Horizons: Nuclear Astrophysics in the 2020s and Beyond

TL;DR

This white paper reviews the progress, challenges, and future opportunities in nuclear astrophysics, emphasizing its interdisciplinary nature and the potential for new discoveries in understanding the universe's nuclear processes.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the field's current status, highlights emerging open questions, and discusses future scientific opportunities across multiple disciplines.

Findings

Nuclear astrophysics is rapidly advancing with new capabilities.

The field faces unique scientific and educational challenges.

Interdisciplinary approaches are crucial for future discoveries.

Abstract

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 chemical elements. This white paper summarizes progress and status of the field, the new open questions that have emerged, and the tremendous scientific opportunities that have opened up with major advances in capabilities across an ever growing number of disciplines and subfields that need to be integrated. We take a holistic view of the field discussing the unique challenges and opportunities in nuclear astrophysics in regards to science, diversity, education, and the interdisciplinarity and breadth of the field. Clearly nuclear astrophysics is a dynamic field with a bright future that is entering a new era of discovery opportunities.