Publications (66)
Nuclear Physics Mid Term Plan at LNGS
R. Buompane, F. Cavanna, C. Curceanu +59
The Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare-Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) is one of the largest underground physics laboratory, a very peculiar environment suited for ex…
New experimental Na()Mg Reaction Rate for Massive Star and Type-Ia Supernova models
N. J. Hubbard, C. Aa. Diget, S. P. Fox +8
The Na()Mg reaction has been identified as having a significant impact on the nucleosynthesis of several nuclei between Ne and Ti in type-Ia supernovae, and of…
NuGrid stellar data set I. Stellar yields from H to Bi for stars with metallicities Z = 0.02 and Z = 0.01
M. Pignatari, F. Herwig, R. Hirschi +16
We provide a set of stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis calculations that applies established physics assumptions simultaneously to low- and intermediate-mass and massive star mo…
Remnants and ejecta of thermonuclear electron-capture supernovae: Constraining oxygen-neon deflagrations in high-density white dwarfs
S. Jones, F. K. Roepke, C. Fryer +7
(Abridged) The explosion mechanism of electron-capture supernovae (ECSNe) remains equivocal. We attempt to constrain the explosion mechanism (neutron-star-forming implosion or ther…
Looking for imprints of the first stellar generations in metal-poor bulge field stars
C. Siqueira-Mello, C. Chiappini, B. Barbuy +9
Context. Efforts to look for signatures of the first stars have concentrated on metal-poor halo objects. However, the low end of the bulge metallicity distribution has been shown t…
Production of radioactive Na in core-collapse supernovae: the Ne-E(L) component in presolar grains and its possible consequences on supernova observations
M. Pignatari, S. Amari, P. Hoppe +8
Presolar graphite grains carry the isotopic signatures of their parent stars. A significant fraction of presolar graphites shows isotopic abundance anomalies relative to solar for…
Study of (Li, ) and (Li, ) reactions on Ne and implications for -process nucleosynthesis
S. Ota, G. Christian, W. N. Catford +20
We studied cluster states in Mg via the Ne(Li,)Mg reaction in inverse kinematics at an energy of MeV/nucleon. States between = 4 - 12…
Using failed supernovae to constrain the Galactic r-process element production
B. Wehmeyer, C. Frohlich, B. Côté +2
Rapid neutron capture process (r-process) elements have been detected in a large fraction of metal-poor halo stars, with abundances relative to iron (Fe) that vary by over two orde…
Stellar () cross section of Na
E. Uberseder, M. Heil, F. Käppeler +5
The cross section of the Na()Na reaction has been measured via the activation method at the Karlsruhe 3.7 MV Van de Graaff accelerator. NaCl samples were expos…
Enrichment of the Galactic disc with neutron-capture elements: Gd, Dy, and Th
T. Mishenina, M. Pignatari, T. Gorbaneva +4
The study of the origin of heavy elements is one of the main goals of nuclear astrophysics. In this paper, we present new observational data for the heavy -process elements gado…
Nucleosynthesis in the Early Galaxy
F. Montes, T. C. Beers, J. Cowan +8
Recent observations of r-process-enriched metal-poor star abundances reveal a non-uniform abundance pattern for elements . Based on non-correlation trends between elementa…
The effect of 12C + 12C rate uncertainties on the evolution and nucleosynthesis of massive stars
M. E. Bennett, R. Hirschi, M. Pignatari +8
[Shortened] The 12C + 12C fusion reaction has been the subject of considerable experimental efforts to constrain uncertainties at temperatures relevant for stellar nucleosynthesis.…
The s process in rotating low-mass AGB stars. Nucleosynthesis calculations in models matching asteroseismic constraints
J. W. den Hartogh, R. Hirschi, M. Lugaro +5
Aims. We investigate the s-process during the AGB phase of stellar models whose cores are enforced to rotate at rates consistent with asteroseismology observations of their progeni…
