Single neutron transfer on 23Ne and its relevance for the pathway of nucleosynthesis in astrophysical X-ray bursts

G. Lotay*, J. Henderson, W.N. Catford, F.A. Ali, J. Berean, N. Bernier, S.S. Bhattacharjee, M. Bowry, R. Caballero-Folch, B. Davids, T.E. Drake, A.B. Garnsworthy, F. Ghazi Moradi, S. A. Gillespie, B. Greaves, G. Hackman, S. Hallam, D. Hymers, E. Kasanda, D. LevyB.K. Luna, A. Mathews, Z. Meisel, M. Moukaddam, D. Muecher, B. Olaizola, N.A. Orr, H.P. Patel, M.M. Rajabali, Y. Saito, J. Smallcombe, M. Spencer, C.E. Svensson, K. Whitmore, M. Williams

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

We present new experimental measurements of resonance strengths in the astrophysical 23Al(p,γ)24Si reaction, constraining the pathway of nucleosynthesis beyond 22Mg in X-ray burster scenarios. Specifically, we have performed the first measurement of the (d,p) reaction using a radioactive beam of 23Ne to explore levels in 24Ne, the mirror analog of 24Si. Four strong single-particle states were observed and corresponding neutron spectroscopic factors were extracted with a precision of ∼20%. Using these spectroscopic factors, together with mirror state identifications, we have reduced uncertainties in the strength of the key ℓ = 0 resonance at Er = 157 keV, in the astrophysical 23Al(p,γ) reaction, by a factor of 4. Our results show that the 22Mg(p,γ)23Al(p,γ) pathway dominates over the competing 22Mg(α,p) reaction in all but the most energetic X-ray burster events (T > 0.85 GK), significantly affecting energy production and the preservation of hydrogen fuel.
Original languageEnglish
Article number137361
Number of pages5
JournalPhysics Letters B
Volume833
Early online date2 Aug 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Oct 2022
Externally publishedYes

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