Study of the astrophysically important $\boldsymbol{^{23}\mathrm{Na}(\alpha,p)^{26}\mathrm{Mg}}$ and $\boldsymbol{^{23}\mathrm{Na}(\alpha,n)^{26}\mathrm{Al}}$ reactions

Abstract

The $^{23}$Na$(\alpha,p)^{26}$Mg and $^{23}$Na$(\alpha,n)^{26}$Al reactions are important for our understanding of the $^{26}$Al abundance in massive stars. The aim of this work is to report on a direct and simultaneous measurement of these astrophysically important reactions using an active target system. The reactions were investigated in inverse kinematics using $^{4}$He as the active target gas in the detector. We measured the excitation functions in the energy range of about 2 to 6 MeV in the center of mass. We have found that the cross sections of the $^{23}$Na$(\alpha,p)^{26}$Mg and the $^{23}$Na$(\alpha,n)^{26}$Al reactions are in good agreement with previous experiments, and with statistical model calculations.