<math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mrow><mmultiscripts><mrow><mi>Ar</mi><mo>(</mo><mi>α</mi><mo>,</mo><mi>p</mi><mo>)</mo></mrow><mprescripts></mprescripts><none></none><mn>34</mn></mmultiscripts><mmultiscripts><mi mathvariant="normal">K</mi><mprescripts></mprescripts><none></none><mn>37</mn></mmultiscripts></mrow></math> reaction rate from proton scattering on <math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mmultiscripts><mi mathvariant="normal">K</mi><mprescripts></mprescripts><none></none><mn>37</mn></mmultiscripts></math> and its impact on properties of modeled x-ray bursts

A. Lauer-Coles; C. M. Deibel; J. C. Blackmon; S. Ahn; M. Anastasiou; L. T. Baby; J. Browne; K. A. Chipps; E. C. Good; A. Hood; J. Hooker; H. Jayatissa; E. Koshchiy; K. T. Macon; F. Montes; W. J. Ong; S. D. Pain; N. Rijal; G. V. Rogachev; D. Santiago-Gonzalez; H. Schatz; K. Schmidt; S. Upadhyayula; I. Wiedenhöver

doi:10.1103/x8xt-y8dr

${}^{34}{Ar (α, p)} {}^{37}K$ reaction rate from proton scattering on ${}^{37}K$ and its impact on properties of modeled x-ray bursts

A. Lauer-Coles ^1,*,†, C. M. Deibel ^1,‡, J. C. Blackmon ¹, S. Ahn ^2,§, M. Anastasiou^3,∥, L. T. Baby ³, J. Browne², K. A. Chipps ^4,5, E. C. Good ^1,¶ et al.

A. Hood¹, J. Hooker^6,7,**, H. Jayatissa ^6,7,**, E. Koshchiy^7,††, K. T. Macon ¹, F. Montes ², W. J. Ong ^2,∥, S. D. Pain ^4,5, N. Rijal ³, G. V. Rogachev ^6,7, D. Santiago-Gonzalez ⁸, H. Schatz ², K. Schmidt ^2,9, S. Upadhyayula ^6,7,‡‡, and I. Wiedenhöver ³

¹Department of Physics & Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA
²Department of Physics and Astronomy and National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824, USA
³Physics Department, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32306, USA
⁴Physics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA
⁵Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA
⁶Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA
⁷Cyclotron Institute, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77483, USA
⁸Physics Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Illinois 60439, USA
⁹Institute of Radiation Physics, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Bautzner Landstrasse 400, 01328 Dresden, Germany

^*Present address: Savannah River National Laboratory, Savannah River Site, South Carolina 29803, USA; www.amberlauercoles.com.
^†Contact author: amber.coles@srnl.doe.gov
^‡Contact author: deibel@lsu.edu
^§Present address: Center for Exotic Nuclear Studies, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon 34126, South Korea.
^∥Present address: Nuclear and Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.
^¶Present address: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd, Richland, Washington 99354, USA.
^**Present address: Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
^††Deceased.
^‡‡Present address: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA.

PDF

Phys. Rev. C 114, 025801 – Published 7 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/x8xt-y8dr

Abstract

Background: Type I x-ray bursts (XRBs) are energetic stellar explosions that occur on the surface of a neutron star in an accreting binary system with a low-mass H/He-rich companion. The rate of the ${}^{34}{Ar} (α, p) {}^{37}K$ reaction may influence features of the light curve that results from the underlying thermonuclear runaway, as shown in recent XRB stellar modeling studies.

Purpose: To reduce the uncertainty of the rate of this reaction, properties of resonances in the compound nucleus ${}^{38}{Ca}$ , such as resonance energies, spins, and particle widths, must be well constrained.

Method: This work discusses a study of resonances in the ${}^{38}{Ca}$ compound nucleus produced in the ${}^{34}{Ar} (α, p)$ reaction. The experiment was performed at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, with the ReA3 facility by measuring proton scattering using an unstable ${}^{37}K$ beam. The kinematics were designed specifically to identify and characterize resonances in the Gamow energy window for the temperature regime relevant to XRBs.

Results: The spins and proton widths of newly identified and previously known states in ${}^{38}{Ca}$ in the energy region of interest for the ${}^{34}{Ar} (α, p) {}^{37}K$ reaction have been constrained through an R-matrix analysis of the scattering data.

Conclusions: Using these constraints, a newly estimated rate is applied to an XRB model built using Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics, to examine its impact on observables, including the light curve. It is found that the newly determined reaction rate does not substantially affect the features of the light curve.

Physical Review C

Export citation

Export citation

${}^{34}{Ar (α, p)} {}^{37}K$ reaction rate from proton scattering on ${}^{37}K$ and its impact on properties of modeled x-ray bursts

Abstract

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Authorization Required

Other Options

References (Subscription Required)

Outline

Information

Filter

Filter

Article Lookup

Enter a citation

Ar(α,p)34K37 reaction rate from proton scattering on K37 and its impact on properties of modeled x-ray bursts

Abstract

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Authorization Required

Log in via your institution

Log in via APS Member Subscription

Other Options

References (Subscription Required)

${}^{34}{Ar (α, p)} {}^{37}K$ reaction rate from proton scattering on ${}^{37}K$ and its impact on properties of modeled x-ray bursts