The15N(p,α 0)12C reaction at stellar energies

The¹⁵N(ρ, α₀)¹²C reaction has been investigated in the energy range ofE _p (lab)=78-810keV. The measurement of the excitation functions and α-particle angular distributions involved solid targets as well as a quasi-point supersonic jet gas target. The determination of absolute cross sections has been carried out with the gas target. The observed energy dependence of the total cross sections can be described in terms of two-level Breit-Wigner shapes including the resonances atE _p (J ^π)=335(1^?) and 1,028(1^?)keV. The data lead to a zero-energy intercept of the astrophysicalS(E) factor ofS(0)= 65±4MeV-b. The angular distributions are asymmetric around 90° and require an additional amplitude in the reaction mechanism, which interferes predominantly with the 335 keV resonance. The origin of this background amplitude is discussed.     

The12C+12C reaction at subcoulomb energies (II)

The reaction¹²C+¹²C has been studied in the energy range E_c.m.=2.8–6.3 MeV by charged-particle spectroscopy. Angular distributions of the proton and α-particle exit channels were obtained. The excitation functions do not reveal evidence for the phenomenon of absorption under the barrier. The data have been extrapolated to the energy region of astrophysical interest. The existence of reported and new intermediate resonance structures is discussed.     

The12C+12C reaction at subcoulomb energies (I)

The reaction¹²C+¹²C has been studied in the energy rangeE _cm=2.45–6.15 MeV byγ-ray spectroscopy. Gamma-ray transitions from a large number of excited states in²⁰Ne,²³Na and²³Mg were observed, which show strong and rapid yield variations. When the influence of the Coulomb barrier is removed, these structures appear superimposed on a flat reaction yield, which does not show a strong increase at low energies, in contrast to previous work. These results obviate the need for the hypothesis of absorption under the barrier at least down toE _cm=2.45 MeV. The nuclear and astrophysical aspects of the data are discussed.     

Unexpected interference patterns observed in the 12C(14N, 13N)13C reaction at energies close to the Coulomb barrier

The reaction ¹²C(¹⁴N, ¹³N)¹³C has been measured at 28, 32, 34 and 36 MeV beam energies. The energy dependence of the measured interference pattern cannot be reproduced by DWBA calculations which take account of the interference between proton and neutron transfer. A rather strong asymmetry of the angular distributions about θ_c.m. = 90° has been observed.     

The 13N(p, γ)14O reaction at stellar energies

We present a microscopically-founded potential model for the ${}^{13}\text{N(p}\text{, γ)}{}^{14}\text{O}$ reaction at energies of astrophysical interest. The model is shown to reproduce the ${}^{13}\text{C(p}\text{, γ)}{}^{14}\text{O}$cross section very well. The ${}^{13}\text{N(p}\text{, γ)}{}^{14}\text{O}$ reaction is dominated by the first excited J = 1^? resonance in ¹⁴O. For this resonance we find a proton width of Γ_c.m. = 40.1 keV and a photon width of Γ_γ = 1.50 eV.     

Sequential processes in the14N(τ,pα)12C* reaction

α-particle and proton spectra in coincidence with the 4.44 MeVγ-ray from the¹²C first excited state have been taken atE _τ MeV. Several states in¹³N and¹⁶O are seen to contribute to the decay sequenceα?p andp?α respectively. Estimates are given for the branching of these two decay modes and for a possible simultaneous break-up.     

