Absolute Determination for the Sodium-22(p,gamma)Magnesium-23 Reaction Rate: Consequences for Nucleosynthesis of Sodium-22 in Novae

Hydrodynamic simulations of classical novae on ONe white dwarfs predict substantial production of 22Na. Observation of 22Na decay should be correlated with the corresponding nova because the half life of 22Na is only 2.6 years. The 1275-keV gamma ray from the beta decay of 22Na is, therefore, an excellent diagnostic for the nova phenomenon and a long-sought target of gamma-ray telescopes. Nova simulations determine the maximum 22Na-detection distance to be < 1 kpc for the INTEGRAL spectrometer SPI, consistent with its non-observation to date. However, model estimates are strongly dependent on the thermonuclear rate of the 22Na(p, gamma)23Mg reaction, which is the main destruction mechanism of 22Na in novae. The 22Na(p,gamma)23Mg rate is expected to be dominated by narrow, isolated resonances with Ep < 300 key. The currently employed rate is based on a single set of absolute resonance-strength measurements with Ep ≥ 290 keV, and one relative measurement of resonances with Ep ≥ 214 keV. Recently, a new level has been found in 23Mg which would correspond to a resonance at Ep = 198 keV that might dominate the reaction rate at nova temperatures.;We have measured the 22Na(p, gamma) 23Mg resonance strengths directly and absolutely, in addition to resonance energies and branches. Proton beams were produced at the University of Washington and delivered to a specially designed beam line that included rastering and cold vacuum protection of the 22Na-implanted targets (fabricated at TRIUMF-ISAC). Two high-purity germanium detectors were employed and surrounded by anticoincidence shields to reduce cosmic backgrounds. Measurements were made on known 22Na+p resonances, which we observed at laboratory energies Ep = 213, 288, 454, 610 keV and on proposed resonances at Ep = 198, 209, and 232 key. The proposed resonances were not observed, and the upper limit placed on the 198-keV resonance strength indicates that the resonance at Ep = 213 keV still dominates the reaction rate across the temperature range important to novae. However, we measured the strengths of the known resonances to be higher than previous direct measurements by factors of 2.4 to 3.2. Using both post-processing network calculations and hydrodynamic simulations to estimate the effect of the new 22Na( p, gamma)23Mg reaction rate, we find the amount of 22Na produced by novae to be lower by a factor of 2 from current estimates, revising the prospects for its observation. Full analysis of results are presented. Experimental improvements and future prospects are discussed.