First experimental determination of the radiative-decay probability of the 31- state in 12C for estimating the triple alpha reaction rate in high temperature environments

The triple alpha reaction is one of the most important reactions in the nuclear astrophysics. However, its reaction rate in high temperature environments at T-9 > 2 was still uncertain. One of the major origins of the uncertainty was that the radiative-decay probability of the 3(1)(-) state in C-12 was unknown. In the present work, we have determined the radiative-decay probability of the 3(1)(-) state to be 1.3(-1.1)(+1.2) x 10(-6) by measuring the H-1(C-12, Cp-12) reaction for the first time, and derived the triple alpha reaction rate in high temperature environments from the measured radiative-decay probability. The present result suggests that the 3(1)(-) state noticeably enhances the triple alpha reaction rate although the contribution from the 3(1)(-) state had been assumed to be small. (C) 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated summary

By measuring the H-1(C-12, Cp-12) reaction, this study determined the radiative-decay probability of the 3(1)(-) state in C-12 for the first time, and derived the triple alpha reaction rate in high temperature environments. The findings suggest that the 3(1)(-) state significantly enhances the triple alpha reaction rate.