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Neutron-upscattering enhancement of the triple-alpha process

The neutron inelastic scattering of carbon-12, populating the Hoyle state, is a reaction of interest for the triple-alpha process. The inverse process (neutron upscattering) can enhance the Hoyle state’s decay rate to the bound states of (12)C, effectively increasing the overall triple-alpha reactio...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Bishop, J., Parker, C. E., Rogachev, G. V., Ahn, S., Koshchiy, E., Brandenburg, K., Brune, C. R., Charity, R. J., Derkin, J., Dronchi, N., Hamad, G., Jones-Alberty, Y., Kokalova, Tz., Massey, T. N., Meisel, Z., Ohstrom, E. V., Paneru, S. N., Pollacco, E. C., Saxena, M., Singh, N., Smith, R., Sobotka, L. G., Soltesz, D., Subedi, S. K., Voinov, A. V., Warren, J., Wheldon, C.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Nature Publishing Group UK 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9021293/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35444209
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29848-7
Descripción
Sumario:The neutron inelastic scattering of carbon-12, populating the Hoyle state, is a reaction of interest for the triple-alpha process. The inverse process (neutron upscattering) can enhance the Hoyle state’s decay rate to the bound states of (12)C, effectively increasing the overall triple-alpha reaction rate. The cross section of this reaction is impossible to measure experimentally but has been determined here at astrophysically-relevant energies using detailed balance. Using a highly-collimated monoenergetic beam, here we measure neutrons incident on the Texas Active Target Time Projection Chamber (TexAT TPC) filled with CO(2) gas, we measure the 3α-particles (arising from the decay of the Hoyle state following inelastic scattering) and a cross section is extracted. Here we show the neutron-upscattering enhancement is observed to be much smaller than previously expected. The importance of the neutron-upscattering enhancement may therefore not be significant aside from in very particular astrophysical sites (e.g. neutron star mergers).