M. Pignatari
The Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare-Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) is one of the largest underground physics laboratory, a very peculiar environment suited for experiments in Astroparticle Physics, Nuclear Physics and…
Carbon-oxygen (C-O) shell mergers in massive stars play a crucial role in both nucleosynthesis and the final stages of stellar evolution. These convective-reactive events significantly alter the internal structure of the star shortly before…
Accurate $^{42}$Ti($p$,$\gamma$)$^{43}$V reaction rates are crucial for understanding the nucleosynthesis path of the rapid capture process (rp-process) that occurs in X-ray bursts. We aim to improve the thermonuclear rates of…
Presolar graphite grains carry the isotopic signatures of their parent stars. A significant fraction of presolar graphites shows isotopic abundance anomalies relative to solar for elements such as O, Si, Mg and Ca, which are compatible with…
In their final stages before undergoing a core-collapse supernova, massive stars may experience mergers between internal shells where carbon (C) and oxygen (O) are consumed as fuels for nuclear burning. This interaction, known as a C-O…
Thermonuclear explosions of carbon-oxygen white dwarfs as Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) play a significant role in the galactic chemical evolution (GCE) of the Milky Way. However, a long-standing and as yet unresolved problem of modern…
Radioactive nuclei with lifetimes on the order of millions of years can reveal the formation history of the Sun and active nucleosynthesis occurring at the time and place of its birth. Among such nuclei whose decay signatures are found in…
The oldest stars in the Milky Way are metal-poor with [Fe/H] < -- 1.0, displaying peculiar elemental abundances compared to solar values. The relative variations in the chemical compositions among stars is also increasing with decreasing…
The $\gamma$-process nucleosynthesis in core-collapse supernovae is generally accepted as a feasible process for the synthesis of neutron-deficient isotopes beyond iron. However, crucial discrepancies between theory and observations still…
Many of the short-lived radioactive nuclei that were present in the early Solar System can be produced in massive stars. In the first paper in this series (Brinkman et al. 2019), we focused on the production of $^{26}$Al in massive…
Accurate nuclear reaction rates for 26P(p,{\gamma})27S are pivotal for a comprehensive understanding of rp-process nucleosynthesis path in the region of proton-rich sulfur and phosphorus isotopes. However, large uncertainties still exist in…
We aim to analyse the abundance pattern of 169 Barium (Ba) stars, using machine learning techniques and the AGB final surface abundances predicted by Fruity and Monash stellar models. We developed machine learning algorithms that use the…
Nuclear Astrophysics is a field at the intersection of nuclear physics and astrophysics, which seeks to understand the nuclear engines of astronomical objects and the origin of the chemical elements. This white paper summarizes progress and…
The $^{13}$C($\alpha$,$n$)$^{16}$O reaction is the main neutron source for the slow-neutron-capture (s-) process in Asymptotic Giant Branch stars and for the intermediate (i-) process. Direct measurements at astrophysical energies in…
The study of the origin of heavy elements is one of the main goals of nuclear astrophysics. In this paper, we present new observational data for the heavy $r$-process elements gadolinium (Gd, Z=64), dysprosium (Dy, Z=66) and thorium (Th,…
Radioactive nuclei were present in the early Solar System, as inferred from analysis of meteorites. Many are produced in massive stars, either during their lives or their final explosions. In the first paper in this series (Brinkman et al.…
Analysis of inclusions in primitive meteorites reveals that several short-lived radionuclides (SLRs) with half-lives $0.1-100$ Myr existed in the early Solar System (ESS). We investigate the ESS origin of $^{107}$Pd, $^{135}$Cs, and…
We studied $\alpha$ cluster states in $^{26}$Mg via the $^{22}$Ne($^{6}$Li,$d\gamma$)$^{26}$Mg reaction in inverse kinematics at an energy of $7$ MeV/nucleon. States between $E_x$ = 4 - 12 MeV in $^{26}$Mg were populated and relative…
Accurate 7Li(d,n)24He thermonuclear reaction rates are crucial for precise prediction of the primordial abundances of Lithium and Beryllium and to probe the mysteries beyond fundamental physics and the standard cosmological model. However,…
NGC 6522 is a moderately metal-poor bulge globular cluster ([Fe/H]$\sim$$-$1.0), and it is a well-studied representative among a number of moderately metal-poor blue horizontal branch clusters located in the bulge. The NGC 6522 abundance…