Speaker
Description
Nuclear astrophysics has, for about a century, been the discipline aimed at linking the chemical abundances observed in galaxies with phenomena of nuclear physics, assigning to each nucleus a primary production mechanism and a stellar environment of origin. Over the years, measurements of thermonuclear fusion reactions and models of stellar evolution have made it possible to refine and consolidate the framework outlined by B2FH.
Today, the latest frontier of nuclear astrophysics is the study of reactions and nucleosynthesis environments that are increasingly exotic. On the one hand, there are measurements of reactions involving unstable nuclei; on the other, the study of objects at the end of their evolution that host neutron-capture nucleosynthesis processes. For years, measuring the cross sections of fusion reactions at the energies of the Gamow peak was the main challenge of experimental nuclear astrophysics; today, however, technology also makes it possible for the first time to investigate reactions mediated by weak interactions in plasmas.
This marks a new era for experimental physics, alongside that of multimessenger astronomy. We will present the most recent results obtained by researchers in Perugia, who have carried out sensitivity studies of beta-decay rates and neutron captures in stellar nucleosynthesis models, within the framework of the ASFIN2, PANDORA, and n_TOF collaborations.