Strength of the EpE_{\text{p}}=1.842 MeV resonance in the 40^{40}Ca(p,γ\gamma)41^{41}Sc reaction revisited

The strength of the $E_{\rm p} = 1.842$ MeV resonance in the $^{40}$Ca(p,$\gamma$)$^{41}$Sc reaction is determined with two different methods: First, by an absolute strength measurement using calcium hydroxide targets, and second, relative to the well-determined strength of the resonance triplet at $E_\alpha$ = 4.5 MeV in the $^{40}$Ca($\alpha$,$\gamma$)$^{44}$Ti reaction. The present new value of $\omega\gamma=(0.192\pm0.017)$ eV is 37% (equivalent to $3.5\sigma$) higher than the evaluated literature value. In addition, the ratio of the strengths of the 1.842 MeV $^{40}$Ca(p,$\gamma$)$^{41}$Sc and 4.5 MeV $^{40}$Ca($\alpha$,$\gamma$)$^{44}$Ti resonances has been determined to be $0.0229\pm0.0018$. The newly corrected strength of the 1.842-MeV resonance can be used in the future as a normalization point for experiments with calcium targets.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Obscuration-dependent evolution of Active Galactic Nuclei

We aim to constrain the evolution of AGN as a function of obscuration using an X-ray selected sample of $\sim2000$ AGN from a multi-tiered survey including the CDFS, AEGIS-XD, COSMOS and XMM-XXL fields. The spectra of individual X-ray sources are analysed using a Bayesian methodology with a physically realistic model to infer the posterior distribution of the hydrogen column density and intrinsic X-ray luminosity. We develop a novel non-parametric method which allows us to robustly infer the distribution of the AGN population in X-ray luminosity, redshift and obscuring column density, relying only on minimal smoothness assumptions. Our analysis properly incorporates uncertainties from low count spectra, photometric redshift measurements, association incompleteness and the limited sample size. We find that obscured AGN with $N_{H}>{\rm 10^{22}\, cm^{-2}}$ account for ${77}^{+4}_{-5}\%$ of the number density and luminosity density of the accretion SMBH population with $L_{{\rm X}}>10^{43}\text{ erg/s}$, averaged over cosmic time. Compton-thick AGN account for approximately half the number and luminosity density of the obscured population, and ${38}^{+8}_{-7}\%$ of the total. We also find evidence that the evolution is obscuration-dependent, with the strongest evolution around $N_{H}\thickapprox10^{23}\text{ cm}^{-2}$. We highlight this by measuring the obscured fraction in Compton-thin AGN, which increases towards $z\sim3$, where it is $25\%$ higher than the local value. In contrast the fraction of Compton-thick AGN is consistent with being constant at $\approx35\%$, independent of redshift and accretion luminosity. We discuss our findings in the context of existing models and conclude that the observed evolution is to first order a side-effect of anti-hierarchical growth.Comment: Published in Ap

The resonance triplet at E_alpha = 4.5 MeV in the 40Ca(alpha,gamma)44Ti reaction

The 40Ca(alpha,gamma)44Ti reaction is believed to be the main production channel for the radioactive nuclide 44Ti in core-collapse supernovae. Radiation from decaying 44Ti has been observed so far for two supernova remnants, and a precise knowledge of the 44Ti production rate may help improve supernova models. The 40Ca(alpha,gamma)44Ti astrophysical reaction rate is determined by a number of narrow resonances. Here, the resonance triplet at E_alpha = 4497, 4510, and 4523 keV is studied both by activation, using an underground laboratory for the gamma counting, and by in-beam gamma spectrometry. The target properties are determined by elastic recoil detection analysis and by nuclear reactions. The strengths of the three resonances are determined to omega gamma = (0.92+-0.20), (6.2+-0.5), and (1.32+-0.24) eV, respectively, a factor of two more precise than before. The strengths of this resonance triplet may be used in future works as a point of reference. In addition, the present new data directly affect the astrophysical reaction rate at relatively high temperatures, above 3.5 GK.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev.

