Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 150, 211-214 (2007)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2007-00306-5

New low-energy measurement of the ¹⁸F(p,α)¹⁵O reaction

¹ CRC and FYNU, Université catholique de Louvain, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
² CSNSM Orsay, IN2P3-CNRS, Bâtiment 104, 91405 Orsay Cedex, France
³ LPC, ISMRA and Université de Caen, IN2P3-CNRS, 14050 Caen Cedex, France
⁴ University of Santiago de Compostela, 1000 Santiago de Compostela, Spain
⁵ School of Physics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
⁶ PNTPM, Université Libre de Bruxelles, CP229, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
⁷ Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, INFN, 95123 Catania, Italy
⁸ Department of Physics, University of York, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK
⁹ IPN Orsay, IN2P3-CNRS, 91406 Orsay Cedex, France

Corresponding author: deserevi@fynu.ucl.ac.be

Received: 31 January 2007
Published online: 8 December 2007

Abstract

The ¹⁸F, produced during nova explosions, is the main responsible for the 511 keV γ-ray emitted during the outburst that could be detected with satellite missions or future γ-ray telescopes. In spite of many experimental efforts, the amount of ¹⁸F synthesized still suffers from large uncertainties concerning mainly the ¹⁸F(p,α)¹⁵O reaction. We report here on a new direct measurement of the ¹⁸F(p,α)¹⁵O cross section recently carried out at the RIB facility at Louvain-la-Neuve. Cross section data down to a center-of-mass energy of 400 keV have been obtained using an isobarically pure ¹⁸F beam (averaged intensity of the order of 10⁶ pps) and a thin polyethylene target. The reaction products were detected using the multi-strip detector array LEDA. The cross section data are analysed in the framework of the R-matrix model. Our main aim is to determine the interference sign between three 3/2⁺ resonances above threshold that can significantly affect the extrapolation of the ¹⁸F(p,α)¹⁵O cross section to the energies relevant for novae, and thus, the modeling of nova explosions.