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Universe
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Nuclear Astrophysics in the Era of High Precision Astronomy
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Nuclear Astrophysics in the Era of High Precision Astronomy

A special issue of Universe (ISSN 2218-1997). This special issue belongs to the section "High Energy Nuclear and Particle Physics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 8361

Special Issue Editor

Dr. György Gyürky

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Atommagkutató Intézet, Debrecen, Hungary
Interests: nuclear astrophysics; cross section measurements; astrophysical p-process; hydrogen burning; activation method; ultra low background experiments; half-life measurements

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the 21st century the astronomical observations as well as the astrophysical models have reached unprecedented precision. On the observation side it is enough to mention gamma-ray astronomy, the precise abundance determination of metal poor stars, high resolution measurement of the cosmic microwave background, isotopic abundances in meteorites, or – needless to emphasize – the detection of gravitational waves. Astrophysical model, on the other hand, benefits from the largely increased computational power. Stellar evolution, including various types of explosive episodes, can now be modelled in great detail.

Nuclear astrophysics, the nuclear science of stars and the cosmos, must keep pace with such a fast development. Nuclear reactions play a central role in the life of stars, providing their energy and synthesizing the chemical elements building up the universe. Often these nuclear reactions are not known with sufficient precision and therefor nuclear physics represents one of the largest uncertainty in astrophysical models and in their comparison with high precision observations. Studying the astrophysically relevant nuclear reactions is thus highly needed.

The aim of this special issue is to collect papers from various subfields of nuclear astrophysics which will show how experimental and theoretical nuclear physics can answer to call of the 21st century astrophysics and how they can contribute to the better understanding of astrophysical phenomena.

Dr. György Gyürky
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Universe is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Nuclear Experiments
  • Nuclear Theory
  • Energy Generation of Stars
  • Nucleosynthesis
  • Big-bang
  • Stellar Evolution
  • Stellar Explosions
  • Observational Constraints

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 496 KiB  
Article
Origin of Plutonium-244 in the Early Solar System
by Maria Lugaro, Andrés Yagüe López, Benjámin Soós, Benoit Côté, Mária Pető, Nicole Vassh, Benjamin Wehmeyer and Marco Pignatari
Universe 2022, 8(7), 343; https://doi.org/10.3390/universe8070343 - 22 Jun 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2284
Abstract
We investigate the origin in the early Solar System of the short-lived radionuclide 244Pu (with a half life of 80 Myr) produced by the rapid (r) neutron-capture process. We consider two large sets of r-process [...] Read more.
We investigate the origin in the early Solar System of the short-lived radionuclide 244Pu (with a half life of 80 Myr) produced by the rapid (r) neutron-capture process. We consider two large sets of r-process nucleosynthesis models and analyse if the origin of 244Pu in the ESS is consistent with that of the other r and slow (s) neutron-capture process radioactive nuclei. Uncertainties on the r-process models come from both the nuclear physics input and the astrophysical site. The former strongly affects the ratios of isotopes of close mass (129I/127I, 244Pu/238U, and 247Pu/235U). The 129I/247Cm ratio, instead, which involves isotopes of a very different mass, is much more variable than those listed above and is more affected by the physics of the astrophysical site. We consider possible scenarios for the evolution of the abundances of these radioactive nuclei in the galactic interstellar medium and verify under which scenarios and conditions solutions can be found for the origin of 244Pu that are consistent with the origin of the other isotopes. Solutions are generally found for all the possible different regimes controlled by the interval (δ) between additions from the source to the parcel of interstellar medium gas that ended up in the Solar System, relative to decay timescales. If r-process ejecta in interstellar medium are mixed within a relatively small area (leading to a long δ), we derive that the last event that explains the 129I and 247Cm abundances in the early Solar System can also account for the abundance of 244Pu. Due to its longer half life, however, 244Pu may have originated from a few events instead of one only. If r-process ejecta in interstellar medium are mixed within a relatively large area (leading to a short δ), we derive that the time elapsed from the formation of the molecular cloud to the formation of the Sun was 9-16 Myr. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nuclear Astrophysics in the Era of High Precision Astronomy)
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15 pages, 3659 KiB  
Article
NEAR: A New Station to Study Neutron-Induced Reactions of Astrophysical Interest at CERN-n_TOF
by Gianpiero Gervino, Oliver Aberle, Ana-Paula Bernardes, Nicola Colonna, Sergio Cristallo, Maria Diakaki, Salvatore Fiore, Alice Manna, Cristian Massimi, Pierfrancesco Mastinu, Alberto Mengoni, Riccardo Mucciola, Elizabeth Musacchio González, Nikolas Patronis, Elisso Stamati, Pedro Vaz and Rosa Vlastou
Universe 2022, 8(5), 255; https://doi.org/10.3390/universe8050255 - 20 Apr 2022
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3061
Abstract
We present NEAR, a new experimental area at the CERN-n_TOF facility and a possible setup for cross section measurements of interest to nuclear astrophysics. This was recently realized with the aim of performing spectral-averaged neutron-capture cross section measurements by means of the activation [...] Read more.
We present NEAR, a new experimental area at the CERN-n_TOF facility and a possible setup for cross section measurements of interest to nuclear astrophysics. This was recently realized with the aim of performing spectral-averaged neutron-capture cross section measurements by means of the activation technique. The recently commissioned NEAR station at n_TOF is now ready for the physics program, which includes a preliminary benchmark of the proposed idea. Based on the results obtained by dedicated Monte Carlo simulations and calculation, a suitable filtering of the neutron beam is expected to enable measurements of Maxwellian Averaged Cross Section (MACS) at different temperatures. To validate the feasibility of these studies we plan to start the measurement campaign by irradiating several isotopes whose MACS at different temperatures have recently been or are planned to be determined with high accuracy at n_TOF, as a function of energy in the two time-of-flight measurement stations. For instance, the physical cases of 88Sr(n,γ), 89Y(n,γ), 94Zr(n,γ) and 64Ni(n,γ) are discussed. As the neutron capture on 89Y produces a pure β-decay emitter, we plan to test the possibility to perform activation measurements on such class of isotopes as well. The expected results of these measurements would open the way to challenging measurements of MACS by the activation technique at n_TOF, for rare and/or exotic isotopes of interest for nuclear astrophysics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nuclear Astrophysics in the Era of High Precision Astronomy)
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Review

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10 pages, 445 KiB  
Review
Challenges and Requirements in High-Precision Nuclear Astrophysics Experiments
by György Gyürky
Universe 2022, 8(4), 216; https://doi.org/10.3390/universe8040216 - 28 Mar 2022
Viewed by 2009
Abstract
In the 21th century astronomical observations, as well as astrophysical models, have become impressively precise. For a better understanding of the processes in stellar interiors, the nuclear physics of astrophysical relevance—known as nuclear astrophysics—must aim for similar precision, as such precision is not [...] Read more.
In the 21th century astronomical observations, as well as astrophysical models, have become impressively precise. For a better understanding of the processes in stellar interiors, the nuclear physics of astrophysical relevance—known as nuclear astrophysics—must aim for similar precision, as such precision is not reached yet in many cases. This concerns both nuclear theory and experiment. In this paper, nuclear astrophysics experiments are put in focus. Through the example of various parameters playing a role in nuclear reaction studies, the difficulties of reaching high precision and the possible solutions are discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nuclear Astrophysics in the Era of High Precision Astronomy)
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