Weak interaction processes in supernovae: New probes using charge exchange reaction at intermediate energies

Spin-isospin-flip excitations in nuclei at vanishing momentum transfer are generally referred to as Gamov-Teller (GT) transitions. They are being studied because the simplicity of the excitation makes them an ideal probe for testing nuclear structure models. In astrophysics, GT transitions provide an important input for model calculations and element formation during the explosive phase of a massive star at the end of its life-time. GT transitions in the β- direction (also referred to as isospin lowering T< transitions) have extensively been studied through (p,n) and (3He,t) charge-exchange reactions [1-5]. The generally good resolution allows easy extraction of the GT distribution and the total B(GT-) strength in the final nucleus. On the other hand, determination of B(GT+) strength through a charge-exchange reaction in the T> direction were mostly done with secondary neutron beams, and as such, they come with significant experimental difficulties. TRIUMF has pioneered this field in the late 80's and early 90's with a rich and highly successful (n,p) program using a several hundred MeV neutron beam from a 7Li(p,n)7Be reaction [6]. In this paper we present the (d,2He) reaction at intermediate energies as another and potentially even more powerful tool for charge-exchange reactions in the T>, resp. β+ direction. The key issue here will be the high resolution of order 100 keV, which provides new and sometimes unexpected insight into nuclear structure phenomena. This program has been launched at the AGOR Superconducting Cyclotron Facility at the KVI Groningen. By now, it covers a wide field of physics questions ranging from few-body physics, the structure of halo-nuclei, to questions pertaining to the dynamics of supernova explosions and nuclear synthesis, and more recently to the measurements of (ββ) decay matrix elements and the determination of half-lives of (ββ) decaying nuclei. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.