Time scales of the s process - from minutes to ages
F. Käppeler, S. Bisterzo, R. Gallino +7
A discussion of the time scales in the s process appears to be an approriate aspect to discuss at the occasion of 70th anniversary of Roberto Gallino, the more as this subject has…
Application of a Theory and Simulation based Convective Boundary Mixing model for AGB Star Evolution and Nucleosynthesis
U. Battino, M. Pignatari, C. Ritter +8
The -process nucleosynthesis in Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars depends on the modeling of convective boundaries. We present models and s-process simulations that adopt a tr…
Enrichment of the Galactic disc with neutron capture elements: Sr
T. Mishenina, M. Pignatari, T. Gorbaneva +4
The enrichment history of heavy neutron-capture elements in the Milky Way disc provides fundamental information about the chemical evolution of our Galaxy and about the stellar sou…
New 26P(p,γ)27S thermonuclear reaction rate and its astrophysical implication in rp-process
S. Q. Hou, J. B. Liu, T. C. L. Trueman +4
Accurate nuclear reaction rates for 26P(p,γ)27S are pivotal for a comprehensive understanding of rp-process nucleosynthesis path in the region of proton-rich sulfur and phosphorus…
Galactic Chemical Evolution of Radioactive Isotopes with an s-process Contribution
T. C. L. Trueman, B. Côté, A. Yagüe López +5
Analysis of inclusions in primitive meteorites reveals that several short-lived radionuclides (SLRs) with half-lives Myr existed in the early Solar System (ESS). We inves…
A direct measurement of the 17O(a,g)21Ne reaction in inverse kinematics and its impact on heavy element production
M. P. Taggart, C. Akers, A. M. Laird +33
During the slow neutron capture process in massive stars, reactions on light elements can both produce and absorb neutrons thereby influencing the final heavy element abundances. A…
Neutron Capture Cross Sections for the Weak s Process
M. Heil, A. Juseviciute, F. Kaeppeler +3
In past decades a lot of progress has been made towards understanding the main s-process component that takes place in thermally pulsing Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars. During…
Barium stars as tracers of s-process nucleosynthesis in AGB stars II. Using machine learning techniques on 169 stars
J. W. den Hartogh, A. Yagüe López, B. Cseh +7
We aim to analyse the abundance pattern of 169 Barium (Ba) stars, using machine learning techniques and the AGB final surface abundances predicted by Fruity and Monash stellar mode…
Improved thermonuclear rate of Ti(,)V and its astrophysical implication in rp-process
S. Q. Hou, C. Iliadis, M. Pignatari +4
Accurate Ti(,)V reaction rates are crucial for understanding the nucleosynthesis path of the rapid capture process (rp-process) that occurs in X-ray bursts. We…
128Xe and 130Xe: Testing He-shell burning in AGB stars
R. Reifarth, F. Kaeppeler, F. Voss +4
The s-process branching at 128I has been investigated on the basis of new, precise experimental (n,g) cross sections for the s-only isotopes 128Xe and 130Xe. This branching is uniq…
New Thermonuclear Rate of 7Li(d,n)24He relevant to the Cosmological Lithium Problem
S. Q. Hou, T. Kajino, T. C. L. Trueman +3
Accurate 7Li(d,n)24He thermonuclear reaction rates are crucial for precise prediction of the primordial abundances of Lithium and Beryllium and to probe the mysteries beyond fundam…
Probing astrophysically important states in Mg nucleus to study neutron sources for the -Process
R. Talwar, T. Adachi, G. P. A. Berg +20
The Ne(,n)Mg reaction is the dominant neutron source for the slow neutron capture process (-process) in massive stars and contributes, together with the $^{13}…
The i-process and CEMP-r/s stars
L. Dardelet, C. Ritter, P. Prado +10
We investigate whether the anomalous elemental abundance patterns in some of the C-enhanced metal-poor-s+r (CEMP-r/s) stars are consistent with predictions of nucleosynthesis yield…
