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12C +12 C is the main reaction during core and shell carbon burning in massive stars, however, at temperatures higher than 109K when most of the carbon is depleted and its abundance is lower than 16O, the 12C +16 O fusion can also become relevant. Moreover, 12C +16 O reaction can ignite also in the scenario of explosive carbon burning. The astrophysical energy region of interest thus ranges from 3 to 7.2 MeV in the center-of-mass frame. There are various measurements of the cross-section available in the literature, however, they all stop around 4 MeV, making extrapolation necessary at lower energies. To try to solve this uncertainty and corroborate direct measurement the Trojan Horse Method was applied to three-body processes 16O(14N, α24Mg)2H and 16O(14N, p27Al)2H to study the 16O(12C, α)24Mg and 16O(12C, p)27Al reactions.

The carbon-burning process in massive stars mainly occurs via the 12C +12 C. However, at temperatures higher than 109K and considering the increased abundance of 16O produced during the later stages of the heliumburning,the 12C+16O fusion can also become relevant. Moreover, 12C+16O also plays a role in the scenario of explosive carbon burning. Thus, the astrophysical energy region of interest ranges from 3 to 7.2 MeV in the center-of-mass frame. However, the various measurements of the cross-section available in the literature stop around 4 MeV, making extrapolation necessary. To solve this uncertainty and corroborate direct measurement we applied the Trojan Horse Method to three-body processes 16O(14N, α24Mg)2H and 16O(14N, p27Al)2H to study the 12C(16O, α)24Mg and 12C(16O, p)27Al reactions in their entire energy region of astrophysical interest. In this contribution, after briefly describing the method used, the experiment and the preliminary phases of the data analysis will be presented and discussed.

The abundance of 26Al carries a special role in astrophysics, since it probes active nucleosynthesis in the Milky Way and constrains the Galactic core-collapse supernovae rate. It is estimated through the detection of the 1809 keV γ-line and from the superabundance of 26Mg in comparison with the most abundant Mg isotope (A = 24) in meteorites. For this reason, high precision is necessary also in the investigation of the stable 27Al and 24Mg isotopes. Moreover, these nuclei enter the so-called MgAl cycle, playing an important role in the production of Al and Mg. Recently, high-resolution stellar surveys have shown that the Mg–Al anticorrelation in red-giant stars in globular clusters may hide the existence of multiple stellar populations, and that the relative abundances of Mg isotopes may not be correlated with Al. The common thread running through these astrophysical scenarios is the 27Al(p,α)24Mg reaction, which is the main 27Al destruction channel and directly correlates its abundance with the 24Mg one. Since available reaction rates show large uncertainties owing to the vanishingly small cross section at astrophysical energies, we have applied the Trojan Horse Method to deduce the reaction rate with no need of extrapolation. The indirect measurement made it possible to assess the contribution of the 84 keV resonance and to lower upper limits on the strength of nearby resonances. In intermediate-mass AGB stars experiencing hot bottom burning, a sizeable increase in surface aluminum abundance is observed at the lowest masses, while 24Mg is essentially unaffected by the change in the reaction rate.

The $$^{27}\hbox {Al}(\hbox {p},\alpha )^{24}\hbox {Mg}$$ 27 Al ( p , α ) 24 Mg reaction, which drives the destruction of $$^{27}$$ 27 Al and the production of $$^{24}\hbox {Mg}$$ 24 Mg in stellar hydrogen burning, has been investigated via the Trojan Horse Method (THM), by measuring the $$^2\hbox {H}(^{27}\hbox {Al},\alpha ^{24}\hbox {Mg})\hbox {n}$$ 2 H ( 27 Al , α 24 Mg ) n three-body reaction. The experiment covered a broad energy range ($$E_\mathrm{c.m.}\le \,1.5\,\hbox {MeV}$$ E c . m . ≤ 1.5 MeV ), aiming to investigate those of interest for astrophysics. The results confirm the THM as a valuable technique for the experimental study of fusion reactions at very low energies and suggest the presence of a rich pattern of resonances in the energy region close to the Gamow window of stellar hydrogen burning (70–120 keV), with potential impact on astrophysics. To estimate such an impact a second run of the experiment is needed, since the background due the three-body reaction hampered to collect enough data to resolve the resonant structures and extract the reaction rate.

