New constraints on the Al 25 (p,γ) reaction and its influence on the flux of cosmic γ rays from classical nova explosions

The astrophysical Al25(p,γ)Si26 reaction represents one of the key remaining uncertainties in accurately modeling the abundance of radiogenic Al26 ejected from classical novae. Specifically, the strengths of key proton-unbound resonances in Si26, that govern the rate of the Al25(p,γ) reaction under explosive astrophysical conditions, remain unsettled. Here, we present a detailed spectroscopy study of the Si26 mirror nucleus Mg26. We have measured the lifetime of the 3+, 6.125-MeV state in Mg26 to be 19(3)fs and provide compelling evidence for the existence of a 1- state in the T=1,A=26 system, indicating a previously unaccounted for=1 resonance in the Al25(p,γ) reaction. Using the presently measured lifetime, together with the assumption that the likely 1- state corresponds to a resonance in the Al25+p system at 435.7(53) keV, we find considerable differences in the Al25(p,γ) reaction rate compared to previous works. Based on current nova models, we estimate that classical novae may be responsible for up to ≈15% of the observed galactic abundance of Al26.This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics, under Contract No. DEAC02-06CH11357 and Grants No. DEFG02-94-ER40834, No. DEFG02-97-ER41041, No. DEFG02-97-ER41043, and No. DE-FG02-93ER4077. U.K. personnel were supported by the Science and Technologies Facilities Council (STFC). This work was partially supported by the Spanish MINECO Grant No. AYA2017-86274-P, by the E.U. FEDER funds, and by the AGAUR/Generalitat de Catalunya Grant No. SGR-661/2017. This article benefited from discussions within the “ChETEC” COST Action (Grant No. CA16117). This research used resources of ANL's ATLAS facility, which is a DOE Office of Science User facility

A Multi-Sampling Ionization Chamber (MUSIC) for measurements of fusion reactions with radioactive beams

A detection technique for high-efficiency measurements of fusion reactions with low-intensity radioactive beams was developed. The technique is based on a Multi-Sampling Ionization Chamber (MUSIC) operating as an active target and detection system, where the ionization gas acts as both target and counting gas. In this way, we can sample an excitation function in an energy range determined by the gas pressure, without changing the beam energy. The detector provides internal normalization to the incident beam and drastically reduces the measuring time. In a first experiment we tested the performance of the technique by measuring the 10,13,15C+12C fusion reactions at energies around the Coulomb barrier.Fil: Carnelli, Patricio Francisco Florencio. Argonne National Laboratory; Estados Unidos. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Área de Investigación y Aplicaciones No Nucleares. Gerencia Física (Centro Atómico Constituyentes). Proyecto Tandar; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Almaraz Calderón, S.. Argonne National Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Rehm, K. E.. Argonne National Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Albers, M.. Argonne National Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Alcorta, M.. Argonne National Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Bertone, P. F.. Argonne National Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Digiovine, B.. Argonne National Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Esbensen, H.. Argonne National Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Fernandez Niello, Jorge Oscar. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica. Gerencia del Área de Investigación y Aplicaciones No Nucleares. Gerencia Física (Centro Atómico Constituyentes). Proyecto Tandar; ArgentinaFil: Henderson, D.. Argonne National Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Jiang, C. L.. Argonne National Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Lai, J.. Argonne National Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Marley, S. T.. Argonne National Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Nusair, O.. Argonne National Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Palchan Hazan, T.. Argonne National Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Pardo, R.. Argonne National Laboratory; Estados UnidosFil: Paul, M.. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; IsraelFil: Ugalde, C.. Argonne National Laboratory; Estados Unido