The cross sections of 151Eu(alpha,gamma)155Tb and 151Eu(alpha,n)154Tb reactions have been measured with the activation method. Some aspects of the measurement are presented here to illustrate the requirements of experimental techniques needed to obtain nuclear data for the astrophysical p-process nucleosynthesis. Preliminary cross section results are also presented and compared with the predictions of statistical model calculations.
Investigation of alpha-induced reactions on 127I for the astrophysical gamma process
为了给天体物理γ过程的模拟提供截面数据，用活化技术研究了α-诱发的~（127）I反应。精确测量了536.1keV γ跃迁的相对强度，其不确定度由13%降低到4%。通过测量特征X射线的产额，首次确定了127 I（α，γ）~（131）Cs反应的截面接近天体物理相关的能量区域，能量为9.50 <Ec. m。< 15.15由于反应模型的改进，$ MeV. The 127I(alpha,n)130Cs reaction was studied in the range 9.62 < Ec.m. < 15.15 MeV by measuring the yield of the 536.1 keV gamma-ray and at the lower part of this energy range by counting the characteristic X-rays. A comparison of the resulting cross sections to predictions of statistical model calculations confirmed the predictions of the astrophysically relevant averaged alpha width. Nevertheless, the newly derived stell…
In nuclear astrophysics, the experimental scenario is still unclear for BBN relevant energies from 30-300 keV. Here, we report our measurements of cross section and astrophysical S(E) factor for pd capture reaction using proton beam energies 66 keV, 116 keV and 166 keV. Realistic GEANT4 simulations were carried out in order to estimate the energy dependent efficiency of the detector. The measured cross section and astrophysical S(E) factor for three new incident proton energies are found to be in good agreement, within the errors, with the values reported in the literature.
[Background] Alpha-nucleus optical potentials are basic ingredients of statistical model calculations used in nucleosynthesis simulations. While the nucleon+nucleus optical potential is fairly well known, for the alpha+nucleus optical potential several different parameter sets exist and large deviations, reaching sometimes even an order of magnitude, are found between the cross section predictions calculated using different parameter sets. [Purpose] A measurement of the radiative alpha-capture and the alpha-induced reaction cross sections on the nucleus 115In at low energies allows a stringent…
Astrophysical reaction rates, which are mostly derived from theoretical cross sections, are necessary input to nuclear reaction network simulations for studying the origin of $p$ nuclei. Past experiments have found a considerable difference between theoretical and experimental cross sections in some cases, especially for ($α$,$γ$) reactions at low energy. Therefore, it is important to experimentally test theoretical cross section predictions at low, astrophysically relevant energies. The aim is to measure reaction cross sections of $^{107}$Ag($α$,$γ$)$^{111}$In and $^{107}$Ag($α$,n)$^{110}$In …
The $^{12}$C($α,γ$)$^{16}$O reaction has a key role in nuclear astrophysics. A multilevel R-matrix analysis was used to make extrapolations of the astrophysical S factor for this reaction to the stellar energy of 300 keV. The statistical precision of the S-factor extrapolation was determined by performing multiple fits to existing randomized E1 and E2 ground state data, according to experimental errors. The impact of a future proposed experiment at Jefferson Laboratory (JLab) was assessed within this framework. The proposed JLab experiment will make use of a high-intensity low-energy bremsstra…
In the model calculations of heavy element nucleosynthesis processes the nuclear reaction rates are taken from statistical model calculations which utilize various nuclear input parameters. It is found that in the case of reactions involving alpha particles the calculations bear a high uncertainty owing to the largely unknown low energy alpha-nucleus optical potential. Experiments are typically restricted to higher energies and therefore no direct astrophysical consequences can be drawn. In the present work a (p,alpha) reaction is used for the first time to study the alpha-nucleus optical pote…
The $^{12}$C($α,γ$)$^{16}$O reaction, an important component of stellar helium burning, has a key role in nuclear astrophysics. It has direct impact on the evolution and final state of massive stars and also influences the elemental abundances resulting from nucleosynthesis in such stars. Providing a reliable estimate for the energy dependence of this reaction at stellar helium burning temperatures has been a longstanding and important goal. In this work, we study the role of potential new measurements of the reaction, $^{16}$O($e,e'α$)$^{12}$C reaction, in reducing the overall uncertainty. A …
Excited states in the 158Eu nucleus have been determined with the 160Gd(d, alpha)158Eu reaction, studied at an incident energy of 18.0 MeV with the Munich tandem and the Q3D spectrograph. More than 50 excited states have been determined up to 1.6 MeV excitation, some of them corresponding to states previously observed in the beta-decay of 158Sm. The number of levels found in this nucleus at low excitation energies follows the systematic trend of the level densities in the other isotopes with mass 152-156.
