The 59 Cu(p,α) cross section and its implications for nucleosynthesis in core collapse supernovae

Cu(p,α) reaction is key for heavy element synthesis in the νp-process, since it may hinder the reaction flow to higher masses by recycling material back to 56 Ni and it has a strong influence on the production of the cosmic X-ray sources 55 Fe and 59 Ni. The intense and highly energetic 59 Cu beams provided by the new HIE-ISOLDE facility will for the first time allow a direct measurement of this reaction at astrophysical energies, making it one of only few cases where a direct study is possible with a radioactive beam. We propose to measure the 59 Cu(p,α) reaction for the first time using 59 Cu beams from the HIE-ISOLDE facility.