Search for .sup.22./sup.Na in novae supported by a novel method for measuring femtosecond nuclear lifetimes

0575956 - ÚJF 2024 RIV DE eng J - Journal Article
Fougeres, C. - de Oliveira Santos, F. - Jose, J. - Michelagnoli, C. - Clement, E. - Kim, Y. H. - Lemasson, A. - Guimaraes, V. - Barrientos, D. - Mrázek, Jaromír … Total 62 authors
Search for ²²Na in novae supported by a novel method for measuring femtosecond nuclear lifetimes.
Nature Communications. Roč. 14, č. 1 (2023), č. článku 4536. E-ISSN 2041-1723
R&D Projects: GA MŠMT(CZ) EF16_013/0001679
Research Infrastructure: SPIRAL2-CZ III - 90271
Institutional support: RVO:61389005
Keywords : Na-22 * nuclear lifetimes * Mg-23
OECD category: Astronomy (including astrophysics,space science)
Impact factor: 16.6, year: 2022
Method of publishing: Open access
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40121-3

Classical novae are thermonuclear explosions in stellar binary systems, and important sources of Al-26 and Na-22. While y rays from the decay of the former radioisotope have been observed throughout the Galaxy, Na-22 remains untraceable. Its half-life (2.6 yr) would allow the observation of its 1.275 MeV y-ray line from a cosmic source. However, the prediction of such an observation requires good knowledge of its nucleosynthesis. The Na-22(p, y)Mg-23 reaction remains the only source of large uncertainty about the amount of Na-22 ejected. Its rate is dominated by a single resonance on the short-lived state at 7785.0(7) keV in Mg-23. Here, we propose a combined analysis of particle-particle correlations and velocity-difference profiles to measure femtosecond nuclear lifetimes. The application of this method to the study of the Mg-23 states, places strong limits on the amount of Na-22 produced in novae and constrains its detectability with future space-borne observatories.

The authors report a particle-particle correlation and velocity-difference profile method to measure nuclear lifetime. The results obtained for excited states of 23Mg are used to constrain the production of 22Na in the astrophysical novae explosions.
Permanent Link: https://hdl.handle.net/11104/0345636