Direct measurement of the F18(p,α)O15 reaction at nova temperatures

April 2011 • 2011PhRvC..83d2801B

Authors • Beer, C. E. • Laird, A. M. • Murphy, A. St. J. • Bentley, M. A. • Buchman, L. • Davids, B. • Davinson, T. • Diget, C. A. • Fox, S. P. • Fulton, B. R. • Hager, U. • Howell, D. • Martin, L. • Ruiz, C. • Ruprecht, G. • Salter, P. • Vockenhuber, C. • Walden, P.

Abstract • The ¹⁸F(p,α)¹⁵O reaction rate is crucial for understanding the final abundance of F18 predicted by nova models. The γ-ray emission in the first few hours after a nova outburst is expected to be dominated by 511 keV annihilation photons from the decay of F18, and so understanding its production can provide important constraints on the conditions during the outburst when compared with observations. Results are presented from the lowest-energy direct measurement to date, performed at the Isotope Separator and Accelerator radioactive beam facility at the TRIUMF laboratory, Canada. Cross section measurements at center-of-mass energies of 250, 330, 453, and 673 keV are obtained and the results compared to previous data and R-matrix calculations. The implications for the overall reaction rate in the context of nova explosions have been discussed.

Links

• ELECTR http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevC.83.042801