Measuring the cross section of the ¹⁵N(α,γ)¹⁹F reaction using a single-fluid bubble chamber
Creators
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1.
University of Illinois at Chicago
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2.
Argonne National Laboratory
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3.
Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility
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4.
California Institute of Technology
Abstract
¹⁵N(α,γ)¹⁹F is believed to be the primary means of stellar nucleosynthesis of fluorine. Here, we present the use of a single-fluid bubble chamber to measure the cross section of the time-inverse photodissociation reaction. The method benefits from a luminosity increase of several orders of magnitude due to the use of a thicker liquid target—when compared to thin films or gas targets—and from the reciprocity theorem. We discuss the results of an experiment at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, where the cross section of the photodisintegration process ¹⁹F(γ,α)¹⁵N was measured by bombarding a superheated fluid of C₃F₈ with bremsstrahlung γ rays produced by impinging a 4–5.5 MeV electron beam on a Cu radiator. From the photodissociation yield the cross section was extracted by performing a convolution with a Monte Carlo–generated γ-ray beam spectrum. The measurement produced a cross section that was then time inverted using the reciprocity theorem. The cross section for the ¹⁵N(α,γ)¹⁹F reaction was determined down to a value in the range of hundreds of picobarns. With further improvements of the experimental setup the technique could potentially push cross section measurements down to the single picobarn range.
Additional Information
© 2023 American Physical Society. The authors would like to thank the accelerator staff at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility for their support. We would also like to thank Maurizio Ungaro for his help with the geant4 simulations as well as Peter Mohr and Alan Robinson for helpful discussions. The authors are also grateful for the helpful comments and suggestions of an anonymous reviewer which improved the quality of the paper. This work was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Physics, under Contracts No. DE-AC02-06CH11357 and No. DE-AC05-06OR23177. This work was also supported by the US National Science Foundation under Grant No. 2110898.Attached Files
Published - PhysRevC.107.035801.pdf
Files
PhysRevC.107.035801.pdf
Additional details
Identifiers
- Eprint ID
- 121276
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20230502-727238500.6
Related works
- Describes
- 10.1103/PhysRevC.107.035801 (DOI)
Funding
- Department of Energy (DOE)
- DE-AC02-06CH11357
- Department of Energy (DOE)
- DE-AC05-06OR23177
- NSF
- PHY-2110898
Dates
- Created
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2023-05-05Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2023-05-05Created from EPrint's last_modified field
Caltech Custom Metadata
- Caltech groups
- Kellogg Radiation Laboratory