Alpha-decay branching ratios of near-threshold states in 19Ne and the astrophysical rate of 15O(alpha,gamma)19Ne

The 15O(alpha,gamma)19Ne reaction is one of two routes for breakout from the hot CNO cycles into the rp process in accreting neutron stars. Its astrophysical rate depends critically on the decay properties of excited states in 19Ne lying just above the 15O + alpha threshold. We have measured the alpha-decay branching ratios for these states using the p(21Ne,t)19Ne reaction at 43 MeV/u. Combining our measurements with previous determinations of the radiative widths of these states, we conclude that no significant breakout from the hot CNO cycle into the rp process in novae is possible via 15O(alpha,gamma)19Ne, assuming current models accurately represent their temperature and density conditions

Neutron single-particle strength outside the N=50 core

The single-neutron properties of N = 51 nuclei have been studied with the (d,p) and (α,3He) reactions, at beam energies of 15 and 50 MeV respectively, on 88Sr, 90Zr, and 92Mo targets. The light reaction products were momentum analyzed using a conventional magnetic spectrometer. Additionally, the 2H(86Kr,p) reaction was measured at a beam energy of 10 MeV/u, where outgoing light ions were analyzed using a helical-orbit spectrometer. Absolute cross sections and angular distributions corresponding to the population of different final states in the heavy product were obtained for each reaction. Spectroscopic factors were extracted and centroids of the single-particle strength were deduced. The observations appear consistent with calculations based on an evolution of single-particle structure driven by the nucleon-nucleon forces acting between valence protons and neutrons

HELIOS - Progress and possibilities

The helical orbit spectrometer, HELIOS, at Argonne National Laboratory has been developed to measure transfer reactions in inverse kinematics with good Q-value resolution. The technique is discussed alongside examples of measurements with medium-mass beams, the first exploration of reactions in the the forward hemisphere, and a future outlook. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd