Yield measurements of the $^{20}$Ne$(\alpha , \gamma)^{24}$Mg reaction with the St. George recoil mass separator
ORAL
Abstract
The St. George recoil mass separator at the University of Notre Dame has been used to study the $^{20}$Ne$(\alpha , \gamma)^{24}$Mg reaction. The cross section of $^{20}$Ne$(\alpha , \gamma)^{24}$Mg is critically important in advanced burning stages in massive stars such as carbon, neon and silicon burning. At this stage, three known resonances have been measured for commissioning experiment of St.\ George and the characterization of the focal plane detector. The St. George separates the $^{20}$Ne beam and sends the $^{24}$Mg recoils into a particle identification detection system using the time-of-flight versus residual energy approach. The separator commissioning results will be compared to previous measurements and the detector system characterization will be presented. A path to study $^{20}$Ne$(\alpha , \gamma)^{24}$Mg at lower energy will be discussed.
*This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grant numbers PHY- 1713857, and PHY-1430152 (JINA Center for the Evolution of the Elements).
–