Destruction of the cosmic γ -ray emitter Al 26 in massive stars: Study of the key Al 26 (n,α) reaction

Lederer-Woods, C.; Woods, P. J.; Davinson, T.; Estrade, A.; Heyse, J.; Kahl, D.; Lonsdale, S. J.; Paradela, C.; Schillebeeckx, P.; Aberle, O.; Amaducci, S.; Andrzejewski, J.; Audouin, L.; Bacak, M.; Balibrea, J.; Barbagallo, M.; Becvar, F.; Berthoumieux, E.; Billowes, J.; Bosnar, D.; Brown, A.; Caamano, M.; Calvino, F.; Calviani, M.; Cano-Ott, D.; Cardella, R.; Casanovas, A.; Cerutti, F.; Chen, Y. H.; Chiaveri, E.; Colonna, N.; Cortes, G.; Cortes-Giraldo, M. A.; Cosentino, L.; Cristallo, S.; Damone, L. A.; Diakaki, M.; Domingo-Pardo, C.; Dressler, R.; Dupont, E.; Duran, I.; Fernandez-Dominguez, B.; Ferrari, A.; Ferreira, P.; Ferrer, F. J.; Finocchiaro, P.; Furman, V.; Gobel, K.; Garcia, A. R.; Gawlik, A.; Gilardoni, S.; Glodariu, T.; Goncalves, I. F.; Gonzalez-Romero, E.; Griesmayer, E.; Guerrero, C.; Gunsing, F.; Harada, H.; Heinitz, S.; Jenkins, D. G.; Jericha, E.; Kappeler, F.; Kadi, Y.; Kalamara, A.; Kavrigin, P.; Kimura, A.; Kivel, N.; Kokkoris, M.; Krticka, M.; Kurtulgil, D.; Leal-Cidoncha, E.; Leeb, H.; Lerendegui-Marco, J.; Lo Meo, S.; Macina, D.; Manna, A.; Marganiec, J.; Martinez, T.; Masi, A.; Massimi, C.; Mastinu, P.; Mastromarco, M.; Maugeri, E. A.; Mazzone, A.; Mendoza, E.; Mengoni, A.; Milazzo, P. M.; Mingrone, F.; Musumarra, A.; Negret, A.; Nolte, R.; Oprea, A.; Patronis, N.; Pavlik, A.; Perkowski, J.; Porras, I.; Praena, J.; Quesada, J. M.; Radeck, D.; Rauscher, T.; Reifarth, R.; Rubbia, C.; Ryan, J. A.; Sabate-Gilarte, M.; Saxena, A.; Schumann, D.; Sedyshev, P.; Smith, A. G.; Sosnin, N. V.; Stamatopoulos, A.; Tagliente, G.; Tain, J. L.; Tarifeno-Saldivia, A.; Tassan-Got, L.; Valenta, S.; Vannini, G.; Variale, V.; Vaz, P.; Ventura, A.; Vlachoudis, V.; Vlastou, R.; Wallner, A.; Warren, S.; Weiss, C.; Wright, T.; Zugec, P.

doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.104.L032803

Neutron destruction reactions of the cosmic γ-ray emitter Al26 are of importance to determine the amount of Al26 ejected into our galaxy by supernova explosions and for Al26 production in asymptotic giant branch stars. We performed a new measurement of the Al26(n,α) reaction up to 160-keV neutron energy at the neutron time-of-flight facilities n_TOF at CERN and GELINA at EC-JRC. We provide strengths for ten resonances, six of them for the first time. We use our data to calculate astrophysical reactivities for stellar temperatures up to 0.7 GK. Our results resolve a discrepancy between the two previous direct measurements of this reaction, and indicate higher stellar destruction rates than the most recently recommended reactivity.