Determination of the O-14(alpha,p)F-17(g.s.) reaction rate by measurement of the H-1(F-17,alpha)O-14 cross section

Abstract

The O-14(alpha ,p)F-17 reaction is important during the ignition phase of x-ray bursts, but significant uncertainties in this reaction rate have persisted due to uncertainties in the properties of excited states in Ne-18 and the unmeasured direct reaction cross section. The H-1(F-17,alpha)O-14 reaction, the time-inverse of the O-14(alpha, p)F-17(g.s.) reaction, was studied using a radioactive F-17 beam at, the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility. The (p, alpha) reaction and (p, p) elastic-scattering cross sections were measured over the energy range of interest for x-ray bursts, corresponding to E-cm(alpha) = 1.0 - 2.6 MeV. Resonances corresponding to states in Ne-18 with excitation energies E-x = 6.0 - 7.7 MeV were observed, and the direct reaction cross section determined.