Search for $^{22}$Na in novae supported by a novel method for measuring femtosecond nuclear lifetimes

Article
Report number	arXiv:2212.06302
Title	Search for $^{22}$Na in novae supported by a novel method for measuring femtosecond nuclear lifetimes
Author(s)	Fougères, Chloé (GANIL ; Argonne, PHY) ; de Oliveira Santos, François (GANIL) ; José, Jordi (Barcelona U. ; Barcelona, IEEC) ; Michelagnoli, Caterina (Laue-Langevin Inst.) ; Clément, Emmanuel (GANIL) ; Kim, Yung Hee (GANIL ; IBS, Daejeon, CENS) ; Lemasson, Antoine (GANIL) ; Guimarães, Valdir (Sao Paulo U.) ; Barrientos, Diego (CERN) ; Bemmerer, Daniel (HZDR, Dresden) ; Benzoni, Giovanna (INFN, Milan) ; Boston, Andrew J. (Liverpool U.) ; Böttger, Roman (HZDR, Dresden) ; Boulay, Florent (GANIL) ; Bracco, Angela (INFN, Milan) ; Čeliković, Igor (VINCA Inst. Nucl. Sci., Belgrade) ; Cederwall, B. (Royal Inst. Tech., Sodertalje) ; Ciemala, Michał (Cracow, INP) ; Delafosse, Clément (IJCLab, Orsay) ; Domingo-Pardo, César (Valencia U., IFIC) ; Dudouet, Jérémie (IP2I, Lyon) ; Eberth, Jürgen (Cologne U.) ; Fülöp, Zsolt (Debrecen, Inst. Nucl. Res.) ; González, Vicente (Valencia U., Dept. Ing. Electronica) ; Gottardo, Andrea ; Goupil, Johan (GANIL) ; Hess, Herbert (Cologne U.) ; Jungclaus, Andrea (Madrid, Inst. Estructura Materia) ; Kaşkaş, Ayşe (Ankara U.) ; Korichi, Amel (IJCLab, Orsay) ; Lenzi, Silvia M. (INFN, Padua ; Padua U.) ; Leoni, Silvia (INFN, Milan ; Milan U.) ; Li, Hongjie (GANIL) ; Ljungvall, Joa (IJCLab, Orsay) ; Lopez-Martens, Araceli (IJCLab, Orsay) ; Menegazzo, Roberto (INFN, Padua) ; Mengoni, Daniele (INFN, Padua ; Padua U.) ; Million, Benedicte (INFN, Milan) ; Mrázek, Jaromír (Debrecen, Inst. Nucl. Res.) ; Napoli, Daniel R. (INFN, Legnaro) ; Navin, Alahari (GANIL) ; Nyberg, Johan (Uppsala U.) ; Podolyák, Zsolt ; Pullia, Alberto (Liverpool U. ; Milan U.) ; Quintana, Begoña (Salamanca U.) ; Ralet, Damien (GANIL ; IJCLab, Orsay) ; Redon, Nadine (IP2I, Lyon) ; Reiter, Peter (Cologne U.) ; Rezynkina, Kseniia (Strasbourg, IPHC) ; Saillant, Frédéric (GANIL) ; Salsac, Marie-Delphine (IRFU, Saclay) ; Sánchez-Benítez, Angel M. (Huelva U.) ; Sanchis, Enrique (Valencia U., Dept. Ing. Electronica) ; Şenyiğit, Menekşe (Ankara U.) ; Siciliano, Marco (IRFU, Saclay ; Argonne) ; Smirnova, Nadezda A. (LP2I, Bordeaux) ; Sohler, Dorottya (Debrecen, Inst. Nucl. Res.) ; Stanoiu, Mihai (Bucharest, IFIN-HH) ; Theisen, Christophe ; Valiente-Dobón, Jose J. (INFN, Legnaro) ; Ujić, Predrag (VINCA Inst. Nucl. Sci., Belgrade) ; Zielińska, Magdalena (IRFU, Saclay)
Publication	2023-09-05
Imprint	2022-12-12
Number of pages	18
Note	18 pages, 3 figures, 1 table
In:	Nature Commun. 14 (2023) 4536
DOI	10.1038/s41467-023-40121-3
Subject category	astro-ph.SR ; Astrophysics and Astronomy ; astro-ph.HE ; Astrophysics and Astronomy ; nucl-ex ; Nuclear Physics - Experiment
Abstract	Classical novae are thermonuclear explosions in stellar binary systems, and important sources of $^{26}$Al and $^{22}$Na. While gamma rays from the decay of the former radioisotope have been observed throughout the Galaxy, $^{22}$Na remains untraceable. The half-life of $^{22}$Na (2.6 yr) would allow the observation of its 1.275 MeV gamma-ray line from a cosmic source. However, the prediction of such an observation requires good knowledge of the nuclear reactions involved in the production and destruction of this nucleus. The $^{22}$Na($p,\gamma$)$^{23}$Mg reaction remains the only source of large uncertainty about the amount of $^{22}$Na ejected. Its rate is dominated by a single resonance on the short-lived state at 7785.0(7) keV in $^{23}$Mg. In the present work, a combined analysis of particle-particle correlations and velocity-difference profiles is proposed to measure femtosecond nuclear lifetimes. The application of this novel method to the study of the $^{23}$Mg states, combining magnetic and highly-segmented tracking gamma-ray spectrometers, places strong limits on the amount of $^{22}$Na produced in novae, explains its non-observation to date in gamma rays (flux < 2.5x$10^{-4}$ ph/(cm$^2$s)), and constrains its detectability with future space-borne observatories.
Copyright/License	publication: (License: CC-BY-4.0) preprint: (License: CC BY 4.0)

