Nuclear Physics of Stars

Most elements are synthesized, or “cooked”, by thermonuclear reactions in stars. The newly formed

elements are released into the interstellar medium during a star’s lifetime, and are subsequently

incorporated into a new generation of stars, into the planets that form around the stars, and into the life

forms that originate on the planets. Moreover, the energy we depend on for life originates from nuclear

reactions that occur at the center of the Sun. Synthesis of the elements and nuclear energy production

in stars are the topics of nuclear astrophysics, which is the subject of this book. It presents nuclear

structure and reactions, thermonuclear reaction rates, experimental nuclear methods, and nucleosynthesis

in detail. These topics are discussed in a coherent way, enabling the reader to grasp their interconnections

intuitively. The book serves both as a textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, with

worked examples and end-of-chapter excercises, but also as a reference book for use by researchers

working in the field of nuclear astrophysics.

Preface
 
ASPECTS OF NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND ASTROPHYSICS
History
Nomenclature
Solar System Abundances
Astrophysical Aspects
Masses, Binding Energies, Nuclear Reactions, and Related Topics
Nuclear Shell Model
Nuclear Excited States and Electromagnetic Transitions
Weak Interaction
 
NUCLEAR REACTIONS
Cross Sections
Reciprocity Theorem
Elastic Scattering and Method of Partial Waves
Scattering by Simple Potentials
Theory of Resonances
Continuum Theory
Hauser-Feshbach Theory
 
THERMONUCLEAR REACTIONS
Cross Sections and Reaction Rates
Nonresonant and Resonant Thermonuclear Reaction Rates
 
NUCLEAR PHYSICS EXPERIMENTS
General Aspects
Interaction of Radiation with Matter
Targets and Related Equipment
Radiation Detectors
Nuclear Spectroscopy
Miscellaneous Experimental Techniques
Background Radiation
Yields and Cross Sections for Charged-Particle-Induced Reactions
Transmissions, Yields, and Cross Sections for Neutron-Induced Reactions
 
NUCLEAR BURNING STAGES AND PROCESSES
Hydrostatic Hydrogen Burning
Hydrostatic Helium Burning
Advanced Burning Stages
Explosive Burning in Core-Collapse Supernovae (Type II, Ib, Ic)
Explosive Burning Involving Binary Stars
Nucleosynthesis Beyond the Iron Peak
Non-Stellar Processes
Origin of the Nuclides
 
APPENDIX
Solutions of the Schrödinger Equation in Three Dimensions
Quantum Mechanical Selection Rules
Kinematics
Angular Correlations
Constants, Data, Units, and Notation
 
Index

• By (author) Christian Iliadis