How neutron upscattering can enhance the triple alpha reaction

ORAL  · Invited

Abstract

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 12C, effectively increasing the overall triple-alpha reaction rate. Neutron upscattering involves a low-energy neutron interacting with a resonant state and allowing additional de-excitation paths by taking away some of the excess energy as kinetic energy in the neutron. 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, we measured neutrons incident on the Texas Active Target Time Projection Chamber (TexAT TPC) filled with CO2 gas, measuring the 3α-particles (arising from the decay of the Hoyle state following inelastic scattering) and a cross section was extracted. The results of this recently-published work will be discussed.

*This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Science, by National Nuclear Security Administration through the Center for Excellence in Nuclear Training and University-Based Research (CENTAUR) and by the UK STFC Network+ Award Grant. This work also benefited from support by the National Science Foundation.

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Publication: J. Bishop et al. Nature Communications volume 13, Article number: 2151 (2022)

Presenters

  • Jack E Bishop

    • Texas A&M University

Authors

  • Jack E Bishop

    • Texas A&M University

  • Cody E Parker

    • Texas A&M University

  • Grigory V Rogachev

    • Texas A&M University

  • Sunghoon Ahn

    • Center for Exotic Nuclear Studies, Institute for Basic Science (IBS)

  • Evgeniy Koshchiy

    • Cyclotron Institute, Texas A&M University

  • Kristyn H Brandenburg

    • Ohio University

  • Carl R Brune

    • Ohio University

  • Robert J Charity

    • Washington University, St. Louis

  • Joseph Derkin

    • Ohio University

  • Nicolas Dronchi

    • Washington University, St. Louis

  • Gulakhshan M Hamad

    • Ohio University

  • Yenuel Jones-Alberty

    • Ohio University

  • Tzany Kokalova

    • University of Birmingham, UK

  • Thomas N Massey

    • Ohio University

  • Zach P Meisel

    • Ohio University

  • Viktoria Ohstrom

    • Washington University, St. Louis

  • Som N Paneru

    • Michigan State University

  • Emanuel Pollacco

    • Université Paris-Saclay

  • Mansi Saxena

    • Ohio University

  • Nisha Singh

    • Ohio University

  • Robin Smith

    • University of Connecticut

  • Lee G Sobotka

    • Washington University, St. Louis

  • Douglas B Soltesz

    • Ohio University

  • Shiv K Subedi

    • Ohio University