A. N. Kuchera

α -cluster asymptotic normalization coefficients for nuclear astrophysics

Background: Many important α-particle induced reactions for nuclear astrophysics may only be measured using indirect techniques due to small cross sections at the energy of interest. One of such indirect technique, is to determine the Asymptotic Normalization Coefficients (ANC) for near threshold resonances extracted from sub-Coulomb α-transfer reactions. This approach provides a very valuable tool for studies of astrophysically important reaction rates since the results are practically model independent. However, the validity of the method has not been directly verified. Purpose: The aim of this letter is to verify the technique using the 16O(6Li,d)20Ne reaction as a benchmark. The 20Ne nucleus has a well known 1− state at excitation energy of 5.79 MeV with a width of 28 eV. Reproducing the known value with this technique is an ideal opportunity to verify the method. Method: The 1− state at 5.79 MeV is studied using the α-transfer reaction 16O(6Li,d)20Ne at sub-Coulomb energies. Results: The partial α width for the 1− state at excitation energy of 5.79 MeV is extracted and compared with the known value, allowing the accuracy of the method to be evaluated. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that extracting the Asymptotic Normalization Coefficients using sub-Coulomb α-transfer reactions is a powerful tool that can be used to determine the partial α width of near threshold states that may dominate astrophysically important nuclear reaction

Search for unboundBe15states in the3n+Be12channel

15Be is expected to have low-lying 3/2+ and 5/2+ states. A first search did not observe the 3/2+ [A. Spyrou et al., Phys. Rev. C 84, 044309 (2011)], however, a resonance in 15Be was populated in a second attempt and determined to be unbound with respect to 14Be by 1.8(1) MeV with a tentative spin-parity assignment of 5/2+ [J. Snyder et al., Phys. Rev. C 88, 031303(R) (2013)]. Search for the predicted 15Be 3/2+ state in the three-neutron decay channel. A two-proton removal reaction from a 55 MeV/u 17C beam was used to populate neutron-unbound states in 15Be. The two-, three-, and four-body decay energies of the 12Be + neutron(s) detected in coincidence were reconstructed using invariant mass spectroscopy. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to extract the resonance and decay properties from the observed spectra. The low-energy regions of the decay energy spectra can be described with the first excited unbound state of 14Be (E_x=1.54 MeV, E_r=0.28 MeV). Including a state in 15Be that decays through the first excited 14Be state slightly improves the fit at higher energies though the cross section is small. A 15Be component is not needed to describe the data. If the 3/2+ state in 15Be is populated, the decay by three-neutron emission through 14Be is weak, less than or equal to 11% up to 4 MeV. In the best fit, 15Be is unbound with respect to 12Be by 1.4 MeV (unbound with respect to

Search for unbound 15Be states in the 3n+12Be channel

14Be by 2.66 MeV) with a strength of 7%.

STUDIES OF EXOTIC NUCLEI AT THE RESOLUT FACILITY OF FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

15Be is expected to have low-lying 3/2+ and 5/2+ states. A first search did not observe the 3/2+ [A. Spyrou et al., Phys. Rev. C 84, 044309 (2011)], however, a resonance in 15Be was populated in a second attempt and determined to be unbound with respect to 14Be by 1.8(1) MeV with a tentative spin-parity assignment of 5/2+ [J. Snyder et al., Phys. Rev. C 88, 031303(R) (2013)]. Search for the predicted 15Be 3/2+ state in the three-neutron decay channel. A two-proton removal reaction from a 55 MeV/u 17C beam was used to populate neutron-unbound states in 15Be. The two-, three-, and four-body decay energies of the 12Be + neutron(s) detected in coincidence were reconstructed using invariant mass spectroscopy. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to extract the resonance and decay properties from the observed spectra. The low-energy regions of the decay energy spectra can be described with the first excited unbound state of 14Be (E_x=1.54 MeV, E_r=0.28 MeV). Including a state in 15Be that decays through the first excited 14Be state slightly improves the fit at higher energies though the cross section is small. A 15Be component is not needed to describe the data. If the 3/2+ state in 15Be is populated, the decay by three-neutron emission through 14Be is weak, less than or equal to 11% up to 4 MeV. In the best fit, 15Be is unbound with respect to 12Be by 1.4 MeV (unbound with respect to

Unbound excited states of the N = 16 closed shell nucleus O 24

14Be by 2.66 MeV) with a strength of 7%.