⁵⁸Ni(³He,t)⁵⁸Cu Measurements to Constrain the Astrophysical Rate of ⁵⁷Ni(p,γ)⁵⁸Cu

The ⁵⁷Ni(p,γ)⁵⁸Cu reaction rate significantly impacts nucleosynthesis in a variety of astrophysical sites. In core-collapse supernovae this reaction impacts the production of observable isotopes ⁴⁴Ti and ⁵⁹Ni. Furthermore, the ⁵⁷Ni(p,γ)⁵⁸Cu reaction rate significantly impacts ⁵⁷Fe production via the 𝜈p-process in multiple astrophysical environments. Despite its importance, no experimental rate exists for this reaction. To experimentally constrain this rate, structure properties of ⁵⁸Cu were measured via the ⁵⁸Ni(³He,t)⁵⁸Cu reaction using both GODDESS (GRETINA ORRUBA Dual Detectors for Experimental Structure Studies) at Argonne National Laboratory’s ATLAS facility and the Enge split-pole spectrograph at the University of Notre Dame’s Nuclear Science Laboratory. These measurements focused on precisely determining the level energies of ⁵⁸Cu. Additionally, these measurements may provide complementary structure information that impacts the reaction rate, such as level spin, proton branching ratios, and gamma branching ratios. Experimental procedures and preliminary analysis will be presented.