Conveners
Session 8: Nuclear Astrophysics
- Christian Iliadis (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
The Oslo Method is a unique technique to extract simultaneously the nuclear level density (NLD) and photon strength function (PSF) from excitation energy tagged gamma-ray spectra. These nuclear properties are important inputs in cross section calculations and can be used to constrain neutron capture cross sections for nuclei, where these cannot be measured directly. I will give an overview of...
The K600 magnetic spectrometer and the CAKE silicon detector array form a powerful tool for coincidence measurements in many nuclear physics experiments, including nuclear astrophysics. These instruments have been used, among others, in studies measuring proton decays from αunbound states in 22Mg through the 24Mg(p,t)22Mg reaction to study the 18Ne(α,p)21Na cross section relevant in type-I...
Neutron data are of fundamental importance in nuclear astrophysics for understanding the origin of chemical elements heavier than Fe, where and how these nuclei have been synthesized.
The CERN n_TOF facility offers a neutron flux that spans a wide energy spectrum, from thermal to GeV energies, enabling measurements covering at the same time the whole spectra of nuclear astrophysics...
Neutron-capture cross sections play a vital role in our understanding of heavy element nucleosynthesis. In astrophysical processes such as the intermediate neutron-capture process, or $i$-process, element formation occurs in neutron-rich environments and involves short-lived isotopes for which capture cross sections cannot be measured directly. Instead reaction rates in these regions rely on...