Speaker
Description
The origin of the rare proton-rich p-nuclei remains an open question in nuclear astrophysics. Since they are not efficiently produced by the s- and r-processes, they are thought to form mainly through photodisintegration of heavier seed nuclei in explosive stellar environments. A key uncertainty in p-process models comes from poorly constrained reaction rates. Since experimental data are missing for many relevant reactions, these rates often rely on Hauser-Feshbach calculations, which can vary significantly, especially for charged particle emission channels. This work presents a study of $\gamma$-induced reactions on $^{112}$SnSn, focusing on the charged-particle emission channels $^{112}$Sn($\gamma$,p) and $^{112}$Sn($\gamma$,$\alpha$). The experiment was performed at the High Intensity Gamma-ray Source, HI$\gamma$S, using monoenergetic $\gamma$-ray beams. Emitted protons and alpha particles were measured with a highly segmented silicon detector array, providing information on their energies and angular distributions. The experiment aims to determine total and partial photodisintegration cross sections for 112Sn in the energy region relevant to the p-process. These data will help constrain statistical model calculations and improve the reliability of reaction rates used in p-process nucleosynthesis models. In this presentation, the experimental setup, the identification of proton and alpha emission channels, the preliminary cross section results, and the relevance of the results for p-process reaction-rate calculations will be discussed.