I describe in very simple terms the theoretical tools needed to investigate
ultra-peripheral nuclear reactions for nuclear astrophysics purposes. For a
more detailed account, see arXiv:0908.4307.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, Lecture notes presented at the 5th European
Summer School on Experimental Nuclear Astrophysics, Sep. 20- 27, 2009, Santa
Tecla, Sicily, Italy. AIP proceedings, to be publishe