Key Ne 19 States Identified Affecting γ-Ray Emission from F 18 in Novae

Authors

M. R. Hall, University of Notre Dame
D. W. Bardayan, University of Notre Dame
T. Baugher, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
A. Lepailleur, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
S. D. Pain, ORNL Physics Division
A. Ratkiewicz, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
S. Ahn, Michigan State University
J. M. Allen, University of Notre Dame
J. T. Anderson, Argonne National Laboratory
A. D. Ayangeakaa, Argonne National Laboratory
J. C. Blackmon, Louisiana State University
S. Burcher, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
M. P. Carpenter, Argonne National Laboratory
S. M. Cha, Sungkyunkwan University
K. Y. Chae, Sungkyunkwan University
K. A. Chipps, ORNL Physics Division
J. A. Cizewski, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
M. Febbraro, ORNL Physics Division
O. Hall, University of Notre Dame
J. Hu, University of Notre Dame
C. L. Jiang, Argonne National Laboratory
K. L. Jones, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
E. J. Lee, Sungkyunkwan University
P. D. O'Malley, University of Notre Dame
S. Ota, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
B. C. Rasco, Louisiana State University
D. Santiago-Gonzalez, Louisiana State University
D. Seweryniak, Argonne National Laboratory
H. Sims, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
K. Smith, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
W. P. Tan, University of Notre Dame
P. Thompson, ORNL Physics Division
C. Thornsberry, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2-7-2019

Abstract

Detection of nuclear-decay γ rays provides a sensitive thermometer of nova nucleosynthesis. The most intense γ-ray flux is thought to be annihilation radiation from the β+ decay of F18, which is destroyed prior to decay by the F18(p,α)O15 reaction. Estimates of F18 production had been uncertain, however, because key near-threshold levels in the compound nucleus, Ne19, had yet to be identified. We report the first measurement of the F19(He3,tγ)Ne19 reaction, in which the placement of two long-sought 3/2+ levels is suggested via triton-γ-γ coincidences. The precise determination of their resonance energies reduces the upper limit of the rate by a factor of 1.5-17 at nova temperatures and reduces the average uncertainty on the nova detection probability by a factor of 2.1.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Physical Review Letters

Recommended Citation

Hall, M., Bardayan, D., Baugher, T., Lepailleur, A., Pain, S., Ratkiewicz, A., Ahn, S., Allen, J., Anderson, J., Ayangeakaa, A., Blackmon, J., Burcher, S., Carpenter, M., Cha, S., Chae, K., Chipps, K., Cizewski, J., Febbraro, M., Hall, O., Hu, J., Jiang, C., Jones, K., Lee, E., O'Malley, P., Ota, S., Rasco, B., Santiago-Gonzalez, D., Seweryniak, D., Sims, H., Smith, K., Tan, W., Thompson, P., & Thornsberry, C. (2019). Key Ne 19 States Identified Affecting γ-Ray Emission from F 18 in Novae. Physical Review Letters, 122 (5) https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.052701