Low energy ($p,\gamma$) reactions in Ni and Cu nuclei using microscopic optical model

Radiative capture reactions for low energy protons have been theoretically studied for Ni and Cu isotopes using the microscopic optical model. The optical potential has been obtained in the folding model using different microscopic interactions with the nuclear densities from Relativistic Mean Field calculations. The calculated total cross sections as well as the cross sections for individually low lying levels have been compared with measurements involving stable nuclear targets. Rates for the rapid proton capture process have been evaluated for astrophysically important reactions.