Related papers: LUNA: Nuclear Astrophysics Deep Underground
The essential ingredients of nuclear astrophysics are the thermonuclear reactions which shape the life and death of stars and which are responsible for the synthesis of the chemical elements in the Universe. Deep underground in the Gran…
It is in the nature of astrophysics that many of the processes and objects one tries to understand are physically inaccessible. Thus, it is important that those aspects that can be studied in the laboratory be rather well understood. One…
The goal of nuclear astrophysics is to measure cross sections of nuclear physics reactions of interest in astrophysics. At stars temperatures, these cross sections are very low due to the suppression of the Coulomb barrier. Cosmic ray…
LUNA, Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics at Gran Sasso, is measuring fusion cross sections down to the energy of the nucleosynthesis inside stars. Outstanding results obtained up to now are the cross-section measurements within…
Nuclear reaction cross sections are essential ingredients to predict the evolution of AGB stars and understand their impact on the chemical evolution of our Galaxy. Unfortunately, the cross sections of the reactions involved are often very…
For millennia, mankind has been fascinated by the marvel of the starry night sky. Yet, a proper scientific understanding of how stars form, shine, and die is a relatively recent achievement, made possible by the interplay of different…
Nuclear physics has a long and productive history of application to astrophysics which continues today. Advances in the accuracy and breadth of astrophysical data and theory drive the need for better experimental and theoretical…
Reactions between atomic nuclei are measured in great detail in terrestrial laboratory experiments; transferring and extrapolating this knowledge to how the same reactions act within cosmic environments presents major challenges.…
Extremely low background experiments to measure key nuclear reaction cross sections of astrophysical interest are conducted at the world's deepest underground laboratory, the Jingping Underground laboratory for Nuclear Astrophysics (JUNA).…
Nuclear reactions are responsible for the chemical evolution of stars, galaxies and the Universe. Unfortunately, at temperatures of interest for nuclear astrophysics, the cross-sections of the thermonuclear reactions are in the…
In this review, we emphasize the interplay between astrophysical observations, modeling, and nuclear physics laboratory experiments. Several important nuclear cross sections for astrophysics have long been identified e.g.…
The chemical evolution of the Universe and several phases of the stellar life are regulated by minute nuclear reactions. The key point for each of these reactions is the value of cross sections at the energies at which they take place in…
The LUNA (Laboratory Underground for Nuclear Astrophysics) facility has been designed to study nuclear reactions of astrophysical interest. It is located deep underground in the Gran Sasso National Laboratory, Italy. Two electrostatic…
The manuscript reviews progress achieved in recent years in various aspects of nuclear astrophysics, including stellar nucleosynthesis, nuclear aspects of supernova collapse and explosion, neutrino-induced reactions and their possible role…
We observe photons and neutrinos from stars. Based on these observations, complemented by measurements of cosmic rays energies and composition, we have been able to constrain several models for the Big Bang and for stellar evolution. But…
The origin of the elements is a fascinating question that scientists have been trying to answer for the last seven decades. The formation of light elements in the primordial universe and heavier elements in astrophysical sources occurs…
MACRO experiment operated in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory. Neutrino events collected by this detector are used in order to study the atmospheric neutrino flux. Different measurements in different energy samples are in full…
Neutrino astrophysics offers new perspectives on the Universe investigation: high energy neutrinos, produced by the most energetic phenomena in our Galaxy and in the Universe, carry complementary (if not exclusive) information about the…
For the better part of a century the field of nuclear astrophysics has aimed to answer fundamental questions about nature, such as the origin of the elements and the behavior of high-density, low-temperature matter. Sustained and concerted…
Half a century has passed since the foundation of nuclear astrophysics. Since then, this discipline has reached its maturity. Today, nuclear astrophysics constitutes a multidisciplinary crucible of knowledge that combines the achievements…