Nuclear physics uncertainties of the astrophysical gamma-process studied through the 64Zn(p,alpha)61Cu and 64Zn(p,gamma)65Ga reactions

TL;DR

This paper investigates uncertainties in nuclear physics affecting the astrophysical gamma-process by analyzing experimental cross sections of zinc reactions, highlighting the importance of optical potential modifications for accurate modeling.

Contribution

It provides a detailed comparison of experimental data with theoretical models, demonstrating that modified optical potentials improve predictions of zinc reaction cross sections.

Findings

Modified optical potentials better fit experimental data

Standard potentials fail at astrophysically relevant energies

Analysis enhances understanding of gamma-process nucleosynthesis

Abstract

In a recent work, the cross section measurement of the 64Zn(p,alpha)61Cu reaction was used to prove that the standard alpha-nucleus optical potentials used in astrophysical network calculation fail to reproduce the experimental data at energies relevant for heavy element nucleosynthesis. In the present paper the analysis of the obtained experimental data is continued by comparing the results with the predictions using different parameters. It is shown that the recently suggested modification of the standard optical potential leads to a better description of the data.