The astrophysical $S-$factor and reaction rate for $^{15}$N($p,\gamma$)$^{16}$O within the modified potential cluster model

Abstract

We study a radiative $p^{15}$N capture on the ground state of $^{16}$O at stellar energies within the framework of a modified potential cluster model (MPCM) with forbidden states, including low-lying resonances. The investigation of the $^{15}$N($p,\gamma _{0}$)$^{16}$O reaction includes the consideration of $^{3}S_{1}$ resonances due to $E1$ transitions and the contribution of $^{3}P_{1}$ scattering wave in $p$ + $^{15}$N channel due to $^{3}P_{1}\longrightarrow $ $^{3}P_{0}$ $M1$ transition. We calculated the astrophysical low-energy $S-$factor, and extrapolated $S(0)$ turned out to be within $34.7-40.4$ keV$\cdot $b. The important role of the asymptotic constant (AC) for the $^{15}$N($p,\gamma _{0}$)$^{16}$O process with interfering $^{3}S_{1}$(312) and $^{3}S_{1}$(962) resonances is elucidated. A comparison of our calculation for $S-$factor with existing experimental and theoretical data is addressed, and a reasonable agreement is found. The reaction rate is calculated and compared with the existing rates. It has negligible dependence on the variation of AC, but shows a strong impact of the interference of $^{3}S_{1}$(312) and $^{3}S_{1}$(962) resonances, especially at temperatures, referring to the CNO Gamow windows. We estimate the contribution of cascade transitions to the reaction rate based on the exclusive experimental data by \textit{Imbriani, et al. 2012}. The reaction rate enhancement due to the cascade transitions is observed from $T_{9} > 0.3 $ and reaches the maximum factor $\sim $\ 1.3 at $T_{9}=1.3$. We present the Gamow energy window and a comparison of rates for radiative proton capture reactions $^{12}$N($p,\gamma $)$^{13}$O, $^{13}$N($p,\gamma $) $^{14}$O, $^{14}$N($p,\gamma $)$^{15}$O, and $^{15}$N($p,\gamma $)$^{16}$O obtained in the framework of the MPCM and give temperature windows, prevalence, and significance of each process.