Evaluation of the N(,p)O thermonuclear reaction rate and its impact on the isotopic composition of supernova grains
A. Meyer, N. de Séréville, A. M. Laird +12
It has been suggested that hydrogen ingestion into the helium shell of massive stars could lead to high C and N excesses when the shock of a core-collapse supernova p…
Experimental neutron capture data of Ni from the CERN n_TOF facility
TOF collaboration, P. Žugec, M. Barbagallo +99
The Ni cross section has been measured at the neutron time of flight facility n_TOF at CERN, in the energy range from 27 meV up to 400 keV. In total, 51 resonances…
H ingestion into He-burning convection zones in super-AGB stellar models as a potential site for intermediate neutron-density nucleosynthesis
S. Jones, C. Ritter, F. Herwig +4
We investigate the evolution of super-AGB thermal pulse (TP) stars for a range of metallicities (Z) and explore the effect of convective boundary mixing (CBM). With decreasing meta…
Aluminium-26 from massive binary stars II. Rotating single stars up to core-collapse and their impact on the early Solar System
Hannah E. Brinkman, J. W. den Hartogh, C. L. Doherty +2
Radioactive nuclei were present in the early Solar System, as inferred from analysis of meteorites. Many are produced in massive stars, either during their lives or their final exp…
Convective-reactive nucleosynthesis of K, Sc, Cl and p-process isotopes in O-C shell mergers
C. Ritter, R. Andrassy, B. Côté +4
We address the deficiency of odd-Z elements P, Cl, K and Sc in galactic chemical evolution models through an investigation of the nucleosynthesis of interacting convective O- and C…
Production of carbon-rich presolar grains from massive stars
M. Pignatari, M. Wiescher, F. X. Timmes +6
About a year after core collapse supernova, dust starts to condense in the ejecta. In meteorites, a fraction of C-rich presolar grains (e.g., silicon carbide (SiC) grains of Type-X…
The -process nucleosynthesis in core-collapse supernovae. I. A novel analysis of -process yields in massive stars
L. Roberti, M. Pignatari, A. Psaltis +4
The -process nucleosynthesis in core-collapse supernovae is generally accepted as a feasible process for the synthesis of neutron-deficient isotopes beyond iron. However, cruci…
Carbon-rich presolar grains from massive stars. Subsolar 12C/13C and 14N/15N ratios and the mystery of 15N
M. Pignatari, E. Zinner, P. Hoppe +7
Carbon-rich grains with isotopic anomalies compared to the Sun are found in primitive meteorites. They were made by stars, and carry the original stellar nucleosynthesis signature.…
Neutron capture cross section of unstable 63Ni: implications for stellar nucleosynthesis
C. Lederer, C. Massimi, S. Altstadt +102
The Ni() cross section has been measured for the first time at the neutron time-of-flight facility n\_TOF at CERN from thermal neutron energies up to 200 keV. In tota…
Peculiarities of the chemical enrichment of metal-poor Stars in the Milky Way Galaxy
T. Mishenina, M. Pignatari, I. Usenko +5
The oldest stars in the Milky Way are metal-poor with [Fe/H] < -- 1.0, displaying peculiar elemental abundances compared to solar values. The relative variations in the chemical co…
High-resolution abundance analysis of red giants in the globular cluster NGC 6522
B. Barbuy, C. Chiappini, E. Cantelli +11
The [Sr/Ba] and [Y/Ba] scatter observed in some galactic halo stars that are very metal-poor stars and in a few individual stars of the oldest known Milky Way globular cluster NGC…
High-temperature Tl decay clarifies Pb dating in early Solar System
G. Leckenby, R. S. Sidhu, R. J. Chen +56
Radioactive nuclei with lifetimes on the order of millions of years can reveal the formation history of the Sun and active nucleosynthesis occurring at the time and place of its bi…
NuGrid Stellar Data Set. II. Stellar Yields from H to Bi for Stellar Models with Mzams = 1 to 25Msun and Z = 0.0001 to 0.02
