Radioactive ion beam studies of α, p process waiting points in X-Ray Bursts

The nucleosynthetic flow in type I X-ray Bursts (XRBs) is driven by the triple-α, rp and α,p processes. Several intermediate mass nuclei, ²²Mg, ²⁶Si, ³⁰S, and ³⁴Ar, have been identified as possible candidates for waiting points in XRBs. When such a nucleus is reached, the flow stalls due to a (p, γ)-(γ, p) equilibrium and must await β decay unless the (α, p) reaction is fast enough to break out of the waiting point first. A method to study …