R. Churchman

Lifetimes of states in 19Ne above the 15O+α breakup threshold

The 15 O(α, γ) 19 Ne reaction plays a role in the ignition of type I x-ray bursts on accreting neutron stars. The lifetimes of states in 19 Ne above the 15 O+α threshold of 3.53 MeV are important inputs to calculations of the astrophysical reaction rate. These levels in 19 Ne were populated in the 3 He( 20 Ne , α) 19 Ne reaction at a 20 Ne beam energy of 34 MeV. The lifetimes of six states above the threshold were measured with the Doppler-shift attenuation method. The present measurements agree with previous determinations of the lifetimes of these states and in some cases are considerably more precise.

Precise half-life measurement of the superallowedβ+emitter38Ca

We measured the half-life of the superallowed 0{sup +{yields}}0{sup +} {beta}{sup +} emitter {sup 26}Si to be 2245.3(7) ms. We used pure sources of {sup 26}Si and employed a high-efficiency gas counter, which was sensitive to positrons from both this nuclide and its daughter {sup 26}Al{sup m}. The data were analyzed as a linked parent-daughter decay. To contribute meaningfully to any test of the unitarity of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix, the ft value of a superallowed transition must be determined to a precision of 0.1% or better. With a precision of 0.03%, the present result is more than sufficient to be compatible with that requirement. Only the branching ratio now remains to be measured precisely before a {+-}0.1% ft value can be obtained for the superallowed transition from {sup 26}Si.