Related papers: Statistical Methods for Thermonuclear Reaction Rat…
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…
A small number of naturally occurring, proton-rich nuclides (the p-nuclei) cannot be made in the s- and r-process. Their origin is not well understood. Massive stars can produce p-nuclei through photodisintegration of pre-existing…
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.…
The s-process, a production mechanism based on slow-neutron capture during stellar evolution, is the origin of about half the elements heavier than iron. Abundance predictions for s-process nucleosynthesis depend strongly on the relevant…
Over the billions of years since the Big Bang, the lives, deaths and afterlives of stars have enriched the Universe in the heavy elements that make up so much of ourselves and our world. This review summarizes the methods used to evolve…
The relevant energy ranges for stellar nuclear reactions are introduced. Low-energy compound and direct reactions are discussed. Stellar modifications of the cross sections are presented. Implications for experiments are outlined.
We present a straightforward integration method to compute the abundance and temperature evolution in explosive scenarios. In this approach the thermal equation is implicitely coupled with chemical equations in order to avoid instabilities…
We summarize recent ab initio studies of low-energy electroweak reactions of astrophysical interest, relevant for both big bang nucleosynthesis and solar neutrino production. The calculational methods include direct integration for np…
The main s-process taking place in low mass stars produces about half of the elements heavier than iron. It is therefore very important to determine the importance and impact of nuclear physics uncertainties on this process. We have…
The problem of accurately determining the equation of state of nuclear and neutron matter at density near and beyond saturation is still an open challenge. In this paper we will review the most recent progress made by means of Quantum Monte…
Astrophysical reaction rates for reactions with proton-rich isotopes of Ne to Bi from stability to the proton dripline were calculated with an updated version of the SMARAGD statistical model (Hauser-Feshbach) code. Here, the focus was on…
The major problem in the cosmological nucleosynthesis is the evaluation of the reaction rate. The present scenario is that the standard thermonuclear function in the Maxwell-Boltzmann form is evaluated by using various techniques. The…
Realistic nuclear level densities (NLDs) obtained within the spectral distribution method (SDM) are employed to study nuclear processes of astrophysical interest. The merit of SDM lies in the fact that the NLDs corresponding to many body…
Big bang nucleosynthesis provides the earliest probe of standard model physics, at a time when the universe was less than a thousand seconds old. It determines the abundances of the lightest nuclides, which give rise to the subsequent…
A method for making realistic estimates of the density of levels in even-even nuclei is presented making use of the Monte Carlo shell model (MCSM). The procedure follows three basic steps: (1) computation of the thermal energy with the…
A selected overview of stellar effects and reaction mechanisms with relevance to the prediction of astrophysical reaction rates far off stability is provided.
We present a new combinatorial method for the calculation of the nuclear level density. It is based on a Monte Carlo technique, in order to avoid a direct counting procedure which is generally impracticable for high-A nuclei. The Monte…
Radiative capture reactions play a crucial role in stellar nucleosynthesis but have proved challenging to determine experimentally. In particular, the large uncertainty ($\sim$100%) in the measured rate of the…
The nucleosynthesis and other observable consequences of a nova outburst depend sensitively on the details of the thermonuclear runaway which initiates the outburst. One important source of uncertainty in our current models is the nuclear…
The prediction of stellar ($\gamma$,$\alpha$) reaction rates for heavy nuclei is based on the calculation of ($\alpha$,$\gamma$) cross sections at sub-Coulomb energies. These rates are essential for modeling the nucleosynthesis of so-called…