The Eleventh and Twelfth Data Releases of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Final Data from SDSS-III

The third generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III) took data from 2008 to 2014 using the original SDSS wide-field imager, the original and an upgraded multi-object fiber-fed optical spectrograph, a new near-infrared high-resolution spectrograph, and a novel optical interferometer. All of the data from SDSS-III are now made public. In particular, this paper describes Data Release 11 (DR11) including all data acquired through 2013 July, and Data Release 12 (DR12) adding data acquired through 2014 July (including all data included in previous data releases), marking the end of SDSS-III observing. Relative to our previous public release (DR10), DR12 adds one million new spectra of galaxies and quasars from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) over an additional 3000 deg2 of sky, more than triples the number of H-band spectra of stars as part of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), and includes repeated accurate radial velocity measurements of 5500 stars from the Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanet Large-area Survey (MARVELS). The APOGEE outputs now include the measured abundances of 15 different elements for each star. In total, SDSS-III added 5200 deg2 of ugriz imaging; 155,520 spectra of 138,099 stars as part of the Sloan Exploration of Galactic Understanding and Evolution 2 (SEGUE-2) survey; 2,497,484 BOSS spectra of 1,372,737 galaxies, 294,512 quasars, and 247,216 stars over 9376 deg2; 618,080 APOGEE spectra of 156,593 stars; and 197,040 MARVELS spectra of 5513 stars. Since its first light in 1998, SDSS has imaged over 1/3 of the Celestial sphere in five bands and obtained over five million astronomical spectra. \ua9 2015. The American Astronomical Society

Experimental Study of the 22Ne(p,γ)23Na Reaction and its Implications for Novae Scenarios

The 22Ne(p,γ)23Na reaction belongs to the catalytic neon-sodium cycle and has an important role in the explosive hydrogen burning. The neon-sodium cycle takes place at temperatures of T = 0:1 - 0:5GK and is assumed to occur in di erent astrophysical systems: e.g. in novae, in super novae of type Ia and during the shell-burning of red giant branch stars. The implications of 22Ne(p,γ)23Na and the neon-sodium cycle in a nova scenario have been studied by using the nuclear network code libnucnet at GSI in Darmstadt. A nova is an outburst of matter in a binary system consisting of a white dwarf and a red giant star. It is therefore a representative phenomenon for explosive hydrogen burning. For the calculation of the nucleosynthesis during the nova outburst, the code libnucnet requires the initial mass composition of the novae partners, the temperature and density pro les of the nova explosion and the thermonuclear reaction rates of the participating reactions. In the following, the code determined the ow and the nal atomic abundance in the neon-sodium cycle during the entire nova process. Additionally, the in uence of the temperature pro le of the novae outburst as well as the thermonuclear reaction rate of the 22Ne(p,γ)23Na reaction on the nal atomic abundance in the outburst has been studied. A characteristic measure for the reactions in astrophysical environments is the thermonuclear reaction rate. The reaction rate of 22Ne(p,γ)23Na has still strong uncertainties in the temperature range of T = 0:03-0:3 GK. These uncertainties are based on insu cient upper limits of the resonance strengths as well as the possible existence of tentative states that are populated in the energy range of Elabp = 30 - 300 keV. The research presented in this thesis is dedicated to the experimental study of the 22Ne(p,γ)23Na reaction for an improved determination of the thermonuclear reaction rate. Furthermore, the implications of 22Ne(p,γ)23Na and the neon-sodium-cycle in novae scenarios are discussed. The data taking has been performed at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Italy. This laboratory provides the LUNA facility (Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics) for the measurement of small reaction cross sections. The LUNA facility includes a 400 kV ion accelerator, a windowless gas target system and a HPGe-detector. Based on the measurements of the 22Ne(p,γ)23Na reaction at LUNA, upper limits for the strengths of ve isolated resonances in the energy range of Elabp = 150 - 340 keV have been determined. For the nuclear resonance at Elabres = 186 keV, a positive resonance strength has been measured for the rst time in literature