US-Belgium Cooperative Research: Nuclear Astrophysics with Radioactive and Isomeric Beams and Targets

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This award will support continued collaborative research in nuclear astrophysics between US and Belgian physicists. The US group is under the direction of Dr. William Rodney, Georgetown University. The Belgian collaborator is Dr. J. Vervier, Institute for Nuclear Physics, Louvain. The objective of this project is to carry out a program of experiments using radioactive beams to measure cross-sections important to understanding nucleosynthesis. In novae, supernovae, X-ray bursters and possibly in the early universe, the temperature and density were such that the lifetimes of some radioactive (and isomeric) nuclides were comparable to the burning times for their destruction by proton or alpha particle induced nuclear reactions. In these instances, these reactions must be taken into account in developing models for stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis. Thus, the potential for the use of radioactive targets and/or beams is receiving increasing attention in the nuclear physics community. In this project, proposed experiments represent a major step in the direction of providing the needed cross-section information. The Louvain-la-Neuve coupled cyclotron facility will be able to produce the required beam intensity to carry out the experiments. There are no existing US facilities capable of such radioactive beam measurements. The research will benefit from Dr. Rodney's expertise in nuclear astrophysics and the background of his research group in active nuclear experimentation. The results of this research will contribute to our understanding of stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis in stars.