First direct limit on the 334 keV resonance strength in Ne(,)Mg reaction

D. Piatti; E. Masha; M. Aliotta; J. Balibrea-Correa; F. Barile; D. Bemmerer; A. Best; A. Boeltzig; C. Broggini; C. G. Bruno; A. Caciolli; F. Cavanna; T. Chillery; G. F. Ciani; A. Compagnucci; P. Corvisiero; L. Csedreki; T. Davinson; R. Depalo; A. di Leva; Z. Elekes; F. Ferraro; E. M. Fiore; A. Formicola; Zs. Fülöp; G. Gervino; A. Guglielmetti; C. Gustavino; Gy. Gyürky; G. Imbriani; M. Junker; M. Lugaro; P. Marigo; R. Menegazzo; V. Mossa; F. R. Pantaleo; V. Paticchio; R. Perrino; P. Prati; D. Rapagnani; L. Schiavulli; J. Skowronski; K. Stöckel; O. Straniero; T. Szücs; M. P. Takács; S. Zavatarelli

doi:10.1140/epja/s10050-022-00827-2

2021 Impact factor 3.131

Hadrons and Nuclei

Open Access

Eur. Phys. J. A (2022) 58: 194
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-022-00827-2

Regular Article - Experimental Physics

First direct limit on the 334 keV resonance strength in Ne(,)Mg reaction

D. Piatti¹^,2^,3, E. Masha⁴^,5, M. Aliotta⁶, J. Balibrea-Correa⁷, F. Barile¹⁴^,15, D. Bemmerer³^f, A. Best⁷^,8, A. Boeltzig⁹^,10, C. Broggini¹, C. G. Bruno⁶, A. Caciolli¹^,2, F. Cavanna¹¹, T. Chillery⁶, G. F. Ciani⁹^,10, A. Compagnucci¹^,2, P. Corvisiero¹²^,13, L. Csedreki⁹^,10^,16, T. Davinson⁶, R. Depalo¹^,2, A. di Leva⁷^,8, Z. Elekes¹⁶, F. Ferraro¹²^,13, E. M. Fiore¹⁴^,15, A. Formicola⁹^,10, Zs. Fülöp¹⁶, G. Gervino¹¹^,17, A. Guglielmetti⁴^,5, C. Gustavino¹⁸, Gy. Gyürky¹⁶, G. Imbriani⁷^,8, M. Junker⁹^,10, M. Lugaro¹⁹^,20, P. Marigo¹^,2, R. Menegazzo¹, V. Mossa¹⁴^,15, F. R. Pantaleo¹⁴^,15, V. Paticchio¹⁵, R. Perrino¹⁵, P. Prati¹²^,13, D. Rapagnani⁷, L. Schiavulli¹⁴^,15, J. Skowronski¹^,2, K. Stöckel³^,21, O. Straniero⁹^,22, T. Szücs³, M. P. Takács³^,21^,23 and S. Zavatarelli¹³

¹ INFN, Sezione di Padova, Via F. Marzolo 8, 35131, Padova, Italy
² Università degli Studi di Padova, Via F. Marzolo 8, 35131, Padova, Italy
³ Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Bautzner Landstraße 400, 01328, Dresden, Germany
⁴ Università degli Studi di Milano, Via G. Celoria 16, 20133, Milan, Italy
⁵ INFN, Sezione di Milano, Via G. Celoria 16, 20133, Milan, Italy
⁶ SUPA, Scottish Universities Physics Alliance, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, EH9 3FD, Edinburgh, UK
⁷ Dipartimento di Fisica “E. Pancini”, Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”, Via Cintia, 80126, Naples, Italy
⁸ INFN, Sezione di Napoli, Via Cintia, 80126, Naples, Italy
⁹ Gran Sasso Science Institute, 67100, L’Aquila, Italy
¹⁰ INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS), 67100, Assergi, AQ, Italy
¹¹ INFN, Sezione di Torino, Via P. Giuria 1, 10125, Tourin, Italy
¹² Università degli Studi di Genova, Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146, Genom, Italy
¹³ Sezione di Genova, Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Via Dodecaneso 33, 16146, Genom, Italy
¹⁴ Università degli Studi di Bari, 70125, Bari, Italy
¹⁵ INFN, Sezione di Bari, 70125, Bari, Italy
¹⁶ Institute for Nuclear Research (ATOMKI), PO Box 51, 4001, Debrecen, Hungary
¹⁷ Università degli Studi di Torino, Via P. Giuria 1, 10125, Torino, Italy
¹⁸ INFN, Sezione di Roma, Piazzale A. Moro 2, 00185, Roma, Italy
¹⁹ Konkoly Observatory, Research Centre for Astronomy and Earth Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1121, Budapest, Hungary
²⁰ Institute of Physics, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/A, 1117, Budapest, Hungary
²¹ Institut für Kern- und Teilchenphysik, Technische Universität Dresden, Zellescher Weg 19, 01069, Dresden, Germany
²² INAF-Osservatorio Astronomico d’Abruzzo, Via Mentore Maggini, 64100, Teramo, Italy
²³ Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Bundesallee 100, 38116, Braunschweig, Germany

^f d.bemmerer@hzdr.de

Received: 20 May 2022
Accepted: 4 September 2022
Published online: 7 October 2022

Abstract

In stars, the fusion of Ne and He may produce either Mg, with the emission of a neutron, or Mg and a ray. At high temperature, the () channel dominates, while at low temperature, it is energetically hampered. The rate of its competitor, the Ne(,)Mg reaction, and, hence, the minimum temperature for the () dominance, are controlled by many nuclear resonances. The strengths of these resonances have hitherto been studied only indirectly. The present work aims to directly measure the total strength of the resonance at = 334 keV (corresponding to = 10949 keV in Mg). The data reported here have been obtained using high intensity He beam from the INFN LUNA 400 kV underground accelerator, a windowless, recirculating, 99.9% isotopically enriched Ne gas target, and a 4 bismuth germanate summing -ray detector. The ultra-low background rate of less than 0.5 counts/day was determined using 63 days of no-beam data and 7 days of He beam on an inert argon target. The new high-sensitivity setup allowed to determine the first direct upper limit of 4.010 eV (at 90% confidence level) for the resonance strength. Finally, the sensitivity of this setup paves the way to study further Ne(,)Mg resonances at higher energy.

© The Author(s) 2022

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