Nuclear Astrophysics with the Trojan Horse Method

Abstract

In stars nuclear reactions take place at physical conditions that make very hard their measurements in terrestrial laboratories. Indeed in astrophysical environments nuclear reactions between charged nuclei occur at energies much lower than the Coulomb barrier and the corresponding cross section values lie in the nano or picobarn regime, that makes their experimental determination extremely difficult. This is due to the very small barrier Coulomb penetration factor, which produces an exponential fall off of the cross section as a function of energy. Additionally, the presence of the electron screening needs to be properly taken into account when dealing with cross section measurements at low-energies. The Trojan Horse Method (THM) represents an independent experimental technique, allowing one to measure astrophysical S(E)-factor bared from both Coulomb penetration and electron screening effects. The main advantages and the most recent results are here shown and discussed.