Speaker
Description
The slow neutron capture processes (”main” and ”weak”) build up elements heavier
than iron through sequential neutron captures and β-decays, following the valley
of stability from seed nuclei in the iron region. The neutron sources for these processes
are the two reactions 13C(α,n)16O and 22Ne(α,n)25Mg. Their measurement is
quite difficult due to the astrophysically relevant energy ranges being far below the
Coulomb barrier. The neutron background on the surface of the earth has so far been
a prohibitive factor for experiments trying to push the limit of cross section measurements
further down in energy. By going deep underground one automatically
achieves a background reduction by 3-4 orders of magnitude, opening up possibilities
to directly measure the low cross sections in the astrophysical range.
I will discuss the campaign to measure 13C(α,n)16O at the LUNA 400 and MV
accelerators and present the status and an outlook of the ongoing project SHADES
that aims at a measurement of 22Ne(α,n)25Mg at the LUNA MV accelerator in the
Gran Sasso National Laboratory.
| Session | Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics |
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