The fluorine destruction in stars: First experimental study of the {sup 19}F(p,{alpha}){sup 16}O reaction at astrophysical energies

Journal Article · Mon Nov 12 04:00:00 EST 2012 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4763456· OSTI ID:22075792

La Cognata, M; Mukhamedzhanov, A; Spitaleri, C; Indelicato, I; Aliotta, M; Burjan, V; Cherubini, S; Coc, A; Gulino, M; Hons, Z; Kiss, G G; Kroha, V; Lamia, L; Mrazek, J; Palmerini, S; Piskor, S; Pizzone, R G; Puglia, S M. R.; Rapisarda, G G; Romano, S ^[1] ; others, and

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1. INFN-LNS, Catania (Italy)

The {sup 19}F(p,{alpha}){sup 16}O reaction is an important fluorine destruction channel in the proton-rich outer layers of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars and it might also play a role in hydrogendeficient post-AGB star nucleosynthesis. So far, available direct measurements do not reach the energy region of astrophysical interest (E{sub cm}{approx} 300 keV), because of the hindrance effect of the Coulomb barrier. The Trojan Horse (TH) method was thus used to access this energy region, by extracting the quasi-free contribution to the {sup 2}H({sup 19}F,{alpha}{sup 16}O)n reaction. The TH measurement of the {alpha}{sub 0} channel, which is the dominant one at such energies, shows the presence of resonant structures not observed before that cause an increase of the reaction rate at astrophysical temperatures up to a factor of 1.7, with potential important consequences for stellar nucleosynthesis.

• OSTI ID: 22075792
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 1484; ISSN APCPCS; ISSN 0094-243X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS
ASYMPTOTIC SOLUTIONS
COULOMB FIELD
DEUTERIUM TARGET
DIRECT REACTIONS
FLUORINE 19 REACTIONS
FLUORINE 19 TARGET
GIANT STARS
KEV RANGE
NUCLEAR REACTION KINETICS
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
OXYGEN 16
POTENTIALS
PROTON REACTIONS
PROTON-NUCLEON INTERACTIONS