From underground to the stars: The LUNA experiment

by Rosanna Depalo (PD)

Wednesday 31 Jan 2018, 15:00 → 16:00 Europe/Rome

MLH (GSSI)

Cross sections of nuclear reactions relevant for astrophysics are crucial ingredients to understand the energy generation inside stars and the synthesis of the elements. At astrophysical energies, nuclear cross sections are often too small to be measured in laboratories on the Earth’s surface, where the signal would be overwhelmed by the cosmic-ray induced background. LUNA is a unique Nuclear Astrophysics experiment located at Gran Sasso National Laboratories. The extremely low background achieved at LUNA allows to measure nuclear cross sections directly at the energies of astrophysical interest. Over the years, many crucial reactions involved in stellar hydrogen burning as well as Big Bang nucleosynthesis have been measured at LUNA. The seminar will provide an overview on underground Nuclear Astrophysics as well as the latest results and future perspectives of the LUNA experiment.