Cross sections for the 26Mg(p,n)26gAl(7.3 × 105 yr) and 26Mg(p,n)26mAl(6.35 s) reactions

Abstract

Cross sections for (p,n) reactions originating on 26Mg in its ground state and resulting in 26Al in either its 7.3 × 105 yr ground state or its 6.35 s 228 keV excited state have been calculated from a statistical compound nuclear model for the proton energy range from 4.8 to 7.0 MeV, which is of interest in nucleosynthesis due to explosive carbon burning in stars. The cross section for the 26Mg(p,n)26mAl(6.35 s) reaction has been measured over the proton energy range from 5 to 9.5 MeV and is found to be 2–4 times lower than the calculated cross section at overlapping energies. The calculated cross section for 26Mg(p,n)26gAl(7.3 × 105 yr) was found to be more than an order of magnitude greater than a measurement made previously at 6 MeV. These results suggest that cross sections calculated according to the statistical theory could introduce substantial error into any predictions involving the production of 26mAl or26gAl during a nucleosynthesis event.