1. Single neutron transfer on Ne and its relevance for the pathway of nucleosynthesis in astrophysical X-ray bursts
- Author
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Lotay, G., Henderson, J., Catford, W.N., Ali, F.A., Berean, J., Bernier, N., Bhattacharjee, S.S., Bowry, M., Caballero-Folch, R., Davids, B., Drake, T.E., Garnsworthy, A.B., Ghazi Moradi, F., Gillespie, S.A., Greaves, B., Hackman, G., Hallam, S., Hymers, D., Kasanda, E., Levy, D., Luna, B.K., Mathews, A., Meisel, Z., Moukaddam, M., Muecher, D., Olaizola, B., Orr, N.A., Patel, H.P., Rajabali, M.M., Saito, Y., Smallcombe, J., Spencer, M., Svensson, C.E., Whitmore, K., and Williams, M.
- Abstract
We present new experimental measurements of resonance strengths in the astrophysical $^{23}$Al(p,γ)$^{24}$Si reaction, constraining the pathway of nucleosynthesis beyond $^{22}$Mg in X-ray burster scenarios. Specifically, we have performed the first measurement of the (d,p) reaction using a radioactive beam of $^{23}$Ne to explore levels in $^{24}$Ne, the mirror analog of $^{24}$Si. Four strong single-particle states were observed and corresponding neutron spectroscopic factors were extracted with a precision of ∼20%. Using these spectroscopic factors, together with mirror state identifications, we have reduced uncertainties in the strength of the key ℓ = 0 resonance at Er = 157 keV, in the astrophysical $^{23}$Al(p,γ) reaction, by a factor of 4. Our results show that the $^{22}$Mg(p,γ)$^{23}$Al(p,γ) pathway dominates over the competing $^{22}$Mg(α,p) reaction in all but the most energetic X-ray burster events (T>0.85 GK), significantly affecting energy production and the preservation of hydrogen fuel.
- Published
- 2022