Impact of ${}^{16}$O($e,e^{\prime }\alpha$)${}^{12}$C measurements on the ${}^{12}$C($\alpha ,\gamma$)${}^{16}$O astrophysical reaction rate

Abstract

The ${}^{12}$C($\alpha ,\gamma$)${}^{16}$O reaction, an important component of stellar helium burning, has a key role in nuclear astrophysics. It has direct impact on the evolution and final state of massive stars and also influences the elemental abundances resulting from nucleosynthesis in such stars. Providing a reliable estimate for the energy dependence of this reaction at stellar helium burning temperatures has been a longstanding and important goal. In this work, we study the role of potential new measurements of the reaction, ${}^{16}$O($e,e^{\prime }\alpha$)${}^{12}$C reaction, in reducing the overall uncertainty. A multilevel $R$-matrix analysis is used to make extrapolations of the astrophysical S factor for the ${}^{12}$C($\alpha ,\gamma$)${}^{16}$O reaction to the stellar energy of 300 keV. The statistical precision of the $S$-factor extrapolation is determined by performing multiple fits to existing $E1$ and $E2$ ground state capture data, including the impact of possible future measurements of the ${}^{16}$O($e,e^{\prime }\alpha$)${}^{12}$C reaction. In particular, we consider a proposed MIT experiment that would make use of a high-intensity low-energy electron beam that impinges on a windowless oxygen gas target as a means to determine the total $E1$ and $E2$ cross sections for this reaction.

References in corpus (8)

• The 12C(a,g)16O reaction and its implications for stellar helium burning
• LUNA: a Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics
• Precise Determination of Charge Dependent Pion-Nucleon-Nucleon Coupling Constants
• Bubble Chambers for Experiments in Nuclear Astrophysics
• Astrophysical $S_{E2}$ factor of the ${}^{12}\mathrm{C}(\alpha ,\gamma ){}^{16}\mathrm{O}$ reaction through the ${}^{12}\mathrm{C}({}^{11}\mathrm{B},{}^7\mathrm{Li}){}^{16}\mathrm{O}$ transfer reaction
• First determination of an astrophysical cross section with a bubble chamber: the 15N(α,γ)19F reaction
• Impact of ${}^{16}$O($\gamma$,$\alpha$)${}^{12}$C measurements on the ${}^{12}$C($\alpha ,\gamma$)${}^{16}$O astrophysical reaction rate
• First Accurate Normalization of the $\beta$-delayed $\alpha$ Decay of ${}^{16}$N and Implications for the ${}^{12}$C$(\alpha ,\gamma {)}^{16}$O Astrophysical Reaction Rate

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Expanding Nuclear Physics Horizons with the Gamma Factory
• Operation and characterization of a windowless gas jet target in high-intensity electron beams
• The Status and Future of Direct Nuclear Reaction Measurements for Stellar Burning