C. Ritter, F. Herwig, S. Jones +3
We provide here a significant extension of the NuGrid Set 1 models in mass coverage and toward lower metallicity, adopting the same physics assumptions. The combined data set now i…
The first direct measurement of 12C(12C,n)23Mg at stellar energies
B. Bucher, X. D. Tang, X. Fang +28
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 exper…
The SPAr burning: proton captures powering carbon-oxygen shell mergers in massive stars
L. Roberti, M. Pignatari
Carbon-oxygen (C-O) shell mergers in massive stars play a crucial role in both nucleosynthesis and the final stages of stellar evolution. These convective-reactive events significa…
The Occurrence and Impact of Carbon-Oxygen Shell Mergers in Massive Stars
L. Roberti, M. Pignatari, H. E. Brinkman +6
In their final stages before undergoing a core-collapse supernova, massive stars may experience mergers between internal shells where carbon (C) and oxygen (O) are consumed as fuel…
Galactic evolution of rapid neutron capture process abundances: the inhomogeneous approach
B. Wehmeyer, M. Pignatari, F. -K. Thielemann
For the origin of heavy r-process elements, different sources have been proposed, e.g., core-collapse supernovae or neutron star mergers. Old metal-poor stars carry the signature o…
Systematic and correlated nuclear uncertainties in the i-process at the neutron shell closure N = 82
M. G. Bertolli, F. Herwig, M. Pignatari +1
Nuclear astrophysics simulations aiming to study the origin of the elements in stars require a multitude of nuclear physics input. Both systematic model dependent and statistically…
Stellar Evolution in the Early Universe
R. Hirschi, U. Frischknecht, F. -K. Thielemann +5
Massive stars played a key role in the early evolution of the Universe. They formed with the first halos and started the re-ionisation. It is therefore very important to understand…
The s process in massive stars at low metallicity. Effect of primary N14 from fast rotating stars
M. Pignatari, R. Gallino, G. Meynet +3
The goal of this paper is to analyze the impact of a primary neutron source on the s-process nucleosynthesis in massive stars at halo metallicity. Recent stellar models including r…
The Fe(n, γ)Fe Cross Section from the Surrogate Ratio Method and Its Effect on the Fe Nucleosynthesis
S. Q. Yan, X. Y. Li, K. Nishio +39
The long-lived Fe (with a half-life of 2.62 Myr) is a crucial diagnostic of active nucleosynthesis in the Milky Way galaxy and in supernovae near the solar system. The neutr…
Abundances of neutron-capture elements in stars of the galactic disk substructures
T. V. Mishenina, M. Pignatari, S. A. Korotin +5
The aim of this work is to present and discuss the observations of the iron peak (Fe, Ni) and neutron-capture element (Y, Zr, Ba, La, Ce, Nd, Sm, and Eu) abundances for 276 FGK dwa…
Using chemical evolution models of the Milky Way disk to constrain Type Ia supernova progenitors
T. C. L. Trueman, M. Pignatari, B. Cseh +3
Thermonuclear explosions of carbon-oxygen white dwarfs as Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) play a significant role in the galactic chemical evolution (GCE) of the Milky Way. However, a…
Mn abundances in the stars of the Galactic disc with metallicities -1.0 < [Fe/H] < 0.3
T. Mishenina, T. Gorbaneva, M. Pignatari +2
In this work we present and discuss the observations of the Mn abundances for 247 FGK dwarfs, located in the Galactic disc with metallicity -1<Fe/H]<+0.3. The observed stars belong…
Silicon carbide grains of type C provide evidence for the production of the unstable isotope Si in supernovae
M. Pignatari, E. Zinner, M. G. Bertolli +8
Carbon-rich grains are observed to condense in the ejecta of recent core-collapse supernovae, within a year after the explosion. Silicon carbide grains of type X are C-rich grains…
New insights on Ba over-abundance in open clusters. Evidence for the intermediate neutron-capture process at play?