Starting from experimental studies on alpha-clustering in excited self-conjugate nuclei (from $^{16}$O to $^{28}$Si), temperature and density conditions for such a clustering are determined. Measured temperatures have been found in the range of 5.5 - 6.0 MeV whereas density values of 0.3 - 0.4 times the saturation density are deduced, i.e., 0.046 to 0.062 $fm^{-3}$. Such a density domain is also predicted by constrained self-consistent mean field calculations. These results constitute a benchmark for alpha clustering from self-conjugate nuclei in relation to descriptions of stellar evolution and supernovae., 7 pages, 3 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1602.05827, arXiv:1603.01114

In this paper the technological aspects of the FAZIA array will be explored. After a productive commissioning phase, FAZIA blocks started to measure and give very useful data to explore the physics of Fermi energy heavy-ion reactions. This was possible thanks to many technical measures and innovations developed in the commissioning phase and tuned during the first experimental campaigns. This paper gives a detailed description of the present status of the FAZIA setup from the electronic and mechanical point of view, trying also to trace a path for new improvements and refinements of the apparatus., 17 pages, 9 figures

We present results of barrier distribution measurements for $^{24}\mathrm{Mg}+^{90,92}\mathrm{Zr}$ systems by the backscattering method. The measurements were done at near-barrier beam energies of 68--88.5 MeV (in the laboratory frame) at six angles. A strong discrepancy between experimental results and the predictions of the standard coupled channels calculations was observed. To test the hypothesis that this discrepancy may be due to partial energy dissipation caused by coupling to many target noncollective levels, we performed calculations using the coupled channels plus random matrix theory ($\mathrm{CC}+\mathrm{RMT}$) model. The comparison of calculations with experimental results gives qualitative support of the hypothesis; however, quantitatively the agreement is not as good as in the case of the $^{20}\mathrm{Ne}$ projectile.

Experimental results concerning the dynamical fission of quasiprojectiles in semiperipheral collisions for the system Kr80+Ca48 at 35 MeV/nucleon are presented. Data have been collected with four blocks of the FAZIA setup in the first physics experiment of the FAZIA Collaboration. The degree of isospin equilibration between the two fission fragments and its dependence on their charge asymmetry is investigated. The data are compared with the results of the AMD model coupled to GEMINI as an afterburner, in order to get hints about the timescale of the process.

It is discussed the dynamics of Isospin equilibration in reactions involving the production of Intermediate Mass Fragment (IMF) in the mid-rapidity region. The investigation proceeds through the measurements of the reduced value of the total dipolar signal obtained from the measured velocities and charges of all fragments produced in the collision 48 Ca +27 Al at 40 MeV/nucleon. Preliminary experimental results, along with the comparison with CoMD-III model calculations for different density functionals related to the symmetry energy, are presented.

International audience; The emission probability of Intermediate Mass Fragments (IMFs) in non-central reactions has been investigated in collisions of heavy $^{124}\hbox {Xe}$ projectiles with the two different medium-mass targets of $^{64}\hbox {Ni}$ and $^{64}\hbox {Zn}$ at the laboratory energy of 35 A MeV. The two colliding systems differ only for the target atomic number Z and, consequently, for the isospin N/Z ratio. The probability of IMFs emission from the projectile-like fragment has been measured, showing an enhancement of the IMFs emission for the neutron rich $^{64}\hbox {Ni}$ target. Most of the observed projectile break-up yield is associated with the production of only one IMF, that is, a quasi-binary splitting of projectile in two fragments in a broad range of charge asymmetry. For the events with one IMF, the relative contributions of the dynamical and statistical emissions have been evaluated. We find an enhancement of dynamical break-up probability for the neutron rich target with respect to the neutron poor one. The analysis suggests influence of the target isospin in inducing the dynamical break-up of projectile-like fragments. The new data have been also compared with previous published results of $^{112,124}\hbox {Sn}$ + $^{58,64}\hbox {Ni}$ systems, in order to disentangle between isospin effects against system-size effects on the emission probability. The comparisons between previous and new data suggest that the dynamical break-up is determined by the N/Z content of both projectile and target; for the cases here investigated, the influence of the system size on the dynamical emission probability can be excluded.

