First measurement of low-energy resonances in the $^{24}$Mg($\alpha$,$p\gamma$)$^{27}$Al reaction

Type Ia X-ray Bursts are energetic explosive events that we observe and understand through their light curves. The energy they generate comes from a complex network of nuclear reactions and a recent sensitivity study by Iliadis et al. finds that the $^{24}$Mg($\alpha$,$p$)$^{27}$Al reaction strongly affects the global energy release. Data on the direct measurement are scarce and the
present reaction rate relies exclusively on the inverse reaction. We have performed the first measurement of the $^{24}$Mg($\alpha,p\gamma$)$^{27}$Al reaction extracting the cross sections for the ($\alpha$,$p_1$) and ($\alpha$,$p_2$) channels. The LaBr$_3$ Array HAGRiD was used to detect de-excitation $\gamma$ rays at 7 unique angles in order to measure the differential cross section over a center-of-mass energy range from 3.4 MeV to 4.6 MeV. The resulting cross sections are then analyzed in terms of an R-matrix analysis in conjunction with previously measured $^{27}$Al + $p$ data that cover a similar excitation energy range. The results of this study will be presented and the use of this technique for future studies will be highlighted.