Proton Capture on ^{17}O and its astrophysical implications

TL;DR

This study measures the $^{17}$O$(p, extgamma)^{18}$F reaction cross section across a wide energy range, refining the reaction rate crucial for understanding hydrogen-burning nucleosynthesis in various stellar environments.

Contribution

It provides new experimental data and a refined reaction rate for $^{17}$O$(p, extgamma)^{18}$F, resolving previous uncertainties and extending the energy range of measurements.

Findings

Good agreement with existing low-energy data

New resonance strengths and branchings reported

No significant impact on nucleosynthesis predictions

Abstract

The reaction $^{17}$O$(p,\gamma)^{18}$F influences hydrogen-burning nucleosynthesis in several stellar sites, such as red giants, asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars, massive stars and classical novae. In the relevant temperature range for these environments ($T_{9}=0.01-0.4), the main contributions to the rate of this reaction are the direct capture process, two low lying narrow resonances ($E_{r}=65.1$ and 183 keV) and the low-energy tails of two broad resonances ($E_{r}=557$ and 677 keV). Previous measurements and calculations give contradictory results for the direct capture contribution which in turn increases the uncertainty of the reaction rate. In addition, very few published cross section data exist for the high energy region that might affect the interpretation of the direct capture and the contributions of the broad resonances in the lower energy range. This work aims to address these issues. The reaction cross section was measured in a wide proton energy range ($E_{c.m.}=345$ - 1700 keV) and at several angles ($\theta_{lab}=0^{\circ},45^{\circ},90^{\circ},135^{\circ}$). The observed primary $\gamma$-transitions were used as input in an $R$-matrix code in order to obtain the contribution of the direct capture and the two broad resonances to the low-energy region. The extrapolated S-factor from the present data is in good agreement with the existing literature data in the low-energy region. A new reaction rate was calculated from the combined results of this work and literature S-factor determinations. Resonance strengths and branchings are reported for several $^{18}$F states. We were able to extrapolate the astrophysical S-factor of the reaction $^{17}$O$(p,\gamma)^{18}$F at low energies from cross section data taken at higher energies. No significant changes in the nucleosynthesis are expected from the newly calculated reaction rate.