English

Fusion Enhancement for Neutron-Rich Light Nuclei

Nuclear Experiment 2016-03-31 v1

Abstract

Measurement of the fusion cross-section for neutron-rich light nuclei is crucial in ascertaining if fusion of these nuclei occurs in the outer crust of a neutron star. The fusion excitation function at near-barrier energies for the 19^{19}O + 12^{12}C system was measured and the experimental results are compared to the fusion excitation function of 18^{18}O + 12^{12}C and 16^{16}O + 12^{12}C. The experiment was performed by utilizing a beam of 19^{19}O, produced via the 18^{18}O(d,p) reaction, to bombard a 12^{12}C target at energies near the Coulomb barrier. Evaporation residues produced in fusion of 18,19^{18,19}O ions with 12^{12}C target nuclei were detected with good geometric efficiency and identified by measuring their energy and time-of-flight. A significant enhancement is observed in the fusion probability of 19^{19}O ions with a 12^{12}C target as compared to 18^{18}O ions. The larger cross-sections observed at near barrier energies is related to significant narrowing of the fusion barrier indicating a larger tunneling probability for the fusion process.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1603.09314,
  title  = {Fusion Enhancement for Neutron-Rich Light Nuclei},
  author = {Varinderjit Singh and J. Vadas and T. K. Steinbach and S. Hudan and R. T. deSouza and L. T. Baby and S. A. Kuvin and V. Tripathi and I. Wiedenhover},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1603.09314},
  year   = {2016}
}

Comments

5 pages, 4 figures