High-resolution study of levels in the astrophysically important nucleus Mg-26 and resulting updated level assignments

Adsley, P.; Brummer, J. W.; Faestermann, T.; Fox, S. P.; Hammache, F.; Hertenberger, R.; Meyer, A.; Neveling, R.; Seiler, D.; Sereville, N. de und Wirth, H. -F. (2018): High-resolution study of levels in the astrophysically important nucleus Mg-26 and resulting updated level assignments. In: Physical Review C, Bd. 97, Nr. 4, 45807

Abstract

Background: The Ne-22(alpha, n)Mg-25 reaction is an important source of neutrons for the s-process. Direct measurement of this reaction and the competing Ne-22(alpha,gamma)Mg-26 reaction are challenging due to the gaseous nature of both reactants, the low cross section and the experimental challenges of detecting neutrons and high-energy gamma rays. Detailed knowledge of the resonance properties enables the rates to be constrained for s-process models. Purpose: Previous experimental studies have demonstrated a lack of agreement in both the number and excitation energy of levels in Mg-26. To try to resolve the disagreement between different experiments, proton and deuteron inelastic scattering from Mg-26 have been used to identify excited states. Method: Proton and deuteron beams from the tandem accelerator at theMaier-Leibnitz Laboratorium at Garching, Munich, were incident upon enriched (MgO)-Mg-26 targets. Scattered particles were momentum-analyzed in the Q3D magnetic spectrograph and detected at the focal plane. Results: Reassignments of states around E-x = 10.8-10.83 MeV in Mg-26 suggested in previous works have been confirmed. In addition, new states in Mg-26 have been observed, two below and two above the neutron threshold. Up to six additional states above the neutron threshold may have been observed compared to experimental studies of neutron reactions on Mg-25, but some or all of these states may be due to Mg-24 contamination in the target. Finally, inconsistencies between measured resonance strengths and some previously accepted J(pi) assignments of excited Mg-26 states have been noted. Conclusion: There are still a large number of nuclear properties in Mg-26 that have yet to be determined and levels that are, at present, not included in calculations of the reaction rates. In addition, some inconsistencies between existing nuclear data exist that must be resolved in order for the reaction rates to be properly calculated.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Physik
• Themengebiete: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 530 Physik
• ISSN: 2469-9985
• Sprache: Englisch