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MS: Fachverband Massenspektrometrie

MS 6: New Methods, AMS II, Applications, Actinides

MS 6.1: Invited Talk

Wednesday, March 13, 2024, 17:00–17:30, HS 3042

Can we tame neutrons with a storage ring? — •Iris Dillmann — TRIUMF Vancouver, Canada — University of Victoria, Canada

Neutrons play a crucial role in the synthesis of elements heavier than iron in stars and stellar explosions via the slow (s), intermediate (i), and rapid (r) neutron capture processes.

Due to the location of these processes on the chart of nuclei, the availability of experimental data greatly differs. While masses and beta-decay half-lives are well measured for the majority of the presently known ~3300 nuclei, neutron capture reactions have only measured at and close to stability in the past 50 years [1]. However, the direct measurement of neutron cross sections with shorter half-lives (half-live <1 year) requires the use of radioactive beams in inverse kinematics and the development of new methods.

For the measurement of neutron capture cross sections of shorter-lived nuclei so far only indirect methods have been used. I will describe a path towards a pioneering facility consisting of a heavy-ion storage ring connected to our ISAC radioactive beam facility at TRIUMF where some of these reactions could be measured directly, with a moderated neutron target [1].

[1] I. Dillmann, O. Kester, et al., Eur. Phys. J. A59 (2023) 105

Keywords: Nuclear astrophysics; Neutron capture measurements; Storage rings; Heavy elements nucleosynthesis