Nuclear Seminar

“Activation Measurements of Neutron Capture Cross Sections at Astrophysical Energies”

Ethan Uberseder
University of Notre Dame

Monday, November 12, 2007   4:00 p.m.   NSH 124
(Refreshments served prior to seminar in NSH 124)

The Karlsruhe Van de Graaff accelerator has a long established importance in the field of Nuclear Astrophysics.  Over the past few decades, neutron capture measurements have been performed with the goal of constraining our knowledge of s- and r- process nucleosynthesis.  A strength of the experimental technique utilized in Karsruhe is its ability to closely reproduce stellar neutron energy distributions.  As a result, Maxwellian averaged cross sections (MACS) of astrophysical interest can be directly measured within the laboratory.  The method of cross section measurements will be discussed in the context of their astrophysical significance.