Constraint of the Astrophysical $^{26g}\mathrm{Al}(p,\ensuremath{\gamma})^{27}\mathrm{Si}$ Destruction Rate at Stellar Temperatures

Constraint of the Astrophysical ${}^{26 g}{Al} (p, γ) {}^{27}{Si}$ Destruction Rate at Stellar Temperatures

S. D. Pain, D. W. Bardayan, J. C. Blackmon, S. M. Brown, K. Y. Chae, K. A. Chipps, J. A. Cizewski, K. L. Jones, R. L. Kozub, J. F. Liang, C. Matei, M. Matos, B. H. Moazen, C. D. Nesaraja, J. Okołowicz, P. D. O’Malley, W. A. Peters, S. T. Pittman, M. Płoszajczak, K. T. Schmitt, J. F. Shriner, Jr., D. Shapira, M. S. Smith, D. W. Stracener, and G. L. Wilson

Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 212501 – Published 28 May 2015

Abstract

The Galactic 1.809-MeV $γ$ -ray signature from the $β$ decay of ${}^{26 g}{Al}$ is a dominant target of $γ$ -ray astronomy, of which a significant component is understood to originate from massive stars. The ${}^{26 g}{Al} (p, γ) {}^{27}{Si}$ reaction is a major destruction pathway for ${}^{26 g}{Al}$ at stellar temperatures, but the reaction rate is poorly constrained due to uncertainties in the strengths of low-lying resonances in ${}^{27}{Si}$ . The ${}^{26 g}{Al} (d, p) {}^{27}{Al}$ reaction has been employed in inverse kinematics to determine the spectroscopic factors, and hence resonance strengths, of proton resonances in ${}^{27}{Si}$ via mirror symmetry. The strength of the 127-keV resonance is found to be a factor of 4 higher than the previously adopted upper limit, and the upper limit for the 68-keV resonance has been reduced by an order of magnitude, considerably constraining the ${}^{26 g}{Al}$ destruction rate at stellar temperatures.

Received 29 October 2014

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.212501

Authors & Affiliations

S. D. Pain^1,*, D. W. Bardayan^1,2, J. C. Blackmon³, S. M. Brown⁴, K. Y. Chae^5,6, K. A. Chipps⁷, J. A. Cizewski⁷, K. L. Jones⁵, R. L. Kozub⁸, J. F. Liang¹, C. Matei⁹, M. Matos³, B. H. Moazen⁵, C. D. Nesaraja¹, J. Okołowicz¹⁰, P. D. O’Malley⁷, W. A. Peters⁹, S. T. Pittman⁵, M. Płoszajczak¹¹, K. T. Schmitt⁵, J. F. Shriner, Jr.⁸, D. Shapira¹, M. S. Smith¹, D. W. Stracener¹, and G. L. Wilson⁴

¹Physics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
²Department of Physics, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana 46556, USA
³Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA
⁴Department of Physics, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, United Kingdom
⁵Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
⁶Department of Physics, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746, Korea
⁷Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903, USA
⁸Department of Physics, Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, Tennessee 38505, USA
⁹Oak Ridge Associated Universities, Building 6008, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6374, USA
¹⁰Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Radzikowskiego 152, PL-31342 Kraków, Poland
¹¹Grand Accélérateur National d’Ions Lourds (GANIL), CEA/DSMCNRS/IN2P3, Boîte Postale 55027, F-14076 Caen Cedex, France