Speaker
Description
Nucleosynthesis of the p-nuclei is one of the remaining unsolved puzzles in nuclear astrophysics. One possible mechanism for production of p-nuclei is the νp-process, which is thought to occur in the ejecta of core-collapse supernovae. A recent study found that the p-p chain breakout reaction 7Be(α,γ)11C significantly influences nuclear flow in the νp-process. However, the 7Be(α,γ)11C reaction rate is poorly known over the temperature range of interest (T=1.5−3 GK). In this temperature range, the astrophysical reaction rate is dominated by resonant capture to states in 11C within the Gamow window, three of which have unknown resonance strengths. A new direct measurement of 7Be(α,γ)11C was performed at TRIUMF's DRAGON recoil separator in order to measure the strengths and energies of these resonances. Experimental methods and preliminary results will be discussed.
