Study of the ¹⁸Ne(α,p)²¹Na reaction with ANASEN and its significance in the breakout from the hot CNO cycle

¹⁸Ne(α,p)²¹Na reaction is one of the reactions providing a pathway for breakout from the hot CNO cycles to the rp process in x-ray bursts.The actual conditions under which the breakout occurs depend critically on the thermonuclear reaction rate. This rate has not been sufficiently determined yet over stellar temperatures on x-ray burst conditions. We study the direct ¹⁸Ne(α,p)²¹Na reaction with the Array for Nuclear Astrophysics Studies with Exotic Nuclei (ANASEN), using a helium gas target and an ¹⁸Ne radioactive beam. ANASEN is an active gas target detection system with the ability to measure excitation function using a single beam energy while the beam slows down in the target gas. Utilizing also the particle tracking capability of the experimental array the center of mass energy can be reconstructed at the reaction point. Heavy recoil detection for coincidence with the light particle is also attempted for the first time in the ANASEN detector. Preliminary results will be presented for the experiment performed in reaction energies relevant to those in the breakout leading to an x-ray burst.