Related papers: The 12C(a,g)16O reaction and its implications for …
The rate of oxygen formation determines the C/O ratio during stellar helium burning. It is the single most important nuclear input of stellar evolution theory including the evolution of Type II and Type Ia supernova. Yet the low energy…
The $^{12}$C($\alpha,\gamma$)$^{16}$O reaction, an important component of stellar helium burning, has a key role in nuclear astrophysics. It has direct impact on the evolution and final state of massive stars and also influences the…
The abundances of the isotopes of the elements C, N and O are mainly affected by the cold CNO cycles in non-explosive stellar situations, or by the hot CNO chains that can develop in certain explosive sites, like classical novae. Helium…
The nuclear rates for reactions involving 12C and 16O are key to compute the energy release and nucleosynthesis of massive stars during their evolution. These rates shape the stellar structure and evolution, and impact the nature of the…
The Carbon-Nitrogen-Oxygen (CNO) cycle is fundamental to the process of hydrogen burning in stars, serving as a pivotal mechanism. At its core, the primary reaction involves the radiative capture of a proton by $^{12}$C, crucially…
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 $^{12}$C($\alpha,\gamma$)$^{16}$O reaction, an important component of stellar helium burning, plays a key role in nuclear astrophysics. It has direct impact on the evolution and final state of massive stars, while also influencing the…
During helium burning in the core of a red giant, the relative rates of the 3&alpha and ^{12}C(&alpha,&gamma)^{16}O reactions largely determine the final ratio of carbon to oxygen in the resulting white dwarf star. The uncertainty in the…
The outcome of helium burning is the formation of the two elements, carbon and oxygen. The ratio of carbon to oxygen at the end of helium burning is crucial for understanding the final fate of a progenitor star and the nucleosynthesis of…
Despite much effort in the past decades, the C-burning reaction rate is uncertain by several orders of magnitude, and the relative strength between the different channels 12C(12C,alpha)20Ne, 12C(12C,p)23Na and 12C(12C,n)23Mg is poorly…
The 13C(a,n)16O reaction is the main neutron source of the s-process taking place in thermally pulsing AGB stars and it is one of the main candidate sources of neutrons for the i-process in the astrophysical sites proposed so far.…
One of the largest uncertainties in stellar evolutionary computations is the accuracy of the considered reaction rates. The 12C(alpha,gamma)16O reaction is particularly important for the study of low- and intermediate-mass stars as it…
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 ${}^{12}\mathrm{C}/{}^{13}\mathrm{C}$ ratio is a significant indicator of nucleosynthesis and mixing processes during hydrogen burning in stars. Its value mainly depends on the relative rates of the…
The bulk of the carbon in our universe is produced in the triple-alpha process in helium-burning red giant stars. We calculated the change of the triple-alpha reaction rate in a microscopic 12-nucleon model of the C-12 nucleus and looked…
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.…
Neutrons produced by the carbon fusion reaction 12C(12C,n)23Mg play an important role in stellar nucleosynthesis. However, past studies have shown large discrepancies between experimental data and theory, leading to an uncertain cross…
The contribution by massive stars (M > 9 solar masses) to the weak s-process component of the solar system abundances is primarily due to the 22Ne neutron source, which is activated near the end of helium-core burning. The residual 22Ne…
Fusion reactions with light nuclei play an essential role in understanding the energy production, the nucleosynthesis of chemical elements and the evolution of massive stars. The measurement of key fusion reactions at stellar energies is…
Effective values for the key helium burning reaction rates, triple-alpha and 12C(alpha,gamma)16O, are obtained by adjusting their strengths so as to obtain the best match with the solar abundance pattern of isotopes uniquely or…