The ${}^{15}$O($\alpha$,$\gamma$)${}^{19}$Ne Breakout Reaction and Impact on X-Ray Bursts

Abstract

The breakout reaction ${}^{15}$O($\alpha ,\gamma$)${}^{19}$Ne, which regulates the flow between the hot CNO cycle and the rp-process, is critical for the explanation of the burst amplitude and periodicity of X-ray bursters. We report on the first successful measurement of the critical $\alpha$-decay branching ratios of relevant states in ${}^{19}$Ne populated via ${}^{19}$F(${}^3$He,t)${}^{19}$Ne. Based on the experimental results and our previous lifetime measurements of these states, we derive the first experimental rate of ${}^{15}$O($\alpha ,\gamma$)${}^{19}$Ne. The impact of our experimental results on the burst pattern and periodicity for a range of accretion rates is analyzed.

arXiv comment4 pages with 5 figures

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Cited by in corpus (15)

• Charged-Particle Thermonuclear Reaction Rates: II. Tables and Graphs of Reaction Rates and Probability Density Functions
• The Effects of Variations in Nuclear Processes on Type I X-Ray Burst Nucleosynthesis
• Nucleosynthesis in Type I X-ray Bursts
• Hydrodynamic Models of Type I X-Ray Bursts: Metallicity Effects
• Nuclear Physics of the Outer Layers of Accreting Neutron Stars
• New measurement of ${}^{12}$C+${}^{12}$C fusion reaction at astrophysical energies
• The Impact of Uncertainties in Reaction Q-values on Nucleosynthesis in Type I X-Ray Bursts
• Consistent Modeling of GS 1826-24 X-ray Bursts for Multiple Accretion Rates Demonstrates the Possibility to Constrain rp-process Reaction Rates
• Reaction Rate and Composition Dependence of the Stability of Thermonuclear Burning on Accreting Neutron Stars
• The Influence of Uncertainties in the 15O(alpha,gamma)19Ne Reaction Rate on Models of Type I X-Ray Bursts
• Lifetimes of states in 19Ne above the 15 O + alpha breakup threshold
• On the dependence of X-ray burst rate on accretion and spin rate
• Spectroscopy of ${}^{19}$Ne for the thermonuclear ${}^{15}$O($\alpha ,\gamma$)${}^{19}$Ne and ${}^{18}$F($p,\alpha$)${}^{15}$O reaction rates
• Doppler Broadening in ${}^{20}$Mg($\beta p\gamma$)${}^{19}$Ne Decay
• New $\gamma$-ray Transitions Observed in ${}^{19}$Ne with Implications for the ${}^{15}$O($\alpha$,$\gamma$)${}^{19}$Ne Reaction Rate