Abstract
Thermonuclear reactions on unstable nuclei generate the energy that power nova explosions and X-ray bursts. In these explosions and others such as supernovae, these reactions serve to synthesize nuclei that (via their decay) can serve as tracers of the explosion mechanism. A powerful approach to improve our understanding of these explosions is to utilize beams of radioactive nuclei for direct and indirect measurements of these reactions. We are pursuing this approach at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to study reactions in the rp-process (with beams of 17,18F) and the r-process (with beams of 82Ge, 84Se 130,132Sn, 134Te). These measurements are combined with synergistic data evaluations and element synthesis calculations. Highlights of recent results are presented.
