Xiaodong Tang
Physics Division
A New Measurement of the E1 Component of the 12C(&alpha,&gamma)16O Reaction
The radiative capture reaction
12C(&alpha,&gamma)16O is an important process in
nuclear astrophysics. Since the cross sections at helium burning
temperatures are extremely small (~10-17 barn), indirect
techniques have to be used to determine its astrophysical reaction
rate. The E1 component of this rate is best determined through a
measurement of the beta-delayed alpha decay of 16N. For a
measurement of this decay we have built a system of high-acceptance
gas-ionization detectors, which are insensitive to beta particles that
limited earlier measurements. Beam impurities that affected one of the
earlier experiments were eliminated through the choice of the
N production technique. New results from this experiment
and comparisons with earlier data will be presented. This work was
supported by the US Department of Energy, Nuclear Physics Division,
under contract No. W-31-109-ENG and by the NSF Grant No. PHY-02-16783
(Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics).
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