An Exploratory Study of $^{38}$Ca($\alpha$,p) Resonance States in $^{42}$Ti using the $^{46}$Ti($^{4}$He,$^{8}$He)$^{42}$Ti Reaction

During type 1 X-ray bursts, if temperatures becomes sufficiently high, ($\alpha$,p) reactions ($\alpha$p-process) can effectively bypass the slower $\beta ^{+}$ decay waiting points of the rp-process in the lower mass region A $\leq$ 40. The reaction flow of the $\alpha$p-process can reach all the way up to Sc where very little information is known about the resonance states above the $\alpha$-threshold in these proton rich nuclei. This endpoint of the $\alpha$p-process comes from an ever increasing coulomb barrier and a possible suppression of alpha strengths in the compound nuclei of the ($\alpha$,p) reactions. In order to investigate the end point of the $\alpha$p-process, the $^{38}$Ca($\alpha$,p)$^{41}$Sc reaction was indirectly studied by measuring resonance states in the compound nucleus, $^{42}$Ti, using the $^{46}$Ti($^{4}$He,$^{8}$He)$^{42}$Ti reaction with the Grand Raiden spectrometer at RCNP. The procedures of this experiment along with results will be presented.