Binary collisions of either stable or radioactive heavy ions at Fermi energies allow to study the nuclear reaction mechanisms under dynamical conditions of non-equilibrium and the formation of transient pieces of nuclear matter of very short mean life times at sub-normal density. An important role in the evolutionary phase of the collision is played by the gradient of the nuclear density affecting the isospin asymmetry of the reaction products by typical transport phenomena such as the isospin diffusion and drift. Experimental determination of the value of the nuclear matter density in the early phase of the collision is a crucial step towards understanding the underlying mechanism responsible for the production of clusters. In this paper a method for evaluating the nuclear density in semi-peripheral collisions in the reaction $$^{124}Sn + ^{64}Ni$$ at 35 MeV/nucleon as studied with the CHIMERA multi-particle detector is described.

The γ-decays of 12C excited levels (the Hoyle state 0+ at 7.65 MeV and the 9.64 MeV 3) are essential for its production in the universe. We present here a new attempt to precisely measure such γ-decay probabilities. The measurement was performed at INFN-LNS in Catania using the 4π CHIMERA multidetector. In order to measure these low probability decay-channels we performed 4-fold coincidence measurements. The 12C target nuclei were excited by using a beam of 64 MeV α-particles produced by the Superconducting Cyclotron (CS) of INFN-LNS. The scattered α-particles and the 12C recoils were detected and identified by? E-E and ToF methods using CHIMERA telescopes. The two emitted γ-rays in the decay chain were detected and identified by using the second stage of the telescopes, CsI(Tl) scintillators, by means of fast-slow and rise time techniques. Kinematics and energy-momentum conservation laws were used to constrain the data analysis. Also the 3-α decay channel probability was measured. Such a simultaneous measurement of all known decay channels was useful to reduce the systematic errors. Preliminary results of the data analysis are reported.

With the advent of the new radioactive beam facilities it is necessary to develop neutron detection systems integrated with charged particle ones. The integration of the neutron signal, especially in using neutron rich beams, becomes a mandatory requirement in order to study the property of the nuclear matter in extreme conditions. For this reason new detectors using new materials have to be built. In this contribution, some new results about the efficiency estimation and the cross talk problem studied through GEANT4 simulations, related to the NArCoS project, will be described with the aim to design a new detector of both good energy and angular resolution. The detection of neutrons and charged particles in the same elementary detection cell is envisaged.

We describe the use of the 4tt CHIMERA charged particle detector as a large efficiency y-ray detector. The CsI(Tl) stage of the CHIMERA telescope is used to detect and identify y-rays. The high detection efficiency and the sufficient energy resolution guaranteed by CsI(Tl) allows us to use the detector for the study of rare decays. Two examples are reported: the low probability gamma decay (68Ni; the measurement of the gamma decay probability of excited levels of 12C as the Hoyle state at 7.65 (∼10−4) MeV and the 3- level at 9.64 MeV (∼107), both important for the Carbon production in stars. Future experiments made possible at INFN-LNS by the availability of the new fragment separator FRAISE are also outlined.

The motivation of the present paper is to study the performance of EJ 299-33 scintillator in online and off-line analysis in high rate scattering for nuclear reaction experiments performed with heavy ions. An experiment was carried out inside the CHIMERA chamber using 24Mg beams at 71.5 MeV and 81 MeV impinging on 92ZrO2 target. The plastic scintillator was backed by a photomultiplier tube and the anode pulses were digitized through 100 MHz GET electronics for the purpose of pulse shape discrimination (PSD) studies. Performances of the plastic scintillator have been tested with respect to PSD capabilities and energy spectra analysis under beam irradiations in a high background environment.

High energy gamma-rays from the 116Sn + 24Mg reaction at 23A MeV were measured using the MEDEA detector at LNS – INFN Catania. Combining this new data with previous measurements yields a detailed view of the quenching of the Giant Dipole Resonance as a function of excitation energy in nuclei of mass A in the range 120÷132. The transition towards the disappearance of the dipole strength, which occurs around 230 MeV excitation energy, appears to be remarkably sharp. Current phenomenological models give qualitative explanations for the quenching but cannot reproduce its detailed features. Keywords: Giant Dipole Resonance, Hot nuclei, Fusion reactions, Statistical Model

FARCOS is a modular detection system intended to boost the capacity of 4π detectors towards correlation measurements. The final FARCOS system will be composed of 20 telescopes, each formed by two Si layers of 32-ch orthogonal Double Sided Silicon Strip Detectors and one calorimeter stage composed by 4 CsI(Tl) tronco-pyramidal scintillator crystals readout by a Si photodiode. The paper focuses on the first application of the FARCOS detection array in the present configuration of 10 telescopes in a real experiment, the CHIFAR experiment and discusses the main instrumental features relevant for the experiments.