The4He(12C, γ)16O reaction at stellar energies

The capture reaction⁴He(¹²C, γ)¹⁶O (E _c.m.= 1.34–3.38 MeV) as well as the elastic scattering process⁴He(¹²C,¹²C)⁴He (E _c.m.=1.44–3.38 MeV) have been investigated with the use of an intense¹²C beam and a windowless and⁴He recirculating gas target system. The measurements involved two large NaI(T1) crystals in close geometry to an extended gas target, whereby angle-integrated γ-ray yields were obtained. A large area plastic detector was used for the suppression of time-independent background. A search for cascade γ-ray transitions was carried out by coincidence techniques. The measurement of absolute cross sections is also reported. Theoretical fits of the excitation function for the groundstate γ-ray transition requireE1 as well asE2 capture amplitudes, which are of equal importance at stellar energies. This result increases significantly the stellar burning rate of⁴He(¹²C, γ)¹⁶O and leads to¹⁶O as the dominant product at the end of helium burning in massive stars. The observed capture yield to the 6.92 MeV state is dominated by the direct capture mechanism and plays a small role at stellar energies.     

15C-15F Charge symmetry and the 14C(n,gamma)15C reaction puzzle

The low-energy reaction 14C(n,gamma)15C provides a rare opportunity to test indirect methods for the determination of neutron capture cross sections by radioactive isotopes versus direct measurements. It is also important for various astrophysical scenarios. Currently, puzzling disagreements exist between the 14C(n,gamma)15C cross sections measured directly, determined indirectly, and calculated theoretically. To solve this puzzle, we offer a strong test based on a novel idea that the amplitudes for the virtual 15C-->14C + n and the real 15F -->14O + p decays are related. Our study of this relation, performed in a microscopic model, shows that existing direct and some indirect measurements strongly contradict charge symmetry in the 15C and 15F mirror pair. This brings into question the experimental determinations of the astrophysically important (n,gamma) cross sections for short-lived radioactive targets.     

Total reaction cross section for 12C + 16O below the Coulomb barrier

The energy dependence of the total reaction cross section, σ(E), for ¹²C + ¹⁶O has been measured over the range E_c.m. = 4–12 MeV, by detecting γ-rays from the various possible residual nuclei with two large NaI(Tl) detectors placed close to the target. This technique for measuring total reaction cross sections was explored in some detail and shown to yield reliable values for σ(E). Although the principal emphasis of this work was placed on obtaining reliable cross sections, a preliminary study has been made of the suitability of various methods for extrapolating the cross section to still lower energies. The statistical model provides a good fit with a reasonable value for the strength function, 〈γ²〉/〈D〉 = 6.8 × 10^?2, over the range E_c.m. = 6.5–12 MeV, but predicts cross sections which are much too large for E_c.m. < 6.5 MeV. Optical model fits at low energies are especially sensitive to the radius and diffuseness of the imaginary component of the potential and, since these are still poorly known at present, such extrapolations may be wrong by orders of magnitude. A simple barrier penetration model gives a moderately good fit to the data and seems to provide the safest extrapolation to lower energies at the present time. It is clear, however, that our knowledge of the heavy-ion reaction mechanism at low energies is incomplete, and that cross-section measurements at still lower energies are needed to establish the correct procedure for extrapolating heavy-ion reaction cross sections to low energies.     

Polarization of protons in C12(d,p)C13 reaction

The angular distributions of the polarization of protons from C¹²(d,p)C¹³(g.s) reaction were measured at 200 keV intervals for deuteron energies from 1.40 to 2.40 MeV. Elastic scattering on C¹² at 45 ° (lab) was used to analyze the polarization. Positive sign of the polarization corresponds to the vector productK _d ×K _p . The maximum polarization observed is about 30%. The results are not similar to those obtained from the mirror reaction C¹²(d,n)N¹³ in the same deuteron energy range.     

IWB analysis of scattering and fusion cross sections for the 12C+12C, 13C+16O and 16O+16O reactions for energies near and below the Coulomb barrier

Calculations are presented of the elastic scattering and fusion cross sections for the astrophysically interesting reactions ¹²C+¹²C, ¹²C+¹⁶O and ¹⁶O+¹⁶O. The calculations are performed using the incoming wave boundary condition (IWB) and a real ion-ion interaction potential. The results are compared with the available experimental data for the energy region near and below the Coulomb barrier. With values of two adjustable potential parameters (the radial position of the l = 0 barrier and the diffuseness) determined by fitting elastic scattering data, good agreement is obtained for the average energy dependence of the ¹²C+¹²C and ¹²C+¹⁶O fusion cross sections. In the case of ¹⁶O+¹⁶O, both the calculated absolute magnitude and the energy dependence of the fusion cross section are inconsistent with the data and this discrepancy is discussed.     

