Measurement of ²³Na (α,p )²⁶Mg at Energies Relevant to ²⁶Al Production in Massive Stars

July 2015 • 2015PhRvL.115e2702T

Authors • Tomlinson, J. R. • Fallis, J. • Laird, A. M. • Fox, S. P. • Akers, C. • Alcorta, M. • Bentley, M. A. • Christian, G. • Davids, B. • Davinson, T. • Fulton, B. R. • Galinski, N. • Rojas, A. • Ruiz, C. • de Séréville, N. • Shen, M. • Shotter, A. C.

Abstract • 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.

Links

• ELECTR https://doi.org/10.1103%2FPhysRevLett.115.052702