| dc.description.abstract | The first study in this work focuses on the 23Mg(p,g)24Al reaction. Although several resonances may contribute to the overall rate at novae temperatures, the resonance at ~475 keV is thought to be dominant. The strength of this resonance has been directly measured using a radioactive 23Mg beam impinging on a windowless H2 gas target using the DRAGON facility at TRIUMF; however, recent high-precision 24Al mass measurements have called this result into question. An indirect measurement of the proton width using the 23Na(d,p)24Na reaction in inverse kinematics has been performed to study the mirror state of the ~475 keV resonance in 24Na. A measurement of the spectroscopic factor of the 2512 keV state in 24Na is also presented. These results are discussed with a focus on previous theory calculations and experimental results.
The second study attempts to probe the photon strength function in 58Fe. The photon strength function can provide insight into the properties of nuclei that are difficult to directly measure. In particular, Hauser-Feshbach reaction models typically use this statistical quantity to describe electromagnetic coupling. By constraining this theoretical input, a more accurate understanding of a given nucleus can be attained. This quantity may also be useful in making inferences about other neutron capture reactions. An analysis of multi-step gamma cascades from individual resonances from the 57Fe(n,g)58Fe reaction is presented. Comparisons of this experimental data to gamma-cascades simulated by DICEBOX is shown, and constraints on the photons strength function are proposed. | en |
