Astrophysical Reaction Rates for Charged-Particle Induced Reactions on Proton-Rich Nuclides

TL;DR

This paper calculates astrophysical reaction rates for proton-rich isotopes using an updated statistical model, improving agreement with experimental data for reactions involving protons and alpha particles relevant to nucleosynthesis.

Contribution

The study introduces an updated reaction rate set for charged-particle reactions on proton-rich nuclides, enhancing accuracy over previous models and including neutron-induced reactions for comprehensive coverage.

Findings

New reaction rates better match experimental data.

Enhanced description of alpha-induced reactions.

Provides reaction rates for a broad range of proton-rich isotopes.

Abstract

Astrophysical reaction rates for reactions with proton-rich isotopes of Ne to Bi from stability to the proton dripline were calculated with an updated version of the SMARAGD statistical model (Hauser-Feshbach) code. Here, the focus was on reactions with protons or $\alpha$ particles as required for nucleosynthesis in proton-rich matter. For completeness, also neutron-induced reactions are provided for the same set of targets. Some comments on dependencies of rates on various nuclear properties and on the appropriate way to compare to experiments are given. The new rate set for charged-particle induced reactions provides a better description of experimental data than previously widely used rates, especially for reactions involving $\alpha$ particles.