Physics Letters B (Nov 2019)
A direct measurement of the 17O(α,γ)21Ne reaction in inverse kinematics and its impact on heavy element production
- M.P. Taggart,
- C. Akers,
- A.M. Laird,
- U. Hager,
- C. Ruiz,
- D.A. Hutcheon,
- M.A. Bentley,
- J.R. Brown,
- L. Buchmann,
- A.A. Chen,
- J. Chen,
- K.A. Chipps,
- A. Choplin,
- J.M. D'Auria,
- B. Davids,
- C. Davis,
- C.Aa. Diget,
- L. Erikson,
- J. Fallis,
- S.P. Fox,
- U. Frischknecht,
- B.R. Fulton,
- N. Galinski,
- U. Greife,
- R. Hirschi,
- D. Howell,
- L. Martin,
- D. Mountford,
- A.St.J. Murphy,
- D. Ottewell,
- M. Pignatari,
- S. Reeve,
- G. Ruprecht,
- S. Sjue,
- L. Veloce,
- M. Williams
Affiliations
- M.P. Taggart
- Department of Physics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
- C. Akers
- Department of Physics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
- A.M. Laird
- Department of Physics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK; UK Network for Bridging the Disciplines of Galactic Chemical Evolution (BRIDGCE), UK; NuGrid Collaboration; Corresponding author at: Department of Physics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK.
- U. Hager
- TRIUMF, Vancouver, V6T 2A3, Canada
- C. Ruiz
- TRIUMF, Vancouver, V6T 2A3, Canada
- D.A. Hutcheon
- TRIUMF, Vancouver, V6T 2A3, Canada
- M.A. Bentley
- Department of Physics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
- J.R. Brown
- Department of Physics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
- L. Buchmann
- TRIUMF, Vancouver, V6T 2A3, Canada
- A.A. Chen
- McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
- J. Chen
- McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
- K.A. Chipps
- Department of Physics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
- A. Choplin
- Geneva Observatory, University of Geneva, Maillettes 51, CH-1290 Sauverny, Switzerland
- J.M. D'Auria
- Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
- B. Davids
- TRIUMF, Vancouver, V6T 2A3, Canada; Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
- C. Davis
- TRIUMF, Vancouver, V6T 2A3, Canada
- C.Aa. Diget
- Department of Physics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
- L. Erikson
- Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA
- J. Fallis
- TRIUMF, Vancouver, V6T 2A3, Canada
- S.P. Fox
- Department of Physics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
- U. Frischknecht
- Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
- B.R. Fulton
- Department of Physics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
- N. Galinski
- TRIUMF, Vancouver, V6T 2A3, Canada
- U. Greife
- Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA
- R. Hirschi
- Astrophysics Group, Lennard-Jones Labs 2.09, Keele University, ST5 5BG, Staffordshire, UK; Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI), University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, 277-8583, Japan; UK Network for Bridging the Disciplines of Galactic Chemical Evolution (BRIDGCE), UK; NuGrid Collaboration
- D. Howell
- TRIUMF, Vancouver, V6T 2A3, Canada
- L. Martin
- TRIUMF, Vancouver, V6T 2A3, Canada
- D. Mountford
- SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FD, UK
- A.St.J. Murphy
- SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FD, UK
- D. Ottewell
- TRIUMF, Vancouver, V6T 2A3, Canada
- M. Pignatari
- University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada; Konkoly Observatory, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Konkoly Thege Miklos ut 15-17, H-1121 Budapest, Hungary; UK Network for Bridging the Disciplines of Galactic Chemical Evolution (BRIDGCE), UK; NuGrid Collaboration
- S. Reeve
- TRIUMF, Vancouver, V6T 2A3, Canada
- G. Ruprecht
- TRIUMF, Vancouver, V6T 2A3, Canada
- S. Sjue
- TRIUMF, Vancouver, V6T 2A3, Canada
- L. Veloce
- TRIUMF, Vancouver, V6T 2A3, Canada
- M. Williams
- Department of Physics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK; TRIUMF, Vancouver, V6T 2A3, Canada
- Journal volume & issue
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Vol. 798
Abstract
During the slow neutron capture process in massive stars, reactions on light elements can both produce and absorb neutrons thereby influencing the final heavy element abundances. At low metallicities, the high neutron capture rate of 16O can inhibit s-process nucleosynthesis unless the neutrons are recycled via the 17O(α,n)20Ne reaction. The efficiency of this neutron recycling is determined by competition between the 17O(α,n)20Ne and 17O(α,γ)21Ne reactions. While some experimental data are available on the former reaction, no data exist for the radiative capture channel at the relevant astrophysical energies.The 17O(α,γ)21Ne reaction has been studied directly using the DRAGON recoil separator at the TRIUMF Laboratory. The reaction cross section has been determined at energies between 0.6 and 1.6 MeV Ecm, reaching into the Gamow window for core helium burning for the first time. Resonance strengths for resonances at 0.63, 0.721, 0.81 and 1.122 MeV Ecm have been extracted. The experimentally based reaction rate calculated represents a lower limit, but suggests that significant s-process nucleosynthesis occurs in low metallicity massive stars.