The stellar reaction rates of radiative $α$-capture reactions on heavy isotopes are of crucial importance for the $γ$ process network calculations. These rates are usually derived from statistical model calculations, which need to be validated, but the experimental database is very scarce. This paper presents the results of $α$-induced reaction cross section measurements on iridium isotopes carried out at first close to the astrophysically relevant energy region. Thick target yields of $^{191}$Ir($α$,$γ$)$^{195}$Au, $^{191}$Ir($α$,n)$^{194}$Au, $^{193}$Ir($α$,n)$^{196m}$Au, $^{193}$Ir($α$,n)$^…
Measurement of nuclear cross sections at astrophysical energies involving unstable species is one of the most challenging tasks in experimental nuclear physics. The use of indirect methods is often unavoidable in this scenario. In this paper the Trojan Horse Method is applied for the first time to a radioactive ion beam induced reaction studying the $^{18}$F($p,α$)$^{15}$O process at low energies relevant to astrophysics via the three body reaction $^{2}$H($^{18}$F,$α^{15}$O)n. The knowledge of the $^{18}$F($p, α$)$^{15}$O reaction rate is crucial to understand the nova explosion phenomena. Th…
Products of the fusion-evaporation reaction Ca-48 + Am-243 were studied with the TASISpec set-up at the gas-filled separator TASCA at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung. Amongst the detected thirty correlated alpha-decay chains associated with the production of element Z=115, two recoil-alpha-fission and five recoil-alpha-alpha-fission events were observed. The latter are similar to four such events reported from experiments performed at the Dubna gas-filled separator. Contrary to their interpretation, we propose an alternative view, namely to assign eight of these eleven decay …
The $γ$-process in core-collapse and/or type Ia supernova explosions is thought to explain the origin of the majority of the so-called $p$ nuclei (the 35 proton-rich isotopes between Se and Hg). Reaction rates for $γ$-process reaction network studies have to be predicted using Hauser-Feshbach statistical model calculations. Recent investigations have shown problems in the prediction of $α$-widths at astrophysical energies which are an essential input for the statistical model. It has an impact on the reliability of abundance predictions in the upper mass range of the $p$ nuclei. With the measu…
In a recent work, the cross section measurement of the 64Zn(p,alpha)61Cu reaction was used to prove that the standard alpha-nucleus optical potentials used in astrophysical network calculation fail to reproduce the experimental data at energies relevant for heavy element nucleosynthesis. In the present paper the analysis of the obtained experimental data is continued by comparing the results with the predictions using different parameters. It is shown that the recently suggested modification of the standard optical potential leads to a better description of the data.
Reactions involving the group of nuclei commonly known as p nuclei are part of the nucleosynthetic mechanisms at astrophysical sites. The $^{113}$In nucleus is such a case with several open questions regarding its origin at extreme stellar environments. In this work, the experimental study of the cross sections of the radiative proton-capture reaction $^{112}$Cd(p,$γ$)$^{113}$In is attempted for the first time at energies lying inside the Gamow window with an isotopically enriched $^{112}$Cd target. Two different techniques, the in-beam $γ$-ray spectroscopy and the activation method, have been…
A new astrophysical reaction rate for $^{12}$C($α,γ$)$^{16}$O has been evaluated on the basis of a global R-matrix fitting to the available experimental data. The reaction rates of $^{12}$C($α,γ$)$^{16}$O for stellar temperatures between 0.04 $\leq$ $T_9$ $\leq$ 10 are provided in a tabular form and by an analytical fitting expression. At $T_9$ = 0.2, the reaction rate is (7.83 $\pm$ 0.35)$\times10^{15}$ $\rm{cm^3 mol^{-1} s^{-1}}$, where stellar helium burning occurs.
Two effects relevant for the study of astrophysical reaction rates: gamma transitions in capture reactions and Coulomb suppression of the stellar enhancement
The molecular algebraic model based on three and four alpha clusters is used to describe the inelastic scattering of alpha particles populating low-lying states in $^{12}$C and $^{16}$O. Optical potentials and inelastic formfactors are obtained by folding densities and transition densities obtained within the molecular model. One-step and multi-step processes can be included in the reaction mechanism calculation. In spite of the simplicity of the approach the molecular model with rotations and vibrations provides a reliable description of reactions where $α$-cluster degrees of freedom are invo…
The hindrance phenomenon of heavy-ion fusion cross sections at deep subbarrier energies often accompanies a maximum of an astrophysical $S$ factor at a threshold energy for fusion hindrance. We argue that this phenomenon can naturally be explained when the fusion excitation function is fitted with two potentials, with a larger (smaller) logarithmic slope at energies lower (higher) than the threshold energy. This analysis clearly suggests that the astrophysical $S$ factor provides a convenient tool to analyze the deep subbarrier hindrance phenomenon, even though the $S$ factor may have a strong…
