Nuclear Astrophysics

Abstract

Nuclear astrophysics is that branch of astrophysics which helps understanding some of the many facets of the Universe through the knowledge of the microcosm of the atomic nucleus. In the last decades much advance has been made in nuclear astrophysics thanks to the sometimes spectacular progress in the modelling of the structure and evolution of the stars, in the quality and diversity of the astronomical observations, as well as in the experimental and theoretical understanding of the atomic nucleus and of its spontaneous or induced transformations. Developments in other sub-fields of physics and chemistry have also contributed to that advance. Many long-standing problems remain to be solved, however, and the theoretical understanding of a large variety of observational facts needs to be put on safer grounds. In addition, new questions are continuously emerging, and new facts endanger old ideas. This review shows that astrophysics has been, and still is, highly demanding to nuclear physics in both its experimental and theoretical components. On top of the fact that large varieties of nuclei have to be dealt with, these nuclei are immersed in highly unusual environments which may have a significant impact on their static properties, the diversity of their transmutation modes, and on the probabilities of these modes. In order to have a chance of solving some of the problems nuclear astrophysics is facing, the astrophysicists and nuclear physicists are obviously bound to put their competence in common, and have sometimes to benefit from the help of other fields of physics, like particle physics, plasma physics or solid-state physics.

LaTeX2e with iopart.cls, 84 pages, 19 figures (graphicx package), 374 updated references. Published in Reports on Progress in Physics, vol.62, pp. 395-464 (1999)

References in corpus (14)

• Observational Evidence from Supernovae for an Accelerating Universe and a Cosmological Constant
• Relativistic Equation of State of Nuclear Matter for Supernova and Neutron Star
• Measurements of the Solar Neutrino Flux from Super-Kamiokande's First 300 Days
• The Age Of Globular Clusters In Light Of Hipparcos: Resolving the Age Problem?
• Galactic Cosmic Rays from Supernova Remnants: II Shock Acceleration of Gas and Dust
• Galactic Cosmic Rays from Supernova Remnants (I) - a Cosmic Ray Composition controlled by Volatility and Mass-to-Charge Ratio
• Type Ia Supernovae: Their Origin and Possible Applications in Cosmology
• The Effects of Correlations on Neutrino Opacities in Nuclear Matter
• A Galaxy at z=5.34
• Two-Dimensional Hydrodynamics of Pre-Core Collapse: Oxygen Shell Burning
• The Positive Feedback of Pop III Objects on Galaxy Formation
• The Age of the Universe
• The D/H ratio at z = 3.57 toward Q 1937-1009
• Nuclear Quadrupole Effects in Deeply Bound Pionic Atoms

Cited by in corpus (35)

• The r-process of stellar nucleosynthesis: Astrophysics and nuclear physics achievements and mysteries
• Nuclear weak-interaction processes in stars
• Fission barriers of neutron-rich and superheavy nuclei calculated with the ETFSI method
• Astronuclear Physics: a Tale of the Atomic Nuclei in the Skies
• Fission barriers in actinides in covariant density functional theory: the role of triaxiality
• The fission barriers in Actinides and superheavy nuclei in covariant density functional theory
• Shell-model half-lives for the N=82 nuclei and their implications for the r-process
• Spin-isospin excitations and beta+/EC half-lives of medium-mass deformed nuclei
• alpha-nucleus potentials for the neutron-deficient p nuclei
• Actinides: How well do we know their stellar production?
• Experimental simulation of a stellar photon bath by bremsstrahlung: the astrophysical $\gamma$-process
• Beta-decay in odd-A and even-even proton-rich Kr isotopes
• Measurement of the (gamma,n) reaction rates of the nuclides 190Pt, 192Pt, and 198Pt in the astrophysical gamma-process
• The $\nu$ process in the light of an improved understanding of supernova neutrino spectra
• The production of short-lived radionuclides by new non-rotating and rotating Wolf-Rayet model stars
• ${}^{92}$Mo($\alpha ,\alpha$)${}^{92}$Mo scattering,the ${}^{92}$Mo--$\alpha$ optical potential, and the ${}^{96}$Ru($\gamma ,\alpha$)${}^{92}$Mo reaction rate at astrophysically relevant energies
• Short-lived p-nuclides in the early solar system and implications on the nucleosynthetic role of X-ray binaries
• Nucleosynthesis of binary-stripped stars
• Nucleosynthesis in ONeMg Novae: Models versus Observations to Constrain the Masses of ONeMg White Dwarfs and Their Envelopes
• Above threshold s-wave resonances illustrated by the 1/2${}^{+}$ states in ${}^9$Be and ${}^9$B
• Systematic study of (g,n) reaction rates for Z>=78 isotopes
• Calculation of multidimensional potential energy surfaces for even-even transuranium nuclei: Systematic investigation of the triaxiality effect on fission barrier
• Completing the nuclear reaction puzzle of the nucleosynthesis of 92Mo
• Indirect methods in nuclear astrophysics with relativistic radioactive beams
• The triple alpha reaction rate and the 2${}^{+}$ resonances in ${}^{12}$C
• Recent results in nuclear astrophysics
• Uranium Abundances and Ages of $R$-process Enhanced Stars with Novel U II Lines
• Evidence for the reduction of nuclear level density away from the $\beta$-stability line
• Nuclear level density and thermal properties of ${}^{115}$Sn from neutron evaporation
• Spectroscopy of the heaviest nuclei (theory)
• Determining astrophysical three-body radiative capture reaction rates from inclusive Coulomb break-up measurements
• Cosmic radioactivities
• Recent progress in the study of fission barriers in covariant density functional theory
• Three-body radiative capture reactions
• Calculation of The Abundance of ${}^{187}$Re-${}^{187}$Os Nuclear Clock Nuclides in S-process and Sensitivity Analysis of Maxwellian-Averaged Neutron Capture Cross Sections