Main features of fragments produced in 58Ni+40Ca and 58Ni+48Ca systems at 25 AMeV, collected by Chimera multidetector at INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (Italy), are analysed in order to study properties of moderately excited systems (Ex=2-5 AMeV) formed in central collisions. By means of correlations between specific global variables, sensitive to the centrality of the collision, a stringent selection of Fusion-Evaporation residues, Multifragmentation sources and their decay products has been performed. The influence of the isospin contents of the systems on the reaction mechanism is carefully investigated and relevant observables such as isospin asymmetry N/Z or charge and mass of fragments, are discussed in order to probe the fragmentation path, characterised by short living ( ∼ 100fm/c) low density states of nuclear matter out of equilibrium. Preliminary comparisons with predictions of the BLOB model, in a semi-classical mean field framework, are presented, investigating cluster production emerging from the occurrence of low-density instabilities in central collisions.

The 0 2 + Hoyle state and few other excited levels of 12C are fundamental for the production of carbon in the universe. In particular, the γ decay branching ratio is of utmost importance, being the only way to produce a carbon at the ground state. For the purpose to precisely investigate the decay mechanism of such states we conducted an experiment, at Laboratori Nazionali del Sud-Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN-LNS), using the reaction α + 12 C at 64 MeV. We used the 4π CHIMERA detector to detect both α and γ 12 C decay channels. Details of the experiment and preliminary results are discussed in the paper.

The FARCOS (Femtoscope ARray for Correlation and Spectroscopy) collaboration is finally going to instrument the first batch of 10-12 telescopes. They are capable of reconstructing the particle’s momentum with a high degree of precision and of performing correlation measurements of Light Charged Particles (LCPs) and of LCPs and Intermediate Mass Fragments thanks to the very good energy and angular and resolution. Each telescope features a sensitive area of 6.4 × 6.4 cm2 and is composed of three detection stages: two Si layers and a CsI(Tl) calorimeter. The FARCOS cluster modularity allows the arrangement in different configurations, depending on the physics case one wants to address. The final system will be a modular assembly of 20 telescopes. The total number of readout channels for the final FARCOS system is 2560 channels for the silicon layers and 80 channels for the scintillators. In this paper, we focus on the FARCOS basic module and system architecture and illustrate its performance as assessed in test beams in true experimental conditions.

International audience; The study of nuclei properties and of collision dynamics is a very active research field whose result have implications in different domains as for example astrophysics. The present and future facilities delivering radioactive ion beams with high intensity allow to extend these studies in the region far from the stability valley. New insight has thus been found on the effects of neutron richness on reaction mechanisms as well as on nuclear structure and nuclear matter properties, as for instance, the role of symmetry energy term of the nuclear Equation of State. The presence of diverse reaction products demands for highly performing and very specialized devices, also able to disentangle among different mechanisms, from fast dynamical processes to statistical emission from equilibrated sources. Numerous studies of the effects of N/Z ratio on fusion and associated processes can be found at different energies, together with many examples of the influence of neutron richness on the reaction time scale and the competition between equilibrated and prompt processes. A survey of very recent findings obtained with the CHIMERA and FARCOS devices is presented.

The excitation of the Dynamical Dipole mode along the fusion path was investigated for the first time in the formation of a heavy composite system in the A~190 mass region, in fusion-evaporation and fission events. The composite system was formed at identical conditions of excitation energy and spin from two reactions with different charge asymmetry: the charge asymmetric 40Ca + 152Sm and the nearly charge symmetric 48Ca + 144Sm at E lab =11 and 10.1 MeV/nucleon, respectively. In this paper, we report the results on fusion evaporation events and the preliminary analysis on fission channel.

