Indirect study of the ¹⁶O + ¹⁶O fusion reaction toward stellar energies by the Trojan Horse Method

The ¹⁶O + ¹⁶O fusion reaction is important in terms of the explosive oxygen burning process during late evolution stage of massive stars as well as understanding the mechanism of low-energy heavy-ion fusion reactions. We aim to determine the excitation function for the most major exit channels, α + ²⁸Si and p + ³¹P, toward stellar energies indirectly by the Trojan Horse Method via the ¹⁶O(²⁰Ne, α ²⁸Si)α and ¹⁶O(²⁰Ne, p ³¹P)α three-body reactions. We report preliminary results involving reaction identification, and the determination of the momentum distribution of α-¹⁶O inter-cluster motion in the projectile ²⁰Ne nucleus. (authors)