Speaker
Description
Some of the largest nuclear physics uncertainties in p-process nucleosynthesis stem from the $\alpha$-optical model potential ($\alpha$-OMP). Especially, at high masses the available $\alpha$-OMPs often fail to accurately reproduce experimental results [1]. If the $\alpha$-emission probability in a photodisintegration reaction is comparable to the emission probabilities for other particles, uncertainties related to the $\alpha$-OMP can significantly alter the p-process path, leading to large uncertainties in the calculated abundances [2]. This is the case for the $^{168}$Hf nucleus and sensitivity studies have shown, that the $^{168}$Hf($\gamma, \alpha$)$^{164}$Yb reaction is a key reaction in the production of the $^{168}$Yb p-nucleus and is very sensitive to the $\alpha$-OMP [3]. A stacked-target activation experiment was performed to measure the $^{170,172}$Yb($\alpha, 𝑛$) reactions at the Cologne Clover Counting setup. By combining the results with a previous measurement of $^{168}$Yb($\alpha, 𝑛$) cross sections, the $\alpha$-OMPs evolution with the proton-to-neutron ratio was investigated [4]. The resulting constrains on the $\alpha$-OMP can then be used to improve the extrapolation to $^{164}$Yb.
Supported by the DFG (ZI 510/8-2).
[1] P. Mohr et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 124 (2020) 252701.
[2] W. Rapp et al., Astrophys. J. 653 (2006) 474.
[3] T. Rauscher et al., Mon. Not. R. Astron Soc. 463 (2016) 4153.
[4] M. Müller et al., Phys. Rev. C 107 (2023) 035804.
| Length of presentation requested | Oral presentation: 17 min + 3 min questions |
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| Please select a keyword related to your abstract | Nuclear Theory and Experiments |