It is known that the low-energy E1 strength, known as the Pygmy Dipole Resonance (PDR), can be excited by both isovector and isoscalar probes. In this work, we report on the results of an experiment, carried out at the LNS-INFN in Catania, with the aim to study the Pygmy Dipole Resonance induced in the 68Ni nucleus through the interaction with a 12C isoscalar target. The CHIMERA multidetector and the FARCOS array were used to detect, respectively, γ rays and charged particles. Details on the experimental set-up, data analysis and results are reported.

International audience; Preliminary analysis of the Hoyle-Gamma experiment is presented, where simultaneous gamma-particles detection for the α + 12C → α + (12C* + γ) reaction is used to suppress the background various orders of magnitude. This will allow us to measure very small Γ partial widths of 12C. Details of the method, the implementation and CHIMERA software analysis are presented as well as preliminary results.

In nuclear reactions at Fermi energies two and multi particles intensity interferometry correlation methods are powerful tools in order to pin down the characteristic time scale of the emission processes. In this paper we summarize an improved application of the fragment-fragment correlation function in the specific physics case of heavy projectile-like (PLF) binary massive splitting in two fragments of intermediate mass(IMF). Results are shown for the reverse kinematics reaction 124 Sn+64 Ni at 35 AMeV that has been investigated by using the forward part of CHIMERA multi-detector. The analysis was performed as a function of the charge asymmetry of the observed couples of IMF. We show a coexistence of dynamical and statistical components as a function of the charge asymmetry. Transport CoMD simulations are compared with the data in order to pin down the timescale of the fragments production and the relevant ingredients of the in medium effective interaction used in the transport calculations.

The present study has been carried out in order to investigate about the possibility of using EJ 299-33 scintillator in a multi-detector array to detect neutrons along with light charged particles. In a reaction induced by stable and exotic heavy-ions beams, where copious production of neutrons and other light charged particles occurs, discrimination with low identification threshold of these particles are of great importance. In view of this, EJ 299-33 scintillator having dimension of 3 cm × 3 cm × 3 cm backed by a photomultiplier tube was tested and used under vacuum to detect neutrons, gamma-rays and alpha particles emitted by radioactive sources. Anode pulses from the photomultiplier tube were digitized through GET electronics, recorded and stored in a data acquisition system for the purpose of an off-line analysis. The measurements, under vacuum and low background conditions, show good pulse shape discrimination properties characterized by low identification threshold for neutrons, gamma-rays and alpha particles. The Figures of Merit for neutron-gamma and alpha particles-gamma discriminations have been evaluated together with the energy resolution for gamma-ray and alpha particles.

In this paper we briefly discuss about a novel application of the IMF- IMF correlation function in the physics case of heavy projectile-like (PLF) binary fission-like massive splitting in heavy ion collisions at Fermi energy. In particular, results are shown for the reverse kinematics reaction 124Sn+64Ni at 35 AMeV that has been investigated by using the forward part of CHIMERA multi-detector. Transport CoMD simulations are compared with the data. The main analysis was performed as a function of the charge asymmetry of the decay channel. The coexistence of dynamical and statistical components as a function of the charge asymmetry of the binary breakup is clearly evidenced. We show that the IMF-IMF correlation functions, when coupled with transport calculations, can be used to pin down the timescale of the fragments production and consequently the relevant ingredients of the in medium effective interaction. Efforts are being planned to extend the method to different reaction mechanisms and nuclear systems and, also, to compare the data with different transport theory simulations.

The excitation of the dynamical dipole mode along the fusion path was investigated for the first time in the formation of a heavy compound nucleus in the A ∼ 190 mass region. The compound nucleus was formed at identical conditions of excitation energy and spin from two entrance channels: the charge-asymmetric 40 Ca + 152 Sm and the nearly charge-symmetric 48 Ca + 144 Sm at E lab = 11 and 10.1 MeV / nucleon, respectively. High-energy γ rays and light charged particles were measured in coincidence with evaporation residues by means of the MEDEA multidetector array (Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Italy) coupled to four parallel plate avalanche counters. The charged particle multiplicity spectra and angular distributions were used to pin down the average excitation energy, the average mass, and the average charge of the compound nucleus. The γ -ray multiplicity spectrum and angular distribution related to the nearly charge-symmetric channel were employed to obtain new data on the giant dipole resonance in the compound nucleus. The dynamical dipole mode excitation in the charge-asymmetric channel was evidenced, in a model-independent way, by comparing the γ -ray multiplicity spectra and angular distributions of the two entrance channels with each other. Calculations of the dynamical dipole mode in the 40 Ca + 152 Sm channel, based on a collective bremsstrahlung analysis of the reaction dynamics, are presented. Possible interesting implications in the superheavy-element quest are discussed.

