Study of proton capture resonant state of ^{15}O at 7556 keV

TL;DR

This study investigates the proton capture resonant state of ^{15}O at 7556 keV, measuring its strength and lifetimes, and compares experimental results with shell model calculations to understand nuclear structure relevant to the CNO cycle.

Contribution

The paper provides new experimental measurements of resonance strength and state lifetimes of ^{15}O, and compares these with theoretical shell model calculations, enhancing understanding of nuclear properties relevant to astrophysics.

Findings

Resonance strength of the 7556 keV state determined from experimental data.

Lifetimes of the sub-threshold and excited states measured using DSAM.

Shell model calculations agree reasonably well with experimental data.

Abstract

The slowest reaction in the CNO cycle 14N(p, gamma)15O has been studied by populating the E^lab_p =278 keV (E^r_c.m.=259 keV) proton capture resonant state of ^{15}O at 7556 keV. The strength of the resonance has been determined from the experimental data. The level lifetime of the sub-threshold resonant state at Ex=6792 keV, as well as the lifetimes of the 5181 keV and 6172 keV states, have been measured using the Doppler shift attenuation method (DSAM). The structural properties of the nucleus ^{15}O, such as, the level energies, transition strengths, level lifetimes, and spectroscopic factors, have been calculated theoretically by using the large basis shell model, which agrees reasonably well with the present as well as the previous experimental data.