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Search for 22Na in novae supported by a novel method for measuring femtosecond nuclear lifetimes
Classical novae are thermonuclear explosions in stellar binary systems, and important sources of 26 Al and 22 Na. While γ rays from the decay of the former radioisotope have been observed throughout the Galaxy, 22 Na remains untraceable. Its half-life (2.6 yr) would allow the observation of its 1.27...
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Published in: | Nature communications 2023-09, Vol.14 (1), p.4536-4536, Article 4536 |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites Items that cite this one |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | Classical novae are thermonuclear explosions in stellar binary systems, and important sources of
26
Al and
22
Na. While
γ
rays from the decay of the former radioisotope have been observed throughout the Galaxy,
22
Na remains untraceable. Its half-life (2.6 yr) would allow the observation of its 1.275 MeV
γ
-ray line from a cosmic source. However, the prediction of such an observation requires good knowledge of its nucleosynthesis. The
22
Na(
p
,
γ
)
23
Mg reaction remains the only source of large uncertainty about the amount of
22
Na ejected. Its rate is dominated by a single resonance on the short-lived state at 7785.0(7) keV in
23
Mg. Here, we propose a combined analysis of particle-particle correlations and velocity-difference profiles to measure femtosecond nuclear lifetimes. The application of this method to the study of the
23
Mg states, places strong limits on the amount of
22
Na produced in novae and constrains its detectability with future space-borne observatories.
The authors report a particle-particle correlation and velocity-difference profile method to measure nuclear lifetime. The results obtained for excited states of 23Mg are used to constrain the production of 22Na in the astrophysical novae explosions. |
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ISSN: | 2041-1723 2041-1723 |
DOI: | 10.1038/s41467-023-40121-3 |