Few years ago we proposed a novel detection system textbf- named FARCOS (Femtoscopy ARray for COrrelations andSpectroscopy) – to target different open cases in nuclear physics. The basic cluster unit of the FARCOS array is a telescope structure with an active area of $6.4 \times 6.4$ cm$^{\mathbf {2}}$ composed of three detection stages. The first two detection layers are DC-coupled Double-Sided Silicon Strip Detectors (DSSSDs), 300 $\mu \textbf{m}$ thick and 1500 $\mu \textbf{m}$ thick, featuring $32 \times 32$ orthogonal strips. The third stage, acting as calorimeter, is composed of four truncated pyramids of CsI(Tl) crystals with an active area of $3.2 \times 3.2$ cm$^{\mathbf {2\, }}$textbfand an absorption length of 6 cm arranged in window configuration. The final system will be a modular assembly of 20 telescopes.A key feature of FARCOS is the identification of the particles stopping even in the first detection layer, relying on pulse shape analysis techniques. The FARCOS frontend electronics features a full scale energy range up to 2 GeV with 5 different selectable ranges and an energy resolution down to 10 keV FWHM with a power budget of about 10 mW/channel in the case of the lower full scale energy range. Its core is a custom multichannel charge preamplifier VLSI chip.The system performance has been extensively qualified on few workhorses in view of the assembly of the final telescopes foreseen for 2018.

The excitation of the Dynamical Dipole mode along the fusion path was investigated for the first time in the formation of a heavy compound nucleus in the A~190 mass region. The compound nucleus was formed at identical conditions of excitation energy and spin from two entrance channels having different charge asymmetry: the charge asymmetric 40 Ca + 152 Sm and the nearly charge symmetric 48 Ca + 144 Sm at Elab =11 and 10.1 MeV/nucleon, respectively. Both fusion–evaporation and fission events were studied simultaneously for the first time. The Dynamical Dipole mode excitation in the charge asymmetric channel was evidenced, in a model-independent way, by comparing the γ -ray multiplicity spectra and angular distributions of the two entrance channels with each other.

International audience; A comprehensive study of the evolution of the GDR properties from E∗ = 150 MeV to E∗ = 430 MeV has been undertaken in nuclei of mass A = 120 ÷ 132. The experimental investigation was performed using MEDEA detector. An onset of a quenching of the GDR gamma yield was found at E∗ = 270 MeV comparing the experimental gamma-ray spectrum with statistical model calculation. The quenching effect increases at E∗ = 330 MeV and is even more pronounced when the analysis is extended to higher excitation energies using data from previously performed experiments. The comparison with phenomenological models describing the quenching phenomenon gives a qualitative explanation for the effect but is not able to reproduce its detailed features as a function of excitation energy. A smooth cut-off approach describes reasonably well the progressive disappearance of the dipole strength, which occurs around 220–230 MeV excitation energy, and shows that the GDR quenching is a rather sharp effect.

The inverse-kinematic thick-target method has been used in order to investigate 212Po alpha-structure by the elastic scattering of 208Pb on 4He target. A 208Pb beam, accelerated by the Superconducting Cyclotron (CS) of Laboratori Nazionali del Sud - INFN, at the incident energy of 10.1 A MeV was impinging onto a specifically designed 4He gas cell, two meter long. The gas cell wasacting both as target and as beam degrader, stopping the beam before reaching the alpha-particle detection system placed at 0° with respect to the beam axis. In order to disentangle the elastic contribution from other reaction channels (e.g. inelastic scattering) a microchannel plate was used to measure the Time of Flight(ToF) of both the 208Pb beam particles and the ejectiles along the gas cell. The 208Pbstopping power in the 4He gas target was also measured, as a key ingredient in order to establish theinteraction point inside the gas cell, in turn determining the solid angle covered by the detector. In the following, the experimental technique will be described, and the results of a preliminary data analysis will be shown.