Abstract
One of the main ingredients of nuclear astrophysics is the cross section of the thermonuclear reactions which power the stars and synthesize the chemical elements in the Universe. Deep underground in the Gran Sasso Laboratory the cross section of the key reactions of the proton-proton chain and of the Carbon-Nitrogen-Oxygen (CNO) cycle have been measured right down to the energies of astrophysical interest. The main results obtained during the solar phase of LUNA are reviewed before describing the current LUNA program devoted to the study of the nucleosynthesis of the light elements in AGB stars and Classical Novae. Finally, the future of LUNA with the new 3.5 MV accelerator devoted to the study of helium and carbon burning is discussed.
Highlights
Hydrogen, helium and lithium were synthesized in the first minutes after the big-bang
Where S (E) is the astrophysical factor and η is given by 2 π η = 31.29 Z1 Z2(μ/E)1/2
LUNA, Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics, started twenty five years ago to run nuclear physics experiments in an extremely low-background environment, the Gran Sasso Laboratory (LNGS), to reproduce in the laboratory what Nature makes inside the stars [1, 2]
Summary
Helium and lithium were synthesized in the first minutes after the big-bang. Nuclear astrophysics studies the reactions which transmute the chemical elements and provide energy to the stars. The reactions occur in the hot plasma of a star, with temperatures in the range of tens to hundreds of millions degrees, inside an energy window, the Gamow peak, which is far below the Coulomb energy arising from the repulsion between nuclei. In this region the cross section is given by: σ(E) = S (E) exp(−2 π η),. LUNA, Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics, started twenty five years ago to run nuclear physics experiments in an extremely low-background environment, the Gran Sasso Laboratory (LNGS), to reproduce in the laboratory what Nature makes inside the stars [1, 2]
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