${\textbf{Identification of $\gamma$-ray transitions in $^{23}$Mg.}} Left: The energy of the measured $\gamma$ rays is plotted as a function of the angle between the $\gamma$ ray and the $^{23}$Mg emitter. This matrix is conditioned with the detection of an $\alpha$ particle at $5.2<E_x<5.4$~MeV in the VAMOS++ magnetic spectrometer. The $\gamma$-ray transition ($E_{\gamma,0}=4840.0^{+0.2}_{-0.4}$~keV) from the $E_x=5292.0(6)$~keV excited state in $^{23}$Mg is clearly observed. Its energy is Doppler shifted. The background observed here is mostly due to random coincidences between $\gamma$ rays from the Compton background and $\alpha$ particles produced in fusion-evaporation reactions between the beam and $^{12}$C and $^{16}$O impurities deposited on the target. Right: Picture of the AGATA $\gamma$-ray spectrometer used to detect the $\gamma$ rays emitted during the reaction.$ ${\textbf{Identification of $\gamma$-ray transitions in $^{23}$Mg.}} Left: The energy of the measured $\gamma$ rays is plotted as a function of the angle between the $\gamma$ ray and the $^{23}$Mg emitter. This matrix is conditioned with the detection of an $\alpha$ particle at $5.2<E_x<5.4$~MeV in the VAMOS++ magnetic spectrometer. The $\gamma$-ray transition ($E_{\gamma,0}=4840.0^{+0.2}_{-0.4}$~keV) from the $E_x=5292.0(6)$~keV excited state in $^{23}$Mg is clearly observed. Its energy is Doppler shifted. The background observed here is mostly due to random coincidences between $\gamma$ rays from the Compton background and $\alpha$ particles produced in fusion-evaporation reactions between the beam and $^{12}$C and $^{16}$O impurities deposited on the target. Right: Picture of the AGATA $\gamma$-ray spectrometer used to detect the $\gamma$ rays emitted during the reaction.$ ${\textbf{Identification of $\gamma$-ray transitions in $^{23}$Mg.}} Left: The energy of the measured $\gamma$ rays is plotted as a function of the angle between the $\gamma$ ray and the $^{23}$Mg emitter. This matrix is conditioned with the detection of an $\alpha$ particle at $5.2<E_x<5.4$~MeV in the VAMOS++ magnetic spectrometer. The $\gamma$-ray transition ($E_{\gamma,0}=4840.0^{+0.2}_{-0.4}$~keV) from the $E_x=5292.0(6)$~keV excited state in $^{23}$Mg is clearly observed. Its energy is Doppler shifted. The background observed here is mostly due to random coincidences between $\gamma$ rays from the Compton background and $\alpha$ particles produced in fusion-evaporation reactions between the beam and $^{12}$C and $^{16}$O impurities deposited on the target. Right: Picture of the AGATA $\gamma$-ray spectrometer used to detect the $\gamma$ rays emitted during the reaction.$ Show more plots

Corresponding record in: Inspire

Back to search

Record created 2022-12-27, last modified 2024-09-27

Registos similares

Fulltext:
2212.06302 - Download fulltext

PDF
document - Download fulltext

PDF

Add to personal basket
Export as BibTeX, MARC, MARCXML, DC, EndNote, NLM, RefWorks

CERN Document Server

Access articles, reports and multimedia content in HEP

Main menu

CERN Accelerating science