Constraining electron-capture rates in neutron-rich ³²Mg and ³³Al via (d,²He) charge-exchange reaction

Electron-capture (EC) rates of neutron-rich nuclei are essential in understanding extreme astrophysical phenomena such as supernovae explosions, heating and cooling processes in neutron stars and the evolution of massive stars. Direct measurement of EC rates from β/EC decay studies is challenging due to positive EC Q-values in neutron-rich nuclei, making indirect methods necessary. Charge-exchange (CE) reactions at intermediate energies (~100 MeV/u) are a powerful tool for extracting Gamow-Teller (GT) strengths in a model-independent way. The extracted GT strengths can be used to constrain the relevant EC rates. In our recent experiment at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), the (d,²He) CE reaction in inverse kinematics was employed to extract the GT strengths of neutron-rich ³²Mg and ³³Al, located in and near the N=20 island of inversion. The experimental setup utilized the S800 spectrometer coupled with the Active-Target Time Projection Chamber (AT-TPC) to detect the heavy reaction fragments and the protons from the ²He decay. The presentation will focus on the experimental details and analysis.