Nuclear Structure Aspects in Nuclear Astrophysics

Conference · Fri Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 2006

OSTI ID:931408

Smith, Michael Scott ^[1]

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1. ORNL

Nuclear Astrophysics as a broad and diverse field of study can be viewed as a magnifier of the impact of microscopic processes on the evolution of macroscopic events. One of the primary goals in Nuclear Astrophysics is the understanding of the nucleosynthesis processes that take place in the cosmos and the simulation of the correlated stellar and explosive burning scenarios. These simulations are strongly dependent on the input from Nuclear Physics which sets the time scale for all stellar dynamic processes--from giga-years of stellar evolution to milliseconds of stellar explosions--and provides the basis for most of the signatures that we have for the interpretation of these events--from stellar luminosities, elemental and isotopic abundances to neutrino flux from distant supernovae. The Nuclear Physics input comes through nuclear structure, low energy reaction rates, nuclear masses, and decay rates. There is a common perception that low energy reaction rates are the most important component of the required nuclear physics input; however, in this article we take a broader approach and present an overview of the close correlation between various nuclear structure aspects and their impact on nuclear astrophysics. We discuss the interplay between the weak and the strong forces on stellar time scales due to the limitations they provide for the evolution of slow and rapid burning processes. The effects of shell structure in nuclei on stellar burning processes as well as the impact of clustering in nuclei is outlined. Furthermore we illustrate the effects of the various nuclear structure aspects on the major nucleosynthesis processes that have been identified in the last few decades. We summarize and provide a coherent overview of the impact of all aspects of nuclear structure on nuclear astrophysics.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL); Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility
• Sponsoring Organization: SC USDOE - Office of Science (SC)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 931408
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS
DECAY
EXPLOSIVES
NEUTRINOS
NUCLEAR PHYSICS
NUCLEAR STRUCTURE
NUCLEI
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
REACTION KINETICS
SIMULATION
STAR BURNING
SUPERNOVAE
UNIVERSE