Study of the supernova nucleosynthesis 40Ca(α,γ)44Ti reaction: progress report

We report on a study of the α-capture reaction on 40Ca in the energy range relevant to supernova nucleosynthesis (T9 ∼ 0.8-3). The experiment measures the overall yield of 44Ti nuclei produced in an activation of a thick 4He target by a 40Ca beam. Preliminary results show a significantly stronger yield than observed in previous measurements in the range T9 ∼ 1.5-3.