Speaker
Description
Summary
An important question in nuclear astrophysics is what is the production site of the
gamma observable isotope, 26Al, in the universe. Proposed sites include core
collapse supernovae, ONe novae, Wolf-Rayet stars and Asymptotic Giant Branch stars.
A large uncertainty in determining the production rate are due in part to the
uncertainties in key nuclear reactions, namely 26g,mAl(p,g)27Si and 25Al(p,g)26Si.
These are part of the production and destruction sequence for 26Al in such
environments. Recently the 26gAl((p,g)27Si reaction was measured directly in inverse
kinematics with an intense 26gAl beam (~5x109/s) and using the DRAGON facility at
ISAC. However, the Al production target released aluminum relatively slowly which
reduced significantly the intensity of the much shorter 25,26mAl isotopes. Given a
relatively intense beam (>10e7 /s) of either isotope at ISOLDE, elastic scattering
and particle transfer reactions could be performed which could be of importance to
determining key parameters of these radiative capture reactions. This project
involves two proposals, namely, the first to perform target R&D studies to obtain an
appropriate, fast releasing aluminum production target, and the second, to initiate
the development and use of appropriate detection systems to perform appropriate
elastic scattering and perhaps transfer reaction studies at REX-ISOLDE with beams of
25,26mAl (as available). This nuclear astrophysics project is of interest to a new
collaboration of scientists. Such developments can also lead to the development of a
neutron rich production target which could be used to study decays of key neutron-
rich isotopes of aluminum.
