Astrophysical S-factor for 16^{16}O+16^{16}O within the adiabatic molecular picture

The astrophysical S-factor for $^{16}$O + $^{16}$O is investigated within the adiabatic molecular picture. It very well explains the available experimental data. The collective radial mass causes a pronounced resonant structure in the S-factor excitation function, providing a motivation for measuring the $^{16}$O + $^{16}$O fusion cross section at deep sub-barrier energies.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, SOTANCP2008 Conference, Strasbourg, France, May 13-16, 2008, To appear in IJMP

Characterizing the astrophysical S-factor for 12^{12}C+12^{12}C with wave-packet dynamics

A quantitative study of the astrophysically important sub-barrier fusion of $^{12}$C+$^{12}$C is presented. Low-energy collisions are described in the body-fixed reference frame using wave-packet dynamics within a nuclear molecular picture. A collective Hamiltonian drives the time propagation of the wave-packet through the collective potential-energy landscape. The fusion imaginary potential for specific dinuclear configurations is crucial for understanding the appearance of resonances in the fusion cross section. The theoretical sub-barrier fusion cross sections explain some observed resonant structures in the astrophysical S-factor. These cross sections monotonically decline towards stellar energies. The structures in the data that are not explained are possibly due to cluster effects in the nuclear molecule, which are to be included in the present approach.Comment: Submitted to Physical Review C; 7 figure

Nuclear structure of the exotic mass region along the rp process path

Isomeric states in the nuclei along the rapid proton capture process path are studied by the projected shell model. Emphasis is given to two waiting point nuclei 68Se and 72Kr that are characterized by shape coexistence. Energy surface calculations indicate that the ground state of these nuclei corresponds to an oblate-deformed minimum, while the lowest state at the prolate-deformed minimum can be considered as a shape isomer. The impact of these isomer states on isotopic abundance in x-ray bursts is studied in a multi-mass-zone x-ray burst model by assuming an upper-lower limit approach.Comment: Proceedings of Nuclei in Cosmos VIII, to appear in Nucl. Phys.

An Approximation for the rp-Process

Hot (explosive) hydrogen burning or the Rapid Proton Capture Process (rp-process) occurs in a number of astrophysical environments. Novae and X-ray bursts are the most prominent ones, but accretion disks around black holes and other sites are candidates as well. The expensive and often multidimensional hydro calculations for such events require an accurate prediction of the thermonuclear energy generation, while avoiding full nucleosynthesis network calculations. In the present investigation we present an approximation scheme applicable in a temperature range which covers the whole range of all presently known astrophysical sites. It is based on the concept of slowly varying hydrogen and helium abundances and assumes a kind of local steady flow by requiring that all reactions entering and leaving a nucleus add up to a zero flux. This scheme can adapt itself automatically and covers situations at low temperatures, characterized by a steady flow of reactions, as well as high temperature regimes where a $(p,\gamma)-(\gamma,p)$-equilibrium is established. In addition to a gain of a factor of 15 in computational speed over a full network calculation, and an energy generation accurate to more than 15 %, this scheme also allows to predict correctly individual isotopic abundances. Thus, it delivers all features of a full network at a highly reduced cost and can easily be implemented in hydro calculations.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX using astrobib and aas2pp4, includes PostScript figures; Astrophysical Journal, in press. PostScript source also available at http://quasar.physik.unibas.ch/preps.htm

44Ti and 56Ni in core-collapse supernovae

We investigate the physical conditions where 44Ti and 56Ni are created in core-collapse supernovae. In this preliminary work we use a series of post-processing network calculations with parametrized expansion profiles that are representative of the wide range of temperatures, densities and electron-to-baryon ratios found in 3D supernova simulations. Critical flows that affect the final yields of 44Ti and 56Ni are assessed.Comment: To appear in the Conference Proceedings for the "10th Symposium on Nuclei in the Cosmos (NIC X)", July 27 - August 1 2008, Mackinack Island, Michigan, US