Indirect Methods in Nuclear Astrophysics

本提案为我的研究项目寻求资金，该项目将间接方法应用于实验核天体物理学。这项研究的重点是实验确定发生在恒星和天体物理爆炸中的核反应速率。为了理解能量是如何在恒星和恒星爆炸中释放出来的，以及发现化学元素的起源，必须知道这些反应速率。许多最重要的反应都涉及到在地球上不会自然产生的放射性核，因此必须在实验室中制造才能进行研究。如果能够产生足够强度的光束，就可以直接确定核反应速率，但这种强度的光束只能用于相关原子核的一小部分。在目前无法直接研究的情况下，可以采用间接方法。这些方法包括确定在天体物理学感兴趣的反应中形成的复合原子核的状态性质，它们非常强大，通常能提供足够的信息来确定所需的核反应速率。

This proposal seeks funding for my research program applying indirect methods to experimental nuclear astrophysics. The focus of this research is the experimental determination of the rates of nuclear reactions that occur in stars and astrophysical explosions. These reaction rates must be known in order to understand how energy is released in stars and stellar explosions, and to discover the origins of the chemical elements. Many of the most important reactions involve radioactive nuclei that don't occur naturally on Earth, and therefore must be created in the laboratory in order to be studied. Nuclear reaction rates can be determined directly if a beam of sufficient intensity can be produced, but such intense beams are available for only a tiny fraction of the relevant nuclei. In cases where direct study is presently impossible, indirect methods can be brought to bear. These methods, which involve the determination of the properties of the states of the compound nuclei formed in reactions of astrophysical interest, are quite powerful and often yield sufficient information to determine the nuclear reaction rates needed.