Nuclear astrophysics from direct reactions

TL;DR

This paper discusses recent developments in direct reaction methods to accurately determine low-energy nuclear reaction rates crucial for understanding nucleosynthesis and stellar processes, combining new experimental and theoretical techniques.

Contribution

It introduces novel experimental and theoretical approaches for extracting astrophysical S-factors from direct reactions at low energies.

Findings

Enhanced accuracy in nuclear reaction rate measurements

Successful application of direct reactions to astrophysical problems

Integration of experimental and theoretical methods

Abstract

Accurate nuclear reaction rates are needed for primordial nucleosynthesis and hydrostatic burning in stars. The relevant reactions are extremely difficult to measure directly in the laboratory at the small astrophysical energies. In recent years direct reactions have been developed and applied to extract low-energy astrophysical S-factors. These methods require a combination of new experimental techniques and theoretical efforts, which are the subject of this presentation.