Mo-92(alpha,alpha)Mo-92 scattering, the Mo-92-alpha optical potential, and the Ru-96(gamma,alpha)Mo-92 reaction rate at astrophysically relevant energies

The elastic scattering cross section of (MO)-M-92(alpha,alpha)Mo-92 has been measured at energies of E-c.m. approximate to 13, 16, and 19 MeV in a wide angular range. The real and imaginary parts of the optical potential for the system Mo-92-alpha have been derived at energies around and below the Coulomb barrier, The result fits into the systematic behavior of alpha -nucleus folding potentials. The astrophysically relevant Ru-96(gamma,alpha)Mo-92 reaction rates at, T-9 = 2.0 and T-9 = 3.0 could be determined to an accuracy of about 16% and are compared to previously published theoretical rates.