Related papers: Nuclear astrophysics
There has never been a more exciting time in the overlapping areas of nuclear physics, particle physics and relativistic astrophysics than today. Orbiting observatories such as the Hubble Space Telescope, Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE),…
Astrophysics is gaining increased attention from the particle and nuclear physics communities, as budget cuts, delays, and cancellations limit opportunities for breakthrough research at accelerator laboratories. Observations of cosmic rays…
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…
Among all nuclear ground-state properties, atomic masses are highly specific for each particular combination of N and Z and the data obtained apply to a variety of physics topics. One of the most crucial questions to be addressed in mass…
Nuclear fusion reactions, at energies, far below the Coulomb barrier play a significant role in the synthesis of light elements in the primordial nucleosynthesis as well as in the interior of compact stellar objects. Many different kinds of…
The nuclei fraction in cosmic rays (CR) far exceeds the fraction of other CR species, such as antiprotons, electrons, and positrons. Thus the majority of information obtained from CR studies is based on interpretation of isotopic abundances…
Studying the physical processes occurring in the region just above the magnetic poles of strongly magnetized, accreting binary neutron stars is essential to our understanding of stellar and binary system evolution. Perhaps more importantly,…
Preliminary results of a new set of stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis calculations for massive stars are presented. These results were obtained with an extended reaction network up to Bi. The discussion focuses on the importance of…
The highest energy cosmic rays observed possess macroscopic energies and their origin is likely to be associated with the most energetic processes in the Universe. Their existence triggered a flurry of theoretical explanations ranging from…
Nuclear physics experiments give reaction rates that, via modelling and comparison with primordial abundances, constrain cosmological parameters. The error bars of a key reaction, \dpg, were tightened in 2020, bringing to light…
From the synthesis and evolution of the elements to the celestial nuclear processes of stellar explosions and neutron star mergers, nuclear physics is the foundation of our understanding of the universe. After more than a century of…
Stars are gravitationally stabilized fusion reactors changing their chemical composition while transforming light atomic nuclei into heavy ones. The atomic nuclei are supposed to be in thermal equilibrium with the ambient plasma. The…
Nucleosynthesis processes involve reactions on several thousand nuclei, both close to and far off stability. The preparation of reaction rates to be used in astrophysical investigations requires experimental and theoretical input. In this…
The force that governs the evolution of stars is gravity. Indeed this force drives star formation, imposes thermal and density gradients into stars at hydrostatic equilibrium and finally plays the key role in the last phases of their…
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…
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…
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…
We recall the basic physical principles governing the evolution of stars with some emphasis on the role played by the nuclear reactions. We argue that in general it is not possible from observations of stars to deduce constraints on the…
Nuclear reactions govern major aspects of the chemical evolution od galaxies and stars. Analytic study of the reaction rates and reaction probability integrals is attempted here. Exact expressions for the reaction rates and reaction…
The most energetic part of the electromagnetic spectrum bears the purest clues to the synthesis of atomic nuclei in the universe. The decay of radioactive species, synthesized in stellar environments and ejected into the interstellar…