parametrizations. From a measurement of proton elastic scattering on ^{10}C at TRIUMF and ab initio nuclear reaction calculations, we show that the shape and magnitude of the measured differential cross section is strongly sensitive to the nuclear force prescription.

We have performed the first direct measurement of the ^{38}K(p,γ)^{39}Ca reaction using a beam of radioactive ^{38}K. A proposed ℓ=0 resonance in the ^{38}K+p system has been identified at 679(2) keV with an associated strength of 120&#95;{-30}^{+50}  meV. Upper limits of 1.16 (3.5) and 8.6 (26) meV at the 68% (95%) confidence level were also established for two further expected ℓ=0 resonances at 386 and 515 keV, respectively. The present results have reduced uncertainties in the ^{38}K(p,γ)^{39}Ca reaction rate at temperatures of 0.4 GK by more than 2 orders of magnitude and indicate that Ar and Ca may be ejected in observable quantities by oxygen-neon novae. However, based on the newly evaluated rate, the ^{38}K(p,γ)^{39}Ca path is unlikely to be responsible for the production of Ar and Ca in significantly enhanced quantities relative to solar abundances.

In Wolf-Rayet and asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, the (26g)Al(p,γ)(27)Si reaction is expected to govern the destruction of the cosmic γ-ray emitting nucleus (26)Al. The rate of this reaction, however, is highly uncertain due to the unknown properties of key resonances in the temperature regime of hydrogen burning. We present a high-resolution inverse kinematic study of the (26g)Al(d,p)(27)Al reaction as a method for constraining the strengths of key astrophysical resonances in the (26g)Al(p,γ)(27)Si reaction. In particular, the results indicate that the resonance at E(r)=127  keV in (27)Si determines the entire (26g)Al(p,γ)(27)Si reaction rate over almost the complete temperature range of Wolf-Rayet stars and AGB stars.

26Al is an important radioisotope in astrophysics that provides evidence of ongoing nucleosynthesis in the Galaxy. The 23Na(α, p)26Mg reaction has been identified by a sensitivity study as being one of the most important reactions for the production of 26Al in the convective C/Ne burning shell of massive stars. Owing to large uncertainties in previous experimental data, model calculations are used for the reaction rate of 23Na(α, p)26Mg in this sensitivity study. Current experimental data suggest a reaction rate a factor of ∼40 higher than model calculations. However, a new measurement of this reaction cross section has been made in inverse kinematics in the energy range E(c.m.)=1.28-3.15  MeV at TRIUMF, and found to be in reasonable agreement with the model calculation. A new reaction rate is calculated and tight constraints on the uncertainty in the production of 26Al, due to this reaction, are determined.

The first conclusive evidence of a dipole resonance in ^{11}Li having isoscalar character observed from inelastic scattering with a novel solid deuteron target is reported. The experiment was performed at the newly commissioned IRIS facility at TRIUMF. The results show a resonance peak at an excitation energy of 1.03±0.03 MeV with a width of 0.51±0.11 MeV (FWHM). The angular distribution is consistent with a dipole excitation in the distorted-wave Born approximation framework. The observed resonance energy together with shell model calculations show the first signature that the monopole tensor interaction is important in ^{11}Li. The first ab initio calculations in the coupled cluster framework are also presented.

The rate of the 18F(p,γ)19Ne reaction affects the final abundance of the γ-ray observable radioisotope 18F, produced in novae. However, no successful measurement of this reaction exists and the rate used is calculated from incomplete information on the contributing resonances. Of the two resonances thought to play a significant role, one has a radiative width estimated from the assumed analogue state in the mirror nucleus, 19F. The second does not have an analogue state assignment at all, resulting in an arbitrary radiative width being assumed. Here, we report the first successful direct measurement of the 18F(p,γ)^19Ne reaction. The strength of the 665 keV resonance (Ex=7.076  MeV) is found to be over an order of magnitude weaker than currently assumed in nova models. Reaction rate calculations show that this resonance therefore plays no significant role in the destruction of ^{18}F at any astrophysical energy.

A measurement of the α-β-ν[over ¯] angular correlation in the Gamow-Teller decay (8)Li→(8)Be(*)+ν[over ¯]+β, (8)Be(*)→α+α has been performed using ions confined in a linear Paul trap surrounded by silicon detectors. The energy difference spectrum of the α particles emitted along and opposite the direction of the β particle is consistent with the standard model prediction and places a limit of 3.1% (95.5% confidence level) on any tensor contribution to the decay. From this result, the amplitude of any tensor component C(T) relative to that of the dominant axial-vector component C(A) of the electroweak interaction is limited to |C(T)/C(A)|<0.18 (95.5% confidence level). This experimental approach is facilitated by several favorable features of the (8)Li β decay and has different systematic effects than the previous β-ν[over ¯] correlation results for a pure Gamow-Teller transition obtained from studying (6)He β decay.

Early diagnosis of acute epiglottitis may be difficult in the child presenting atypically. The cases of four patients who displayed atypical presentation are reported. The initial diagnosis in three children was croup and in one, pharyngitis. In the fourth patient, a child who had coexisting meningitis, epiglottitis was an incidental finding. All patients recovered with no sequelae.

During its first 6 years of operation a large pediatric unit in a suburban general hospital treated 13 children over the age of 2 years for confirmed intussesception. During the same period 14 infants under the age of 2 years were treated for intussusception. It is suggested that the true age incidence of the disease is reflected more accurately by these figures than by those reported by large children's hospitals. The clinical course was often less acute in the older child and hydrostatic reduction was usually effective (in 11 of 12 attempts). Prompt operation is recommended when the condition recurs more than 1 week after reduction because of the increased risk of an underlying intestinal lesion. Practitioners are urged to keep intussusception in mind when assessing an older child with intestinal colic.