T. Mishenina, M. Pignatari, G. Carraro +6
Recently an increasing number of studies were devoted to measure the abundances of neutron-capture elements heavier than iron in stars belonging to Galactic Open Clusters (OCs). OC…
Horizons: Nuclear Astrophysics in the 2020s and Beyond
H. Schatz, A. D. Becerril Reyes, A. Best +162
Nuclear Astrophysics is a field at the intersection of nuclear physics and astrophysics, which seeks to understand the nuclear engines of astronomical objects and the origin of the…
The 12C + 12C reaction and the impact on nucleosynthesis in massive stars
M. Pignatari, R. Hirschi, M. Wiescher +7
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,a…
The Gaia-ESO Survey: A new approach to chemically characterising young open clusters II. Abundances of the neutron-capture elements Cu, Sr, Y, Zr, Ba, La, and Ce
M. Baratella, V. D'Orazi, V. Sheminova +32
Young open clusters (t<200 Myr) have been observed to exhibit several peculiarities in their chemical compositions, from a slightly sub-solar iron content, super-solar abundances o…
Sensitivity study for s process nucleosynthesis in AGB stars
A. Koloczek, B. Thomas, J. Glorius +6
In this paper we present a large-scale sensitivity study of reaction rates in the main component of the process. The aim of this study is to identify all rates, which have a gl…
Role of core-collapse supernovae in explaining Solar System abundances of p nuclides
C. Travaglio, T. Rauscher, A. Heger +2
The production of the heavy stable proton-rich isotopes between 74Se and 196Hg -- the p nuclides -- is due to the contribution from different nucleosynthesis processes, activated i…
Observing the metal-poor solar neighbourhood: a comparison of galactic chemical evolution predictions
T. Mishenina, M. Pignatari, B. Cot'e +14
Atmospheric parameters and chemical compositions for ten stars with metallicities in the region of -2.2< [Fe/H] <-0.6 were precisely determined using high resolution, high signal t…
Measurement of the reaction O-17(α,n)Ne-20 and its impact on the s process in massive stars
A. Best, M. Beard, J. Görres +16
The ratio between the rates of the reactions O-17(α,n)Ne-20 and O-17(α,γ)Ne-21 determines whether O-16 is an efficient neutron poison for the s process in massive stars, or if m…
UVES analysis of red giants in the bulge globular cluster NGC 6522
B. Barbuy, E. Cantelli, L. Muniz +10
NGC 6522 is a moderately metal-poor bulge globular cluster ([Fe/H]1.0), and it is a well-studied representative among a number of moderately metal-poor blue horizontal bra…
The s process in AGB stars as constrained by a large sample of Barium stars
B. Cseh, M. Lugaro, V. D'Orazi +8
Context. Barium (Ba) stars are dwarf and giant stars enriched in elements heavier than iron produced by the slow neutron-capture process (s process). They belong to binary systems…
Aluminium-26 from massive binary stars III. Binary stars up to core-collapse and their impact on the early Solar System
Hannah E. Brinkman, C. L. Doherty, M. Pignatari +2
Many of the short-lived radioactive nuclei that were present in the early Solar System can be produced in massive stars. In the first paper in this series (Brinkman et al. 2019), w…
The 12C(a,g)16O reaction and its implications for stellar helium burning
R. J. deBoer, J. Gorres, M. Wiescher +10
The creation of carbon and oxygen in our universe is one of the forefront questions in nuclear astrophysics. The determination of the abundance of these elements is key to both our…
Deep underground laboratory measurement of C(,)O in the Gamow windows of the - and -processes
B. Gao, T. Y. Jiao, Y. T. Li +71
The C(,)O reaction is the main neutron source for the slow-neutron-capture (s-) process in Asymptotic Giant Branch stars and for the intermediate (i-) process.…
Pop III -process Nucleosynthesis and the Elemental Abundances of SMSS J0313-6708 and the Most Iron-Poor Stars
O. Clarkson, F. Herwig, M. Pignatari
We have investigated a highly energetic H-ingestion event during shell He burning leading to H-burning luminosities of $\log(L_\mathrm{H}/\mathrm{\Lsun}) \sim 13$ in a $45 \Msun$ P…
Ni() and Ni() cross sections measured at n_TOF/CERN
C. Lederer, C. Massimi, E. Berthoumieux +112
The cross section of the Ni() reaction was measured with the time-of-flight technique at the neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF at CERN. Capture kernels of 42 reson…