Related papers: Astronomy with Radioactivities: Chapter 9, Nuclear…
Accurate nuclear reaction rates are needed for primordial nucleosynthesis and hydrostatic burning in stars. The relevant reactions are extremely difficult to measure directly in the laboratory at the small astrophysical energies. In recent…
We review different models used for reactions involved in nuclear astrophysics. The reaction rate is defined for resonant as well as for non-resonant processes. For low-density nuclei, we describe the DWBA method, the potential model, the…
Transfer reactions are an important tool in nuclear astrophysics. These reactions allow us to identify states in nuclei and to find the corresponding energies, to determine if these states can contribute to astrophysical nuclear reactions…
Theoretical reaction rates in the temperature range 0.01*10^9<=T[K]<=10.*10^9 are calculated in the statistical model (Hauser-Feshbach formalism) for targets with 10<=Z<=83 (Ne to Bi) and for a mass range reaching the neutron and proton…
Atomic nuclei are transformed into each other in the cosmos by nuclear reactions inside stars: -- the process of nucleosynthesis. The basic concepts of determining nuclear reaction rates inside stars and how they manage to burn their fuel…
The problem of determining the effects of the surrounding plasma on nuclear reaction rates in stars is formulated ab initio, using the techniques of quantum statistical mechanics. We derive a result that expresses the complete effects of…
Properties of atomic nuclei important for the prediction of astrophysical reaction rates are reviewed. In the first part, a recent simulation of evolution and nucleosynthesis of stars between 15 and 25 solar masses is presented. This study…
The quest for the origin of the chemical elements, which we find in our body, in our planet (Earth), in our star (Sun), or in our galaxy (Milky Way) could only be resolved with a thorough understanding of the nuclear physics properties of…
X-ray bursts are thermonuclear flashes on the surface of accreting neutron stars and reliable burst models are needed to interpret observations in terms of properties of the neutron star and the binary system. We investigate the dependence…
The reaction mechanisms best suited for the production of neutron-rich nuclei, fragmentation and fission, are discussed. Measurements of the production cross sections of reaction residues together with model calculations allow to conclude…
A general formalism to include experimental reaction cross sections into calculations of stellar rates is presented. It also allows to assess the maximally possible reduction of uncertainties in the stellar rates by experiments. As an…
Nuclear reactions transform atomic nuclei inside stars. This is the process of stellar nucleosynthesis. The basic concepts of determining nuclear reaction rates inside stars are reviewed. How stars manage to burn their fuel so slowly most…
Modern models of s-process nucleosynthesis in stars require stellar reaction rates with high precision. Most of the neutron capture cross sections in the s-process have been measured and for an increasing number of reactions the required…
A simple description for obtaining the parity distribution of nuclear levels in the pf + g9/2 shell as a function of excitation energy was recently derived. We implement this in a global nuclear level density model. In the framework of the…
Nuclear reactions proceed differently in stellar plasmas than in the laboratory due to the thermal effects in the plasma. On one hand, a target nucleus is bombarded by projectiles distributed in energy with a distribution defined by the…
The radiative neutron capture reaction rates have been studied at very low energies which are of interest for nuclear astrophysics. The rates for many of these reactions have remained independent of temperature so far. The temperature…
Fundamental differences in the prediction of reaction rates with intermediate and heavy target nuclei compared to the ones with light nuclei are discussed, with special emphasis on stellar modifications of the rates. Ground and excited…
The precise calculation of alpha-induced neutron-emission ($\alpha$,n) reaction rates is fundamental to understanding nucleosynthesis in diverse stellar environments. This study investigates the nuclear reaction rates for various…
In order to study the processes creating intermediate and heavy nuclei in massive stars it is necessary to provide neutron capture cross sections and reaction rates close to stability and for moderately unstable neutron-rich nuclei.…
Microscopic calculations show a strong parity dependence of the nuclear level density at low excitation energy of a nucleus. Previously, this dependence has either been neglected or only implemented in the initial and final channels of…