Neutron transfer reactions with tin beams and r-process nucleosynthesis

Abstract

Uncertainties in neutron capture rates can affect the predictions of abundances in r-process nucleosynthesis because neutron capture can be important at late times. To probe the direct component of neutron capture reactions, we have recently completed measurements of the neutron transfer (d,p) reaction with beams of 126,128Sn and the stable 124Sn. These studies complete the systematics of (d,p) reactions on neutron-rich even-mass Sn isotopes, following the previous work with 130,132Sn beams. These Sn(d,p) studies are used to map the evolution of shell structure away from stability and to deduce direct neutron capture rates. © Copyright owned by the author(s) under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- ShareAlike Licence.