Study of the ²⁰Ne (α, γ)²⁴Mg Reaction in Inverse Kinematics with the St. George Recoil Separator

<p>The St. George recoil mass separator at the University of Notre Dame has been used to study the ²⁰Ne (α, γ)²⁴Mg reaction.</p><p> The reaction rate of ²⁰Ne (α, γ)²⁴Mg is important in advanced burning stages in massive stars such as carbon, neon and silicon burning.</p><p> Three known resonance strengths have been measured as part of the commissioning experiments of St. George and the characterization of its focal plane detector.</p><p> St. George rejects the un-reacted ²⁰Ne beam and sends the ²⁴Mg recoils into a particle identification detection system using the time-of-flight versus residual energy approach.</p><p> The measured resonance strengths are in good agreement with the literature values.</p><p> A path to study ²⁰Ne (α, γ)²⁴Mg at lower energy is discussed.</p>