Date/Time
Date(s) - 11/02/2009
3:20 pm - 4:20 pm

Title: Star bombs in the lab: using nuclear physics to model stellar explosions

Speaker: Dr. Jason Clark, Argonne National Laboratory

Institute: Argonne National Laboratory

Location: ABB 102

Description:

Novae, x-ray bursts, and supernovae are examples of explosive stellar phenomena which are observed in the universe. During these events, thousands of nuclear reactions occur on short timescales, and evidence of these nucleosynthetic processes is found in presolar grains, gamma-ray observations, and the abundance distribution of the elements. Models exist for each nucleosynthetic process, but an accurate reproduction of the observations requires numerous quantitative inputs, such as masses, half-lives, and spins of the nuclides involved. In this talk, I will review some of the nuclear physics experiments which are providing key data for models of stellar explosions.