Eur. Phys. J. A (2019) 55: 4
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2019-12682-9

Letter

s-wave resonances for the ¹⁸F(p,)¹⁵O reaction in novae

¹ School of Physics & Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, EH9 3FD, Edinburgh, UK
² Research Center for Nuclear Physics, Osaka University, 567-0047, Ibaraki, Osaka, Japan
³ Department of Physics, Osaka University, 560-0043, Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan
⁴ Graduate School of Science and Technology, Niigata University, 950-2181, Nishi-ku, Niigata, Japan
⁵ Institut für Kernphysik, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, D-48149, Münster, Germany

^* e-mail: daid.kahl@ed.ac.uk

Received: 14 September 2018
Accepted: 21 December 2018
Published online: 23 January 2019

Abstract

The ¹⁸F(p,) reaction determines the rate of destruction of ¹⁸F in novae. It represents the key nuclear physics uncertainty in modelling the calculated flux of annihilation radiation emitted following the radioactive decay of ¹⁸F. The major uncertainties relate to states representing s-wave resonances in the compound system, ¹⁹Ne. We report a first study of the ¹⁹F(³He, t)¹⁹Ne reaction at intermediate energies and forward angles. This reaction has a simple, model-independent, mechanism that we use here to identify states near the proton threshold energy in ¹⁹Ne corresponding to transitions. In particular, we observe a state at 6.13 MeV which could significantly affect the ¹⁸F(p,) astrophysical S-factor at nova burning temperatures.