Stable beam experiments in wide energy ranges serving low energy nuclear astrophysics

TL;DR

This paper emphasizes the importance of measuring nuclear reaction cross sections over wide energy ranges in experimental nuclear astrophysics, especially when direct low-energy measurements are unfeasible, to improve extrapolation accuracy for astrophysical models.

Contribution

It highlights the significance of wide energy range measurements and provides examples from hydrogen burning and heavy element nucleosynthesis to support this approach.

Findings

Wide energy range measurements improve cross section extrapolation.

Examples demonstrate relevance to hydrogen burning and nucleosynthesis.

Emphasizes the necessity of such measurements in astrophysics.

Abstract

In experimental nuclear astrophysics it is common knowledge that reaction cross sections must be measured in the astrophysically relevant, low energy ranges or at least as close to them as possible. In most of the cases, however, it is impossible to reach such low energies. The reactions must therefore be studied at higher energies and the cross sections must be extrapolated to lower ones. In this paper the importance of cross section measurements in wide energy ranges are emphasized and a few examples are shown from the areas of hydrogen burning processes and heavy element nucleosynthesis.