A new attempt on measurement of the [superscript 19]F(p,[alpha])[superscript 16]O reaction cross section towards elucidating nucleosynthesis of fluorine

Abstract

Galactic fluorine abundance is strongly dependent on the conditions in the astrophysical sites. This feature makes it useful to probe different nucleosynthesis scenarios, mainly in the AGB stars. It is also important in understanding s-process elements production and mixing processes in AGB stars. The observed upper limit of fluorine abundance is much lower than the one predicted with most recent AGB models, hinting at some catalytic material activating fluorine destruction via reactions involving fluorine, in particular ¹⁹F(p,α)¹⁶O. Therefore, it is of vital importance to get an insight into this destruction channel. Despite of its importance, the astrophysical S-factor of this reaction is poorly known from previous studies, at astrophysical energies. In this work, observations and data analysis on ¹⁹F(p,α)¹⁶O will be discussed. This reaction was measured in inverse kinematics at the ISAC rare isotope beam facility at TRIUMF. The ¹⁹F beam, at mid-target E_cm = 2.35 MeV, was impinged on a solid hydrogen target at IRIS spectroscopy station. In an attempt to identify the ground state in ¹⁶O, missing mass spectrum technique is used in the analysis