Astrophysics with Radioactive Isotopes

Spectroscopy of 48Cr by the 50Cr(p,t)48Cr reaction

Not scheduled

20m

Oral Presentation

Speaker

Philip Adsley (Texas A&M University)

Description

The radioactive nucleus ${}^{44}$Ti is thought to be produced in Core-Collapse Supernovae (CCSNe) with the amount produced being sensitive to internal dynamics of the explosion. As such, ${}^{44}$Ti is a potential diagnostic tool for understanding the behaviour of these stellar explosions.

The amount of ${}^{44}$Ti produced depends not only on the production reactions but also on the destruction reactions, most notably the ${}^{44}$Ti($\alpha ,p$)${}^{47}$V reaction which proceeds through states in the compound nucleus ${}^{48}$Cr. This reaction is usually treated through statistical models (see, for example, the recent study by Chipps and collaborators Phys. Rev. C 102, 035806) but it is not clear that this is valid given the limitations of the levels which can be populated in ${}^{44}$Ti$+\alpha$ fusion (natural parity, isoscalar) and the influence of $\alpha$-particle clustering behaviour on other $\alpha$-particle induced reactions.

Spectroscopy in the Gamow Window of the ${}^{44}$Ti($\alpha ,p$)${}^{47}$V reaction has been performed using the ${}^{50}$Cr($p,t$)${}^{48}$Cr reaction with the K600 magnetic spectrometer at iThemba LABS in South Africa. A number of excited states have been observed, many for the first time, giving insights into the validity of statistical models for the ${}^{44}$Ti($\alpha ,p$)$^{47}V reaction.