Investigating a possible excited state of tritium using the ⁶He(p,t)α reaction

The triton is a well-studied few-body system, however, there remains uncertainty as to whether an exited state exists. Two previous experiments studying ⁶He(p,t)α at single beam energies [JETP Lett 59, 320 (1994); PRC 68, 024602 (2003)] observed an enhancement in the final α-particle spectrum corresponding to an excitation energy of about 7 MeV in the triton. The Texas Active Target Time Projection Chamber (TexAT TPC) has been utilized to measure ⁶He(p,t)α at multiple energy slices along the beam axis at the Texas A&M University Cyclotron Institute. Reconstructing the vertex location, energy deposited, and scattering angle of the outgoing α-particles allows for Q-value reconstruction. When coupled with kinematics, this is used to separate ground state and potential excited state events. The decay products from any potential excited state can also be measured with the TPC to provide an unambiguous reaction identification. GEANT4 has been used to simulate multiple reaction exit channels that can produce α-particles to assist in identifying non-ground state events. The latest results from this work will be presented.