Properties of resonant states in 18Ne relevant to key 14O(alpha,p)17F breakout reaction in type I x-ray bursts
nucl-ex
/ Authors
J. Hu, J. J. He, A. Parikh, S. W. Xu, H. Yamaguchi, D. Kahl, P. Ma, J. Su, H. W. Wang, T. Nakao
and 10 more authors
Y. Wakabayashi, T. Teranishi, K. I. Hahn, J. Y. Moon, H. S. Sung, T. Hashimoto, A. A. Chen, D. Irvine, C. S. Lee, S. Kubono
/ Abstract
The $^{14}$O($α$,$p$)$^{17}$F reaction is one of the key reactions involved in the breakout from the hot-CNO cycle to the rp-process in type I x-ray bursts. The resonant properties in the compound nucleus $^{18}$Ne have been investigated through resonant elastic scattering of $^{17}$F+$p$. The radioactive $^{17}$F beam was separated by the CNS Radioactive Ion Beam separator (CRIB) and bombarded a thick H$_2$ gas target at 3.6 MeV/nucleon. The recoiling light particles were measured by using three $Δ$E-E silicon telescopes at laboratory angles of $θ$$_{lab}$$\approx$3$^\circ$, 10$^\circ$ and 18$^\circ$, respectively. Five resonances at $E_{x}$=6.15, 6.28, 6.35, 6.85, and 7.05 MeV were observed in the excitation functions. Based on an $R$-matrix analysis, $J^π$=1$^-$ was firmly assigned to the 6.15-MeV state. This state dominates the thermonuclear $^{14}$O($α$,$p$)$^{17}$F rate below 1 GK. We have also confirmed the existence and spin-parities of three states between 6.1 and 6.4 MeV. As well, a possible new excited state in $^{18}$Ne was observed at $E_{x}$=6.85$\pm$0.11 MeV and tentatively assigned as $J$=0. This state could be the analog state of the 6.880 MeV (0$^{-}$) level in the mirror nucleus $^{18}$O, or a bandhead state (0$^+$) of the six-particle four-hole (6$p$-4$h$) band. A new thermonuclear rate of the $^{14}$O($α$,$p$)$^{17}$F reaction has been determined, and its astrophysical impact has been examined within the framework of one-zone x-ray burst postprocessing calculations.