Nuclear Physics of Stars

Most elements are synthesized, or “cooked”, by thermonuclear reactions in stars. The newly formed <br> elements are released into the interstellar medium during a star’s lifetime, and are subsequently <br> incorporated into a new generation of stars, into the planets that form around the stars, and into the life <br> forms that originate on the planets. Moreover, the energy we depend on for life originates from nuclear <br> reactions that occur at the center of the Sun. Synthesis of the elements and nuclear energy production <br> in stars are the topics of nuclear astrophysics, which is the subject of this book. It presents nuclear <br> structure and reactions, thermonuclear reaction rates, experimental nuclear methods, and nucleosynthesis <br> in detail. These topics are discussed in a coherent way, enabling the reader to grasp their interconnections <br> intuitively. The book serves both as a textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, with <br> worked examples and end-of-chapter excercises, but also as a reference book for use by researchers <br> working in the field of nuclear astrophysics.<br>