Use of Active Target Detectors in Nuclear Astrophysics: Nucleosynthesis of Fluorine and Fusion of Neon

In most astrophysical systems, nuclear reactions occur at very low energies with typical cross sections on the order of fractions of a pico-barn or less. Accelerator facilities designed for low-energy heavy ion experiments can have ion luminosities on the order of 10^5-10^7 particles per second for stable beams. With radioactive beams, this can be as much as two or three orders of magnitude lower. Thick target approaches can suffer from decreased energy resolution. Active target detectors, where the detection medium is also the target, address both issues. In this work, we show the application of two different active target detectors to measure two astrophysically relevant reactions. The radiative capture reaction 15N(a,g)19F, a reaction involved in the nucleosynthesis of fluorine, was determined using the principle of detailed balance and a photodisintegration of fluorine experiment with a single fluid bubble chamber. The system of neon isotope fusions 20,22,24Ne + 20,22Ne, relevant to physics within neutron star crusts, was measured using the Argonne MUSIC detector. The details of each experiment and the analysis of the data will be discussed.

Author dc:creator

• David Gregory Neto (23291704)

• Physics
• Nuclear

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

DOI dc:identifier

https://doi.org/10.25417/uic.31451446.v1

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:figshare.com:article/31451446