Threshold states in 26Al. Pt. 1

States in 26Al near the 25Mg + p threshold have been investigated using the 25Mg(3He,d)26Al reaction in order to locate levels which may serve as s-wave 25Mg + p resonances in the energy region characteristic of stellar hydrogen burning. One such state, with Jsup(π)=(2,3)+, has been observed at an excitation energy Esub(x)=6343 keV, corresponding to a proton resonant energy of Esub(c.m.)=37.2 keV. Studies on the 25Mg(d,p)26Mg reaction indicate that the 6125 keV state in 26Mg is the isobaric analog to this 26Al state, and a spin-parity Jsup(π)=3+ is deduced for the 6125 keV state in 26Mg, through measurements of the 26Mg(α,α')26Mg reaction. The #betta#-ray branching ratios for the 6343 keV state in 26Al have been measured using the 27Al(3He,α#betta#)26Al reaction, and it has been established that the decay of this state ultimately populates the ground state 57% of the time. Similarly, the decay of the 6400 keV state in 26Al, studied via the 24Mg(3He,p,#betta#)26Al reaction, has been found to populate the ground state approximately 80% of the time. (orig.)