Novel thick-target inverse kinematics method for the astrophysical ¹²C+¹²C fusion reaction

The \(^{12}\textrm{C}+\,^{12}\textrm{C}\) $_{}^{12}\text{C}+_{}^{12}\text{C}$ fusion is one of the most important reactions in modern nuclear astrophysics. The trend and magnitude of the reaction rate within the Gamow window strongly influence various astrophysical processes. However, direct measurement of this reaction is extremely difficult, which makes it necessary to develop indirect methods. In this study, the \(^{23}\textrm{Na}+\textrm{p}\) $_{}^{23}\text{Na}+\text{p}$ reaction system was used to study the compound nucleus \(^{24}\textrm{Mg}\) $_{}^{24}\text{Mg}$ . We employed a thick-target inverse kinematics method combined with the \(\gamma\) $\gamma$ -charged-particle coincidence technique to measure the proton and \(\alpha\) $\alpha$ exit channels of \(^{24}\textrm{Mg}\) $_{}^{24}\text{Mg}$ . Technical details of the \(^{23}\textrm{Na}+\textrm{p}\) $_{}^{23}\text{Na}+\text{p}$ thick-target inverse kinematics experiment and analysis are presented herein.