α-cluster structure in 19F and 19Ne in resonant scattering

The nuclear structure of 19F and 19Ne is important for understanding of alpha clustering in the A = 20 mass region and in questions related to astrophysics. However, the only high-resolution broad angular and energy range study of the 19F resonance structure in alpha +15N scattering was published over 60 years ago, and a detailed analysis of complex excitation functions of overlapping resonances with several decay channels was simply impossible at that time. We performed a modern R-matrix analysis of these old data to assign spins and specify resonant parameters of levels up to excitation energy of 8.2 MeV in 19F. We successfully tested our R-matrix parameters in a fit of the recent data on alpha +15N obtained by thick target inverse kinematics (TTIK) method at 180 degrees. We used the new parameters for 19F to fit TTIK data for alpha+15O, the mirror resonant reactions. The comparison of the data for isobaric mirror resonant reactions provides an interesting insight into the nuclear structure.

Automated summary

The nuclear structure of 19F and 19Ne is crucial for understanding alpha clustering in the A = 20 mass region and its relevance to astrophysics. By utilizing modern R-matrix analysis, this study assigns spins and specifies resonant parameters of levels up to 8.2 MeV in 19F based on old data and successfully fits recent data obtained through thick target inverse kinematics method. The comparison of isobaric mirror resonant reactions provides interesting insights into nuclear structure.