The Al-27(p, alpha)Mg-24 reaction at astrophysical energies studied by means of the Trojan Horse Method applied to the H-2(Al-27, alpha Mg-24)n reaction

The Al-27(p, alpha)Mg-24 reaction, which drives the destruction of Al-27 and the production of Mg-24 in stellar hydrogen burning, has been investigated via the Trojan Horse Method (THM), by measuring the H-2(Al-27, alpha Mg-24)n three-body reaction. The experiment covered a broad energy range (E-c.m. <= 1.5 MeV), aiming to investigate those of interest for astrophysics. The results confirm the THM as a valuable technique for the experimental study of fusion reactions at very low energies and suggest the presence of a rich pattern of resonances in the energy region close to the Gamow window of stellar hydrogen burning (70-120 keV), with potential impact on astrophysics. To estimate such an impact a second run of the experiment is needed, since the background due the three-body reaction hampered to collect enough data to resolve the resonant structures and extract the reaction rate.