Astrophysics Program,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory

 To ORNL Astrophysics Program

Activities

The Nuclear Astrophysics Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory includes efforts in Experimental Measurements, Nuclear Data Evaluation, and Theoretical Nuclear Astrophysics.

  1. Experimental Measurements
    1. Measurements of reactions with proton-rich accelerated radioactive ion beams at the Holifield Radioactive Ion Beam Facility (HRIBF). These measurements will improve our understanding of stellar explosions.
    2. Measurements of neutron capture and transmission cross sections at the Oak Ridge Electron Linear Accelerator (ORELA) pulsed white neutron source. These measurements are important for studies of heavy element nucleosynthesis through the s-, r-, and p-processes.
  2. Nuclear Data Evaluation
    1. Systematic calculations of stellar-averaged neutron capture reaction rates for heavy element nucleosynthesis, utilizing neutron resonance parameters extracted from standard online data files.
    2. Evaluation of thermonuclear reaction rates important for nucleosynthesis occurring in stellar explosions.
    3. Contributions toward establishing a coordinated U.S. effort in nuclear astrophysics data evaluation.
  3. Theoretical Nuclear Astrophysics
    1. Simulations of Stellar Explosions: Type II Supernovae and Novae, via numerical solution of the coupled equations of radiation transport, multidimensional hydrodynamics, and the synthesis of nuclei; Type I Supernovae, via lattice Boltzmann techniques.
    2. Calculation of Gamow-Teller strength functions and electron capture rates in fp-shell nuclei with Monte Carlo Shell Model techniques.
Research sponsored by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, managed by Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corp. for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract number DE-AC05-96OR22464.

Contact

Michael Smith
Oak Ridge National Laboratory Phone: +1-423-576-5037
Physics Division Fax: +1-423-576-8746
Bldg. 6010, MS-6354 Email: msmith@orph01.phy.ornl.gov
P.O. Box 2008
Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6354


Electronic Access

To USNDP To USNDP Member Laboratories To Nuclear Data Verification and Standardization Project, National Institute of Standards and Technology To Nuclear Data Project, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Translated into HTML by TWB (February 1, 1996); Last updated on September 20, 2000.