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LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Theses/Dissertations

Astrophysics

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Full-Text Articles in Physics

Measurement Of Near-Threshold Proton Branching Ratios In 31s Important For Novae, Sudarsan Balakrishnan Jan 2023

Measurement Of Near-Threshold Proton Branching Ratios In 31s Important For Novae, Sudarsan Balakrishnan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Classical novae are stellar explosions that contribute to the nucleosynthesis of isotopes on the proton-rich side of the valley of stability up to 40Ca. In ONe novae, the incompletely understood reaction rate of 30P(p,γ)31S is known to strongly influence the production rate of several stable isotopes such as 30Si, 31P, and 32,33,34S. A precise measurement of this reaction rate has several potential implications towards matching astrophysical observables to the physical composition of the nova site -- the observed elemental abundance ratios of O/S and S/Al have been suggested as useful `thermometers' to gauge …


Studying The Reaction 34ar(Alpha,P)37k And Its Impact On Xrb Nucleosynthesis And Observables, Amber C. Lauer Oct 2017

Studying The Reaction 34ar(Alpha,P)37k And Its Impact On Xrb Nucleosynthesis And Observables, Amber C. Lauer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Type I X-Ray bursts (XRB’s) are a site of nucleosynthesis for some proton-rich elements up to A=100. These stellar explosions occur on the surface of a neutron star in a Low- Mass X-ray Binary accreting H- and He-rich material. During accretion nuclear burning occurs through stable processes such as the hot CNO (HCNO) cycles, but at some critical accretion condition the the HCNO cycles are bypassed through a breakout reaction. This triggers the thermonuclear runaway of the XRB. During the burst, nucleosynthesis on certain proton-rich nuclei, called (α, p) waiting points, can stall which could stall the energy generation and …