Shedding light on ¹⁷O(n,α)¹⁴C reaction at astrophysical energies with Trojan Horse Method and Asymptotic Normalization Coefficient

¹ Laboratori Nazionali del Sud - INFN, Catania, Italy
² Dipartimento di Fisica ed Astronomia "E. Majorana" - Università degli Studi di Catania, Catania, Italy

^* e-mail: aoliva@lns.infn.it

Published online: 7 June 2024

Abstract

The ¹⁷O(n,α)¹⁴C reaction plays a critical role in astrophysical nucleosynthesis, particularly influencing the s-process in stellar environments. Due to the limitations of direct measurement techniques, indirect methods such as the Trojan Horse Method (THM) and Asymptotic Normalization Coefficient (ANC) analysis are employed to study this reaction at astrophysical energies. This paper discusses the application of THM and ANC to derive the reaction cross sections and explore the contributions of various resonant states of ¹⁸O. The results obtained from these indirect methods are consistent and provide new insights into the reaction mechanisms, enhancing our understanding of neutron capture processes and neutron poisons in stars. The findings also demonstrate the effectiveness of combining THM and ANC for studying neutron-induced reactions, potentially facilitating future research using Radioactive Ion Beams (RIBs). This work underscores the importance of indirect measurement techniques in advancing nuclear astrophysics, particularly where direct measurements are challenging.