Analysis of the Astrophysical 30Si(n, γ)31Si Reaction via the Asymptotic Normalization Coefficient Method

This study investigates the ³⁰Si(n, γ)³¹Si astrophysical reaction using the asymptotic normalization coefficient (ANC) method. The squared neutron asymptotic normalization coefficients (ANCs), for the virtual decay ³¹Si \( \to \) ³⁰Si + n are extracted by reanalyzing the existing angular distributions of the ³⁰Si(d, p)³¹Si reaction at 12.5 MeV. Both the distorted wave born approximation (DWBA) and adiabatic distorted wave approximation (ADWA) models are applied to refine the analysis. The results show improved ANC values compared to previous DWBA calculations. The squared neutron asymptotic normalization coefficient (ANC), for the ground state is found to be (\(32.49 \pm 6\)) fm^–1 with DWBA and (\(31.45 \pm 6\)) fm^–1 with ADWA. Additionally, the direct capture (DC) reaction rate was calculated and compared with previous work. The results show good agreement with the literature, with minor deviations at higher temperatures, highlighting the importance of the DC process in the ³⁰Si(n, γ)³¹Si reaction. This work emphasizes the crucial role of neutron capture reactions in the formation of the weak \(s\)-process component in stars and provides new insights into reaction rates and cross sections.