Constraint of the Astrophysical $^{26g}$Al(p,$\gamma$)$^{27}$Si Destruction Rate at Stellar Temperatures

The 1809-keV $\gamma$ ray from the beta decay of $^{26}$Al provides an unsurpassed opportunity for studying the ongoing nucleosynthesis within our Galaxy. A detailed understanding of the production and destruction rates for $^{26}$Al are required to quantitatively understand the $^{26}$Al signature; the $^{26}$Al(p,$\gamma$)$^{27}$Si reaction is a major destruction pathway at progenitor stellar temperatures. This reaction rate is determined by the properties of states near the proton threshold in $^{27}$Si, some of which are too low in energy for direct measurements of the $^{26}$Al(p,$\gamma$)$^{27}$Si rate with current beam intensities. We have measured mirror states in $^{27}$Al to inform the $^{27}$Si structure, via the $^{26}$Al(d,p)$^{27}$Al reaction in inverse kinematics using the ORRUBA and SIDAR arrays of silicon detectors. Spectroscopic information on the states populated in $^{27}$Al have been extracted and spectroscopic factors for the $^{27}$Si states have been determined by comparisons with shell-model-embedded-in-the-continuum calculations. Experimental results and the constrained reaction rate for massive-star nucleosynthesis will be presented.\\[4pt] [1]. S.D. Pain et al., PRL 114, 212501 (2015).