Polarisation effects in the 12C(3He,pp) reaction at 33MeV

Differential cross sections and analysing powers were measured for the ¹²C(³He, pp)¹³C reaction induced by a 33 MeV polarised ³He beam at many combinations of detection angles of the coincident protons in both coplanar and out-of-plane configurations. Data characterised by low relative proton energies were successfully described by the sequential breakup model while at higher relative energies other reaction mechanisms become important.     

Selectivity of the 12C(18O, 16O)14C reaction

A study about the ¹²C(¹⁸O, ¹⁶O)¹⁴C two-neutron transfer reaction was performed at the Catania INFN-LNS laboratory at 84 MeV incident energy. The ¹⁶O ejectiles produced in the reactions were momentum analyzed and identified by the MAGNEX spectrometer. The Q-value spectrum of ¹⁴C shows several known bound and resonant states, in particular states with 2p-4h configuration respect to the ¹⁶O core. The integrated cross sections show an enhanced yield for the two-neutron transfer compared to the one-neutron transfer. These results are some experimental evidences that the (¹⁸O, ¹⁶O) reaction proceeds mainly by the direct transfer of the neutron pair, instead of a second order process.     

The 18O(p, α)15N reaction at stellar energies

The ¹⁸O(p, α)¹⁵N reaction has been investigated in the energy range E_p = 72–935 keV. The three known resonances above E_p = 620 keV have been confirmed and four new resonances have been found below E_p = 340 keV. All observed resonances correspond to known compound states in ¹⁹F. Information on resonance energies, total widths and ωγ values is reported. The low-energy resonances are superimposed on a non-resonant reaction yield, which varies smoothly with beam energy and which exhibits pronounced α-particle angular distributions asymmetric around 90°. The explanation of these data requires either interferring amplitudes of broad resonances with differing parities or a direct (p, α) reaction mechanism. The investigated energy range corresponds to the important temperature range of T = (0.05–2.5) × 10⁹ K. The energy averaged astrophysical reaction rates are compared with predictions.     

14N fusion with 13C and 16O at sub-barrier energies

Total fusion cross sections for the ¹⁴N+¹²C and ¹⁴N+¹⁶O reactions have been measured in the c.m. energy ranges 3.6–9.2 MeV and 5.6–12.6 MeV, respectively. Cross sections are also reported for important individual exit channels which were studied by observing discrete γ-ray transitions in the evaporation residues with a Ge(Li) detector. Excitation functions reveal no evidence of intermediate structure in these reactions. The fusion cross sections for ¹⁴N induced reactions on ¹²C, ¹⁴N and ¹⁶O are compared with an IWB calculation using recently published semi-empirical parameters for the real ion-ion interaction potential. Such a comparison supports the view that low-energy fusion studies may be sensitive probes of the nuclear potential in the interior of the interaction barrier.     

The ANC of O subthreshold states from C(Li, d) reaction at energies near the barrier

The ANC of the ²⁺ (6.92 MeV) and ¹⁻ (7.12 MeV) subthreshold states of ¹⁶O have been extracted from the normalization of ¹²C(⁶Li, d) angular distribution to a Finite Range Distorted Wave Born Approximation (FRDWBA) calculation. The theoretical analysis indicates a peripheral reaction and the extracted ANCs are not sensitive to the number of nodes in the bound state potential. The uncertainty from the entrance channel potential is minimized to 8% for the 6.92 and 11% for the 7.12 MeV state if the normalization is performed at the grazing angle. The uncertainty from the exit channel potential at the grazing angle is found to be 10% and 12% respectively for the 7.12 and 6.92 MeV states.