Current quests in nucleosynthesis: present and future neutron-induced reaction measurements

¹ Universidad de Sevilla, Spain
² Centro Nacional de Aceleradores (US-JA-CSIC), Seville, Spain
³ Department of Physics, University of Basel, Klingelbergstrasse 82, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland
⁴ Laboratory Nazionali di Legnaro, INFN, Padova, Italy
⁵ Centro de Aplicaciones Tecnólogicas y Desarrollo Nuclear, 5 ta y 30, Playa, La Habana, Cuba

^a e-mail: jpraena@us.es

Published online: 20 March 2014

Abstract

We present some open questions in nucleosynthesis focused on the measurement of relevant neutron capture cross-sections and on new experimental methods. We review the recent ⁶³Ni(n,γ) experiment carried out at the n_TOF facility at CERN and its astrophysical implications as well as future experiments and opportunities at n_TOF. We argue some improvements in the measurement of cross-sections by activation arising from a new method for the generation of stellar neutron spectra. We show preliminary results of the experimental validation of the method. We discuss the astrophysical implications of the ¹⁸¹Ta(n,γ) stellar cross-section measured with this method. Finally, we describe challenging experiments consisting of in situ radioactive ion beams and stellar neutron beams.